(Washington)—The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) condemns the hateful executive orders targeting immigrant communities signed by President Trump on his first day in office, in particular those enhancing enforcement efforts and seeking to end the constitutional right of birthright citizenship.
“Trump has convinced the American people that harsh immigration enforcement, including mass deportations, will make us safer, which is far from the truth,” ILRC Policy Director Sameera Hafiz said. “Deportations destabilize families and tear communities apart. Deportation is painful and cruel and even people who voted for Trump may find themselves or their family members/friends/community members swept up in these efforts that will be done via raids at workplaces and other places.”
“Trump’s declaration of ending birthright citizenship just feeds his hateful and false rhetoric–birthright citizenship is protected under the Constitution and absent a constitutional amendment Trump cannot just change the Constitution,” Hafiz said. “Ending birthright citizenship would greatly impact the lives of millions of Americans throwing them into legal limbo and uncertainty.”
The ILRC will continue to work to defeat Trump’s immigration enforcement priorities, such as expanding detention centers and increasing agreements with local law enforcement authorities to assist ICE in apprehending and detaining migrants.
“Trump wants to hold the entire country hostage to his anti-immigrant agenda by forcing states and localities to help him do immigration enforcement even if this is in contravention to their local priorities,” Hafiz added. “Studies have repeatedly shown that cooperating with ICE increases racial profiling by law enforcement.”
“Trump also wants to expand ICE detention centers that have been shown to violate human rights,” Hafiz said. “ICE regularly tears people away from their children and communities, throws them into indefinite detention in a system where people are routinely abused, neglected, sexually assaulted, denied medical treatment, and denigrated in countless ways, and then deports people to countries they may or may not have any ties to.”
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The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC works to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. Follow us at www.ilrc.org, and on Twitter and Instagram @the_ILRC