Washington, DC – The Trump administration is finding more ways to deport immigrants from the United States without access to lawyers, courts, or due process.
“The administration is using every cheap trick in the book to put people in danger. By empowering ICE to summarily deport members of our communities, the president is pandering to his anti-immigrant base, nothing more. But the impact of an immigration policy rooted in hate cannot be understated: Families will be ripped apart, our neighbors will be torn from their homes, and innocent human beings will be returned to danger,” said Reverend John L. McCullough, President and CEO of Church World Service. “The United States is meant to be a nation of laws and of morals, but under this leadership we are neither.”
Bloomberg Government first reported on the expanded use of expedited removal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):
Expedited removal since its inception had been limited to individuals encountered within 100 hundred miles of the border and within two weeks of entering the U.S. The updated Department of Homeland Security policy will apply to immigrants anywhere in the U.S. who can’t immediately prove upon an encounter with an immigration official they have been continuously in the U.S. for at least two years or have legal standing.
Despite legal challenges, ICE agents can begin to expel people from the U.S. under this program as soon as they complete the online training. The deadline to complete that training is today.
Immigrants and lawyers seeking guidance on the policy can visit this toolkit from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and this practice alert from the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) said: “We are well-aware that police forces in the United States employ threats and use of force to ensure compliance. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employs the three Ds: deter, detain, deport. Erasing all measures of humanity at their discretion, ICE agents are swiftly and promptly deporting thousands of people. Expedited removal is cruel, unjust, and inhumane for its failure to consider the totality of the circumstances an individual faces. Expedited removal strips the right to due process, making ICE both judge and police officer. A deportee is left with little to no time to work with legal counsel or to seek an appeal.
“In Hebrews 11:8, scripture reminds us, ‘by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.’ Abraham went by faith to this new land. He, along with his family, resided there. Our biblical teachings are packed with stories of migration and faith. As we force people seeking safety in the United States to wait out their credible asylum claims in Mexico; as we force families seeking asylum to make their claim from detention centers; as we expeditiously remove asylum seekers, long-time residents, and family members; we are denying God’s just work and each other’s humanity and agency. The three D’s of immigration enforcement deny God’s love, mercy, and justice. We need to be outraged. We need to shout out.”
“The expedited removal process threatens not only all asylum seekers but the foundations of this country’s democracy and tradition of welcoming people from other countries fleeing for their lives,” said Sr. Marie Lucey, OSF, Associate Director of Franciscan Action Network. “It is racist in nature since its primary targets are people of color. Grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Franciscan core value of relationship, Franciscan Action Network raises up the message of Pope Francis on the 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees: ‘Having doubts and fears (about migrants) is not a sin. The sin is to allow these fears…to feed hostility and rejection. The sin is to refuse to encounter the other…when this is in fact a privileged opportunity to encounter the Lord.’”
“Now, no place is safe for immigrants in this country. An encounter gone bad, no papers with you demonstrating that you have been in the U.S. nonstop for two years – who has that kind of documentation with them at all times? – and off you go. Deported under the latest anti-immigrant program of this Administration, the expedited removal process. Pope Francis wrote in his most recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, ‘The true worth of the different countries of our world is measured by their ability to think not simply as a country but also as part of the larger human family.’ Our government has much to learn,” said Lawrence E. Couch, director of the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
“The U.S government must stop terrorizing immigrants under the cloak of ‘enforcement.’ Mass enforcement without specific judicial authority, will allow ICE to act as an unauthorized militia which will increase the insecurity of communities of black and brown people in this country. We ask ICE, to ‘Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it’ (psalm 34:14),’”said Ronnate Asirwatham, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Bridges Faith Initiative.
The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is made up of over 55 national, faith-based organizations brought together across many theological traditions with a common call to seek just policies that lift up the God-given dignity of every individual. In partnership, we work to protect the rights, dignity, and safety of all refugees and migrants.
Follow us on Twitter @interfaithimm
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