WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), a coalition of 86 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations, strongly denounces the Trump administration’s dangerous, but not altogether alarming, decision to reinstate mass family detention. This is the second time Trump’s policies will put children in cages, specifically targeting women and children.

Family detention, which had been widely condemned and dormant for four years, is set to resume with the reopening of the Karnes and Dilley detention centers in Texas, retrofitted to detain up to 2,400 families, further militarizing our already sprawling and outdated immigration system.

Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “Profiling, arresting and caging families–including children–is a disgusting, immoral return to the draconian policies the Trump administration implemented four years ago. It was wrong then, and is wrong now. American taxpayers need to know that this policy comes at an extremely high moral and financial cost for all of us, and seeks to do one thing: terrorize our communities to exploit vulnerable families to score political points for a President who has failed to improve the material conditions of his base and millions of hardworking families.

Instead of investing billions in costly and inhumane detention that targets women and children, we should be focusing on ensuring these families have access to counsel and due process to defend their immigration cases. Access to counsel and other Immigration support services enable families to work, go to school, and live prosperous lives in their communities, ultimately being able to remain in their communities to make positive contributions to our economy, culture, and society. 

We call for an end to this cruel, lawless expansion of immigration detention and urge Congress to halt the funding of a mass abduction agenda, prioritize the well-being of our communities, and stop the hateful caging of women and children.”

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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 83 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 42 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.