For Immediate Release
Press contact:
Susana Flores
(240) 706-2624
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TWITTER:
@CASAdeMaryland
FAMILIES GATHER OUTSIDE ICE OFFICES ACROSS COUNTRY TO DECRY LACK OF PROGRESS IN PROTECTING FAMILIES
- Before National ICE Headquarters, local families will describe the Failed Promise of Napolitano’s Prosecutorial Discretion Program -
WHAT: PRESS CONFERENCE
WHERE: Department of Homeland Security, 500 12th St., SW, Washington, DC
WHEN: MONDAY, MAY 7, 2012 11:00 A.M.
WHO: Families Directly Impacted by Napolitano’s Failed Promises of Relief
Washington, DC - On Monday, families from the Washington DC region will join families in cities across the country to decry the failure of commitments made by Secretary Janet Napolitano to provide relief to families at risk of separation. Families in Washington DC will represent DREAMers at risk of deportation, mothers caught up in ICE enforcement practices while confronting domestic violence, and an indigenous rights leader currently challenging a government massacre before the OAS.
In late August of last year, DHS Secretary Napolitano announced that the agency planned to review cases of people currently in removal proceedings and focus their resources only on the highest priorities. In other words, DREAM ACT- students, relatives of veterans, victims of domestic violence, caretakers of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, and other individuals with compelling life circumstances will qualify for prosecutorial discretion. The local example of the Baltimore ICE office mirrors the failure of the program across the country. ICE-Baltimore’s review of pending cases, pursuant to the new prosecutorial discretion initiative, netted a pitiful number of 230 grants, less than 5% of cases on the deportation docket and 11% less than the number of cases in which immigrants usually prevail against deportation charges. At the same time, the number of deportations have sky-rocketed due to programs such as the much-criticized “Secure Communities” which, at a cost of over $200 million in 2011, has resulted in record-breaking numbers of deportations - over a million - since Obama took office.
Actions on Monday being held in cities including Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and in states including North Carolina and Texas among others will highlight egregious cases across the country and call on Secretary Napolitano to provide relief to families and communities impacted by the broken immigration system.
