Media Statement: The Alliance for Immigrant Survivors Denounces Administration's Increased Immigration Enforcement Arrests

Update: June 22, 2019 - Today, President Trump delayed planned raids on undocumented immigrant families in major cities across the country, but threatened to return to this harmful strategy in a couple weeks if Congress did not make changes to longstanding asylum laws.

June 21, 2019 - Earlier this week, the administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be intensifying immigration enforcement actions to arrest and remove undocumented immigrants. ICE plans to execute a massive roundup this Sunday, June 23, targeting up to 2,000 immigrant families concentrated in up to ten cities based on reporting in The Washington Post, which cited unnamed U.S. officials - Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco.

The following statement is from Grace Huang, Co-Chair of the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors:

“In another threat on immigrant families, the administration has asked ICE to raid up to thousands of homes this Sunday, causing chaos and suffering, and putting immigrant survivors of domestic and sexual violence, trafficking, and other gender-based abuses and their families at risk. These actions will have a chilling effect on survivors’ ability to seek help and safety. Survivors of violence flee to the U.S. in order to find refuge from horrific abuse and to protect their children. Rather than upholding our longstanding value of offering protection to individuals and families fleeing persecution, the raids could lead to the detention and deportation of vulnerable and traumatized survivors to countries and environments where they may be subjected to more violence.

“Current immigration policies and increased immigration enforcement actions have created a climate of fear and strengthened the hands of abusers who threaten survivors that they will be deported if they contact law enforcement or reach out for help. Terrifying raids will only serve to increase the efficacy of their threats and further prevent survivors from seeking help, trapping them in abusive relationships and situations.

“The Alliance for Immigrant Survivors condemns any raids that separate families or endanger survivors of gender-based violence and their families. We call on the administration to uphold our commitment to serving as a beacon of hope for survivors of violence and their families, and to invest in humane solutions, not more detentions and deportation of immigrants and refugees seeking protection and the opportunity to build a new, safe life in the United States.”

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Media Contacts:
Charlie McAteer, 917-696-1321, charlie@frontflipchange.com
Grace Huang, 206-420-7369, ghuang@api-gbv.org