Los Angeles, CA — The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights ( CHIRLA ), a California-based immigrant rights member-based organization, labeled the newly-announced immigration measures signed by DHS Secretary Kelly a dragnet, a deeply troubling development, and called on Americans to reject such a dragnet approach to dealing with a very human issue.
The following are statements for Angelica Salas, executive director for CHIRLA.
"Secretary Kelly has unleashed an unprecedented witch hunt on millions of immigrant families. These immigration enforcement memos are a one-size-fits-all mass deportation approach full of punishment, completely void of fairness and justice.
Let us be clear about this: these guidelines representan unlawful, expedited process, a dragnet, to remove undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S. This is a dastardly approach to a very human issue.
We are categorically opposed to these measures which threaten our families, hurt our nation's economy, and stand directly opposite our nation's history and values.
The Trump Administration has been relentless and cruel during its first month in office when it comes to immigration measures. These memos outdo themselves in clearing the way for wide spread terror on millions of families, children, workers, and anyone and everyone who is undocumented, even those whose contributions are well documented.
Members of Congress will be visiting their local districts this week. We call on Americans to ask their representatives what each will do to prevent millions of families from becoming victims of this xenophobic plan. Our nation needs leadership, champions who can stand up to fairness and justice and fight back against these immoral policies."