HIAS Denounces Trump’s ‘Cruel’ New Deportation Rules
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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 nathankazis@forward.com
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