***For Immediate Release***
January 13, 2016
Contact:
Charles Shane Ellison, Justice for Our Neighbors – Nebraska
(402) 898-1349
charles@jfon-ne.org
Jeff Sheldon, Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed
(402) 438-8853 (office)
(402) 840-7289 (cell)
jsheldon@neappleseed.org
Nebraskans Call on President Obama to End Deportation Raids
Groups condemn raids on vulnerable Central American families
As President Obama visits Nebraska today, Nebraska groups issued a statement condemning the raids that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began implementing on January 2, 2016, to detain and deport children and families fleeing violence in Central America.
While the Department of Homeland Security secretary claims the raids are focusing on individuals with orders of deportation, the nation’s highest immigration court has delayed deportations for many of the initial cases, indicating that public concerns over a lack of due process and lack of legal representation may be well founded.
The groups released the following statement:
“We are deeply distressed that ICE has begun conducting raids to deport mothers and children seeking refuge from extreme violence in Central America.
“El Salvador’s murder rate is the highest in the world, and the 2015 death toll in the region of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala was higher than all but three zones of ongoing armed conflict: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Furthermore, new reports confirm that 83 people the U.S. has deported back to these countries since 2014 have been murdered upon their return. Refugees from Central America have been exposed to profound and substantial trauma and have traveled hundreds of miles through dangerous conditions to bring children to safety.
“Sending families back to violence is so far from our country’s values it is incomprehensible. We call on the President to stop targeting already traumatized families who have not had sufficient access to legal counsel, and we continue to urge Congress to fix our tragically outdated immigration laws.”
Statement from:
ACLU of Nebraska
Asociacion Civica Salvadorena de Nebraska
Brown Immigration Law PC, LLO
Centro Hispano Comunitario of Nebraska (Columbus)
Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim: Reinforcing Our Roots, Living Our Maya Heritage
Grand Island Latino Network
Heartland Workers Center
Justice for Our Neighbors – Nebraska
Latino Center of the Midlands
National Association of Social Workers, Nebraska Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section
Nebraska Appleseed
Nebraska Latino American Commission
Omaha Together One Community
Peace with Justice Ministries, Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church
Refugee Empowerment Center
Schlegel Center for Service and Justice at Creighton University
Unity in Action (South Sioux City)
YWCA Lincoln
This Nebraskan stands to ask Obama to end deportation raids.