HIAS Denounces Trump’s ‘Cruel’ New Deportation Rules
Image by Getty Images
By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 22, 2017
The Jewish refugee group HIAS condemned guidelines released yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security that implement President Donald Trump’s executive orders on immigration.
“The guidelines released today treat vulnerable people, many of whom are unaccompanied children and asylum seekers, like criminals,” said Mark Hetfield, the group’s president and CEO.
The guidelines expand the category of people targeted for deportation by federal authorities, and could clear the way for a new wave of expulsions.
“Prioritizing detention and removal over protection and due process is not only cruel, it is dangerous,” Hetfield said. “Such detention and deportation without due process would violate U.S. obligations under the Refugee Convention, and put the most vulnerable at risk of being summarily returned to countries where they would face persecution and torture.”
Hetfield has been a constant critic of Trump’s immigration policies. In February, his group sued the Trump administration over the executive order on immigration.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
