Washington, DC — Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, Silky Shah responds to Trump’s ‘immigration principles’:
“In yet another attack on immigrants, Trump’s nativist ‘immigration principles’ are dangerously draconian. If implemented they would jeopardize the lives of hundreds of thousands of families and further erode democratic values.
We reject Trump's plan to use DACA recipients as bait to pull Congress into a negotiation built on a nativist and white supremacist agenda.
Trump’s egregious ‘immigration principles’ calls for:
- The hiring of 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol agents, hired within agencies notorious for their unaccountability and corruption.
- An increase in the surveillance dragnet of border communities, including building a border wall.
- Further denial of life-saving asylum to Central American families.
- The denial of federal grants for sanctuary cities as a means of retaliation.
It is no surprise that the lead architects behind this racist blueprint are Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller, both notorious anti-immigrant proponents.
Congress must vehemently reject these principles. DWN is steadfast in our commitment to reject any attempts to negotiate the status of one group of people in exchange for increasing immigrant detention and deportation.
Members of Congress have the opportunity to put the brakes on Trump’s agenda by opposing these racist principles and keeping the DREAM act clean. Our elected officials must divest from agencies that tear apart our families and terrorize our communities.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to expose and challenge the injustices of the United States’ immigration detention and deportation system and advocate for profound change that promotes the rights and dignity of all persons. Founded in 1997 by immigrant rights groups, DWN brings together advocates to unify strategy and build partnerships on a local and national level to end immigration detention. Visit www.detentionwatchnetwork.org. Follow @DetentionWatch.