Statement on Leaked DHS Memo Proposing National Guard Mobilization for Immigration Enforcement

WASHINGTON — Media reports on Friday revealed that the Trump administration may be considering draconian and expensive immigration enforcement measures, including mandatory detention, rushed court proceedings, a rollback in protections for unaccompanied children apprehended at the border, construction of new detention facilities and a border wall, and the enlisting of National Guard troops as immigration enforcement agents.

Kamal Essaheb, policy and advocacy director at the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“For a month now the Trump administration has terrorized our communities with a chaotic and inhumane reimaging of our immigration system. The Muslim ban rollout, widespread raids, and the arrests of a domestic violence survivor and immigrant youth have created a climate of fear in our communities like never before. We don’t need to see the implementation of this leaked memo to understand the xenophobic and nativist vision driving the administration’s immigration policies.

“The leaked memo contemplates a virtual police state for millions of Americans. It would entail an unprecedented, legally dubious expansion of a failed program, 287g, that federal courts have found sets the groundwork for racial profiling. And it would roll back legal protections and deny due process and other civil rights to people seeking refuge from violence and extreme poverty.

“That the administration would even consider such reprehensible measures is unacceptable, and it will certainly continue to stoke fear in our immigrant communities until DHS Secretary John Kelly provides clarity. We call on Kelly to immediately and categorically disavow the contents of this leaked memo.”

# # #