澳彩开奖

WASHINGTON, D.C. 鈥� Following President Biden鈥檚 address to a joint session of Congress, the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Immigrant Justice Project and Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative released the following statements.聽

On pathways to citizenship

鈥淲hile the Biden-Harris administration has taken some encouraging steps, it鈥檚 time to fully embrace immigration reform and the undoing of the cruelty and chaos of the past,鈥� said Efr茅n Olivares, deputy legal director of the 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Immigrant Justice Project. 鈥淥ur communities cannot afford more of the same capitulating to xenophobic rhetoric, and we must not be deterred by bad faith efforts to demonize immigrants. This is the year to finally deliver a pathway to citizenship for immigrant youth, TPS recipients, farmworkers, and essential workers.鈥�

On rebuilding the asylum system聽

鈥淲hile phase one of the wind down of the disastrous Remain in Mexico policy is commendable, more action is needed,鈥� said Melissa Crow, 澳彩开奖 senior supervising attorney. 鈥淭he administration must expand this effort to ensure that everyone affected by this policy has a meaningful opportunity to present their asylum claims 鈥� including people who received removal orders without being able to attend their hearings and those whose cases were terminated.鈥�

鈥淚n addition, the Biden-Harris administration has continued the disastrous Title 42 policy, expelling hundreds of thousands of people seeking protection without due process and into harm鈥檚 way,鈥� continued Crow. 鈥淏y continuing Title 42 expulsions, the U.S. has abandoned its domestic and international legal obligations to provide access to the asylum system. These expulsions have only fueled the humanitarian crisis at the border and put migrants鈥� lives in greater jeopardy.鈥�

On ICE detention and enforcement聽

鈥淒espite promising to end the use of private detention facilities for immigrant detention, the administration has yet to release concrete plans to address the dehumanizing ICE detention machine,鈥� said Anjali Nair, interim director of 澳彩开奖鈥檚 Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. 鈥淚n recent weeks, the population of ICE prisons has increased due to the continued practice of placing people seeking asylum into ICE custody instead of granting them release. Immigrant detention is immoral, unnecessary, and costs taxpayers billions of dollars for the profit of private prison operators. This system is an ongoing human rights crisis of the government鈥檚 own making, and it must end.鈥澛�

鈥淒espite the administration鈥檚 attempts to pause deportations, the overly broad enforcement discretion granted to ICE has led to continued targeting and deportations of community members,鈥� said Neyissa Desir, 澳彩开奖 outreach paralegal. 鈥淎dditionally, the Biden-Harris administration has yet to redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for many, including Haitian immigrants. Haitian families continue to be deported or expelled, despite the ongoing political instability in Haiti. This is immoral and anti-Black, and it must stop.鈥�

On migrant children

鈥淲hile it鈥檚 positive that the administration has reduced the number of children in CBP facilities in recent weeks, the temporary influx facilities are still no place for a child,鈥� said Luz Lopez, 澳彩开奖 senior supervising attorney. 鈥淭he administration cannot continue to rely on more facilities as the primary solution. It should instead be directing resources to desperately needed case managers and social workers. Now is the time to reimagine this system and invest in the capacity for sponsor programs that do not rely on large detention facilities. Only then will we begin to treat each child with the dignity and care they deserve.鈥澛�

On family separation聽

鈥淭he task force must move more quickly to reunite families," said Norma Ventura,聽澳彩开奖 staff attorney. "But that won't be enough. The administration must create a victim compensation fund for the more than 5,500 families who were separated at the border. The government should also offer immigration benefits to these children and parents, many of whom relinquished their asylum claims because government officials led them to believe that doing so would speed their reunification.鈥�

On immigrant workers聽

鈥淭here is much work to be done to protect immigrant workers, including the millions of immigrant farmworkers, poultry workers, and other essential workers,鈥� said Meredith Stewart, 澳彩开奖 senior supervising attorney. 鈥淲e鈥檙e disappointed the Labor Department has taken so long to issue the critical Emergency Temporary Standard that was expected in March. Immigrant workers, many of whom work in already dangerous workplace conditions, need safety standards on the job. The Biden-Harris administration must take aggressive action to strengthen workplace protections so that every worker can make their living with dignity.鈥�