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Hispanic Federation Statement on President Trump’s Immigration Orders

February 22, 2017 (New York, NY) – Hispanic Federation has issued the following statement in response to Donald Trump’s immigration orders.

“If there were any doubts that the Trump Administration would pursue immigration policies that are punitive, cruel and uncompassionate, they were dissipated yesterday when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a series of implementation memoranda that strike fear in immigrant communities throughout the United States. These documents are a blueprint for indiscriminate arrests, detentions, and deportations of immigrant men, women, and children. If fully implemented, the new policies will make the previous administration’s record-setting deportation proceedings pale in comparison, while recklessly legitimizing selective immigration enforcement based on local capacity and racial and religious profiling. Hispanic Federation is especially troubled by directives given to immigration officers that may potentially keep children from reuniting with their parents and deny the protections of asylum status to those immigrants with a legitimate fear of persecution and violence in their home countries. We are also deeply concerned that these policies will force undocumented immigrants deeper into the shadows of our society where, in an attempt to avoid detention and deportation, they avoid contact with municipal and state law enforcement to the detriment of their families and our communities as a whole.

President Trump campaigned on a platform of factless and incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric. He is now attempting to transform that rhetoric into reality. Hispanic Federation will work with fellow advocates, law enforcement, and legal and local government leaders and agencies to oppose these policies at every step. But we cannot do this alone. We call on Congress and the Courts to use their constitutionally-endowed powers to challenge the President’s directives and honor our nation’s proud history of welcoming and safeguarding immigrants. This is a critical moment in the history of immigration to America. It’s time to stand up and protect our values.”