For Immediate Release: June 28, 2017
Contact: Jareyah Bradley, jareyah@balestramedia.com, (908) 242-4822
400+ Organizations Oppose Republican Mass Deportation Bills for Undercutting Law Enforcement, Jeopardizing National Security, and Hurting Survivors
Today, the Immigration Legal Resource Center released a letter to the U.S House of Representatives signed by more than 400 organizations asking for a no vote on two anti-immigrant bills being voted on Thursday, the 29th. “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” and “Kate’s Law,” HR. 3003 and H.R. 3004, would undercut law enforcement's ability to keep communities safe, jeopardize national security, and hurt survivors of violence, while also raising serious constitutional concerns.
Read the letter in full here: https://www.ilrc.org/letter-ngos-hr3003-hr3004
Said Jose Magaña-Salgado, Managing Policy Attorney at the Immigration Legal Resource Center:
“Instead of exercising meaningful oversight over the Trump Administration, Congress is poised to act on legislation that would further enable President Trump’s deportation machinery. These bills would codify President Trump’s mass deportation efforts, tear apart families, and double down on the failed experiment of incarceration and criminalization of immigrants. Billed as promoting public safety these bills would serve only to undermine local law enforcement and explode our nation’s federal prison population.”
The letter signed by more than 400 organizations reads, in part:
“Instead of passing discredited enforcement-only legislation, Congress should move forward on enacting just immigration reform legislation that provides a roadmap to citizenship for the nation's eleven million aspiring Americans and eliminates mass detention and deportation programs that undermine fundamental human rights. Legislation that erodes public safety, disrespects local democratic processes, and raises serious constitutional concerns represents an abdication of the Congress' responsibility to enact fair, humane, and just immigration policy.”
The “No Sanctuary for Criminals Act” — which targets over 600 cities, counties and states, not just sanctuary cities — mandates the detention of new classes of immigrants with no chance for bond or parole and expands the government’s ability to indefinitely detain immigrants. It would require that people be detained without probable cause, without judicial approval, and without basic due process protections, in violation of the Fourth amendment. This bill seeks to attack state and local jurisdictions by threatening to eliminate the federal grants they receive related to law enforcement or immigration if they refuse to honor unconstitutionalrequests for detainers.
The ILRC’s Searching for Sanctuary report includes county-level analysis on sanctuary policies and their implications. This report is accompanied by a national interactive map of law enforcement participation in immigration enforcement, providing the most comprehensive overview of the jurisdictions that disentangle themselves from immigration enforcement (sometimes known as “sanctuary” policies).
“Kate’s Law” not only gives prosecutors more power to send more individuals into the prison pipeline, but also limits certain legal challenges against removal orders as well as the ability of immigrants to challenge their removal. It lacks adequate protections for people who reenter the U.S. for humanitarian reasons or who seek protection at the border, putting asylum seekers and families at risk.
For interviews, please contact Jareyah Bradley at jareyah@balestramedia.com or 908.242.4822.
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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’s mission is to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. www.ilrc.org