Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On Immigration the United States

Human Rights Watch featured some of the profound challenges being faced by Immigrants as the #Dreamers continue to be in a state of limbo as a result of Congressional Inaction.  In the meantime, Immigration enforcement has continued which has resulted in familiies having been torn apart.

Human Rights Watch featured some of their stories recently that we've captured in this email dispatch: 

Who Are The Deported? Read Their Stories

Dear Mike, The Trump administration has dramatically ramped-up immigration arrests inside the United States. It is scapegoating immigrants by painting them as criminals who should be deported. The administration claims it is focusing on violent criminals, but President Trump’s new policies make every unauthorized immigrant a target—regardless of their longstanding ties to family, community and employment. Each day that passes, more deeply rooted immigrants become vulnerable to deportation. People who call the United States home—including the mothers and fathers of US citizen children, tax-paying employees, and respected community members—are being arrested, locked up, and deported under a broken system that does not weigh their deep ties in the balance. Our researchers have interviewed people who have been deported since President Trump took office. They told us they felt most at home in the United States and described how their deportations were devastating not only for them, but for their families and communities in the US. We’re advocating for congress and the Trump administration to reform abusive immigration laws so that anyone facing deportation gets a fair hearing in which the person’s ties to a US family and community can be weighed against the government’s interest in deporting them. We’re advocating for congress and the Trump administration to reform abusive immigration laws so that anyone facing deportation gets a fair hearing in which the person’s ties to a US family and community can be weighed against the government’s interest in deporting them. At the very least, Congress should pass a “clean” DREAM Act with no accompanying harmful trade-offs such as reduced protections for child migrants and refugees. To push for these changes, Human Rights Watch is documenting and amplifying the stories of people whose families are being ripped apart by Trump’s devastating deportation policies.

Read Their Stories

Thank you for standing with us. In solidarity, Clara Long Senior Researcher, US Programs Human Rights Watch @clarychka