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]
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
