SEARAC SEARAC Responds to New DHS Guidelines on Immigration Enforcement

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For Fast Launch:
October 5, 2021

Media contact:
Elaine Sanchez Wilson
Director of Communications and Growth
elaine@searac.org
202-601-2970

Washington, DC – Final Thursday, the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) launched new pointers for immigration enforcement, changing the earlier steering from January and February of this 12 months. Moderately than shifting the framework of the earlier steering to presume aid for detachable people, reduce deportations, and alter the long-toxic tradition inside DHS, the steering continues to emphasise a dangerous strategy based mostly on the criminalization of noncitizens.

Regardless of its many shortcomings, the steering consists of some welcome modifications to the way it instructs DHS personnel to deal with noncitizens with an order of removing based mostly on a previous conviction, together with greater than 15,000 Southeast Asian refugees. It additionally removes the utilization of gang affiliation as a criterion for enforcement, a change for which SEARAC has lengthy advocated. These coverage shifts are a testomony to the organizing of Southeast Asian Individuals (SEAAs) and different advocates over twenty years to finish the deporations of people with a previous conviction.

Whereas the steering offers new instruments to fight unjust inside enforcement exercise, it falls in need of reigning in an company that continues to focus on and inflict hurt on communities of shade. The memo continues to present Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Safety (CBP) brokers dangerously broad discretion in whom they select to take away. Notably, the rules indiscriminately designate anybody unlawfully crossing into the US as a border security menace with out regard for asylum seekers, which is especially regarding given the information of how Haitian asylum seekers proceed to be harmed by CBP brokers.

“Our communities have fought for over twenty years to have their humanity acknowledged by way of their efforts to finish the deportations of Southeast Asian refugees. It’s a testomony to that work and the work of our companions that this steering consists of coverage shifts that don’t assume Southeast Asian refugees with a previous conviction are robotically prioritized for removing,” mentioned Quyen Dinh, Government Director of SEARAC. “Nevertheless, regardless of these small steps ahead, this new steering nonetheless offers an excessive amount of energy and authority to ICE and CBP brokers, leaves room for the deportation of our communities, and additional strikes us away from our obligation to guard asylum seekers. SEARAC stays dedicated to working with our companions to finish the deportations of all Southeast Asian refugees and respect the rights of asylum seekers to hunt refuge in the US.”

This new steering will go into impact on Nov. 29. The memo additionally consists of language directing the company to coach DHS employees on implementation of the steering and for sub-agencies to create processes to gather “detailed, exact, and complete information as to each side of the enforcement actions.” Moreover, the memo states that the company will create a case overview course of for people and their attorneys to hunt overview of enforcement actions taken towards them by DHS employees.

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