For Immediate Release
Monday, May 22, 2023
Contact:
Arianna Rosales, arianna@nipnlg.org, (202) 524-9121
Washington, DC-Last Thursday, 219 Republicans and 36 Democrats in the House voted to pass the POLICE Act of 2023 (HR 2494), an overly broad and vaguely worded bill that would make any conviction or admission to elements of assault on a police officer a ground of deportability. Put simply, the bill creates powerful tools for abuse in order to solve a problem that does not exist. It needlessly inflicts suffering on immigrants and their communities while further fueling the flames of harmful anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The demand from immigrant communities and allies has long been clear: We need solutions that center our common humanity and ensure just treatment for all. And yet, legislation like the POLICE Act does exactly the opposite, further exacerbating the harm to our communities by continuing to intertwine our criminal legal and immigration systems. There is overwhelming evidence that shows that our criminal legal system is inherently racist, with Black and brown people being stopped, arrested, and charged at disproportionately higher rates than white people. To add yet another layer of injustice - deportation - is unconscionable.
Immigration enforcement and policing are two levers of the same system, a system that is deeply rooted in anti-Blackness and white supremacy and has led to the destruction of uncountable lives. To protect our communities, we need lawmakers to adopt a different approach. We need lawmakers to commit to fundamentally transforming the systems that have caused BIPOC and immigrant communities so much harm.
In the days leading up to the passage of the POLICE Act, the National Immigration Project led a letter to members of the House of Representatives that was signed by more than 125 organizations expressing our full-throated opposition to the bill. Despite the bill’s passage in the House, we will continue campaigning for solutions that uphold our values of equality, compassion, and respect for human rights, and which radically transform the systems that have enabled far-reaching harm to BIPOC and immigrant communities.
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The National Immigration Project (NIPNLG) is a national non-profit organization that provides technical assistance and support to community-based immigrant organizations, legal practitioners, and all advocates seeking and working to advance the rights of noncitizens. NIPNLG utilizes impact litigation, advocacy, and public education to pursue its mission. Learn more at nipnlg.org. Follow NIPNLG on social media: @NIPNLG on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.