Press Releases and Statements

(Washington)— As we mark the first 100 days of the Biden Harris Administration, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) sees some promising action taken on immigration, but we demand much more.  For example, the ILRC welcomes Biden’s executive order directing the Department of Justice not to renew contracts with privately-run prison operators as an important step in tackling mass incarceration in the US. However, the ILRC is disappointed that this order does not extend to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, since ICE uses private prisons much more than the Bureau of Prisons.  Similarly, this week the administration announced efforts to limit enforcement actions at courthouses but created several extremely broad exceptions that will allow this harmful practice to continue. Particularly problematic is a “public safety” exception that ICE continues to use as a narrative to portray immigrants as dangerous. 

 (San Francisco, CA)—Anti-Black racism is still rampant in the criminal legal system in spite of the guilty verdicts on all counts against Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) will continue to stand in solidarity with Black communities and allies who have come together to fight a justice system that devalues Black lives in this country.

(Austin, Texas) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton continues to use his white supremacist agenda to attack immigrants. In the latest of his frivolous lawsuits, Paxton has sued the Biden- Harris Administration, on behalf of Texas and Louisiana, alleging that the administration’s interim immigration enforcement priorities are unlawful. The Biden-Harris administration has issued interim immigration enforcement policies that direct Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents to focus arrests, detention, and deportation on certain “priority” individuals, rather than all immigrants. Texas and Louisiana have sued to try to force the government back into Trump-era immigration policies to detain and deport people en masse. The lawsuit is pending before Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas, a Trump appointee and the same judge who blocked the administration’s 100-day deportation moratorium earlier this year (in a lawsuit also brought by Texas). If successful, the lawsuit would further entrench ICE’s impunity and enable the agency to continue its harsh enforcement practices which target Black and Brown immigrant communities, resulting in the thousands of people being detained, deported and torn from their families and communities.

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA)—The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is calling on the Biden Harris Administration to work with local stakeholders and communities to find compassionate ways to support unaccompanied minors at the southern border.  

(San Francisco, CA)—The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) applauds Gov. Gavin Newsom’s nomination today of Rob Bonta as the state’s next Attorney General since Bonta has shown he understands that the path toward public safety and human decency is not paved by increased criminalization. If approved, Bonta would be the first Filipino-American to hold this office.

(WASHINGTON)—Today, the American Dream and Promise Act (HR6) was passed by the House of Representatives as a result of years of leadership and tireless advocacy by immigrant youth and TPS holders seeking dignity for their families and communities. Unfortunately this bill disqualifies certain immigrant youth and TPS holders who have had contact with the criminal legal system or criminal convictions from eligibility for relief.