FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2017
Joins Immigration Advocates in Perth Amboy to Discuss Contributions of Immigrants to America
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ-06) slammed the Trump administration’s plans to deport millions of immigrants. As a result of today’s directives, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are required to apprehend and quickly deport virtually every undocumented immigrant they encounter. The administration also announced the beginning of the planning stage for President Trump’s expanded border wall between the United States and Mexico.
“On the campaign trail and in his first month in office, President Trump has made it a priority to target and falsely scapegoat immigrants to justify his disturbing world view,” said Pallone. “Now, he is pursuing unprecedented police action that will create fear and anxiety throughout our country, rip families apart and pit law enforcement and local governments against the communities they serve.
“Whereas President Obama followed a policy of pursuing undocumented immigrants convicted of serious crimes, President Trump intends to escalate the situation by removing even those who have not been convicted of any criminal offense. His orders call for ICE, CBP, and local police to apprehend first and ask questions later, a call for racial profiling that flies in the face of civil liberties guaranteed in this country. Rather than working towards real solutions to address the reality that 11 million undocumented immigrants are currently living in the U.S., President Trump is focused on building an unnecessary and impractical wall that Mexico will never pay for. These actions are deeply troubling, costly, and will leave our country worse off in the end.”
“Meanwhile, President Trump continues to act hastily without consulting law enforcement professionals and by turning away members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus from a meeting with ICE last week. In calling for thousands more to be hired to deport immigrants, President Trump is prioritizing ripping apart our communities, while numerous agencies are being inhibited by an arbitrary hiring freeze.”
Today in Perth Amboy, Congressman Pallone also spoke at an event hosted by Mayor Wilda Diaz on the enormous contributions immigrants make to our country, including our economy.
“As we saw in ‘a day without immigrants’ last week, immigrants are a core component of our economy and they make our country stronger. We need to be working to be more inclusive of immigrants and I will stand against President Trump’s appalling actions on immigration and call on Congress to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship.”
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