FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2017
Contact: Courtney Holsworth, press@balestramedia.com, 989.572.8162
Attorney General Sessions Calling for Long Island to Partner on
Misguided Federal Immigration Policies
The Trump Administration’s Plan Threatens to Further Destabilize Area Struggling with Gang Violence
Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is visiting Long Island to tell local elected officials and law enforcement that, under new executive orders signed by President Trump, the federal government is seeking their partnership in federal efforts to address gang violence. The Department of Homeland Security is now targeting immigrants for deportation based on unsupported allegations of gang involvement.
Said Angie Junck, supervising attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center:
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ visit to Long Island represents yet another failure for the Trump administration’s 100-day plan. Their steadfast commitment to scapegoating and criminalizing immigrants knows no end. By dictating Long Island’s response to local violence the administration is hindering and undermining community-based initiatives to protect residents that are already underway.”
“Sessions is shamefully exploiting human loss for political advantage with this proposed crackdown on vulnerable communities. Instead of more dysfunctional federal policies that only serve to exacerbate the instability, fear, and violence in communities like Long Island, we need more programming to support families.”
“The young people targeted by gangs and human traffickers are often unaccompanied children from Central America who the administration turned its back on by halting the program that would bring them to safety, and stem the growth of gangs that aim to recruit them. Increasing and accelerating deportations in the U.S. will only further exacerbate the violence and extortion in Central America, creating more life threatening circumstances people will attempt to flee from. Community and local officials should work together to solve this problem by continuing to build trust with one another, not eroding it -- and Attorney General Sessions should stay out of it.”
The number of unaccompanied children crossing the border has doubled every year since 2011 largely due to the extreme levels of violence facing young people who live in impoverished communities in Central America. The Trump administration’s new executive orders pertaining to unaccompanied minors from Central America would penalize families trying to bring children to the U.S., away from the gangs that seek to recruit them in their home countries.
###
About the Immigrant Legal Resource Center
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