For Immediate Release
August 24, 2023
Contact
Arianna Rosales, arianna@nipnlg.org,
Washington, D.C.--In light of the latest developments with Operation Lone Star (OLS), 108 human and civil rights organizations from across the country delivered a letter today to the Department of Homeland Security demanding the agency take decisive action to condemn OLS, cease any involvement or collaboration with Texas officials, and ensure that separated families are reunited.
Federal inaction has emboldened Texas to adopt increasingly brazen and cruel enforcement tactics, including pushing people back into the Rio Grande, denying migrants water in extreme heat, and installing life-threatening buoy and razor-wire barriers in and around the river. Advocates also report that Texas officers have started using OLS arrests to separate fathers from their families, seemingly with the cooperation of Border Patrol agents. These conscience-shocking tactics will only continue in the absence of a decisive federal response.
The letter, written by the National Immigration Project, was delivered to the Department of Homeland Security’s Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas; U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy A. Miller; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Patrick Lechleitner.
Sirine Shebaya, Executive Director of the National Immigration Project, said:
“In recent months, we’ve seen Governor Greg Abbott employ new and increasingly dangerous and deadly tactics as part of his illicit Operation Lone Star program. The federal government has a clear responsibility to not only cease collaboration with Texas officials on Operation Lone Star but also to push back on this unthinkable cruelty. Left unchecked, these hateful policies and inhumane treatment will only continue to escalate. As a nationwide membership organization, we will continue working with our members and partners in Texas and across the country to put an end to these horrific human and civil rights abuses.”
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About National Immigration Project: The National Immigration Project (NIPNLG) is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who are driven by the belief that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those who bear the brunt of racist criminal and immigration systems are uplifted and supported. Learn more at www.nipnlg.org. Follow NIPNLG on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @NIPNLG.