For Immediate Release
June 19, 2018
Contact:
Katrina Dizon Mariategue
(202) 601-2968
katrina@searac.org
Washington, D.C.-Building on the Trump administration’s inhumane family separation policies, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on two anti-immigrant bills this week: Securing America’s Future Act (H.R. 4760) and Speaker Paul Ryan’s Border Security and Immigration Reform Act, which is backed by the White House. Both proposals are being leveraged in exchange for deportation protection for undocumented young people or “DREAMers.” The destructive bills offer extremely limited naturalization opportunities for immigrant youth in exchange for cuts to family-based immigration, the weakening of our asylum program, and huge increases in deportation enforcement.
The vote comes on the heels of disturbing reports that nearly 2,000 children had been forcibly taken from their parents in six weeks. Despite claims from Republican leadership, the bills would do little to address the current horrific practice of imprisoning the children of individuals seeking refuge in our country.
“More than 40 years ago, Southeast Asian refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam came to this country seeking refuge with their children.” said Quyen Dinh, executive director of SEARAC. “We stand with families today desperately seeking the same protections and denounce the current White House practice of forcibly separating and inflicting further trauma on families escaping violence. It is inhumane and unacceptable.”
Dinh continued, “The Southeast Asian American community was devastated by the biggest mass roundup of individuals for deportation last year. Our families have been traumatized and continue to deal with this terror as rumors of heightened enforcement this year circulates. We demand nothing short of a clean DREAM Act with no further provisions that will tear families apart.”
TAKE ACTION! Call your representative today to encourage a NO vote on both of these anti-immigrant proposals:
*These calls are particularly important for those in Republican districts*
1. Find your representative.
2. Suggested script:
“I am your constituent from (city, state), and I am outraged at the White House’s anti-immigrant agenda, which includes terrorizing children at the border, ramping up deportations, and offering only limited pathways to citizenship for Dreamers. I urge your office to reject H.R. 4760, Securing America’s Future Act, as well as Speaker Paul Ryan’s Border Security and Immigration Reform Act. I strongly oppose any proposals that will cut our family reunification system as well as any provisions that will increase deportation enforcement. Instead, Congress should pass a clean DREAM Act now. Will your boss support the immigrant community and commit to opposing both of these measures?”
3. For more information on how both of these proposals will impact the Southeast Asian American community, click here to read SEARAC’s vote recommendation to members of Congress.
