(Milwaukee, WISC.) – On June 10, 2022, a federal judge in Texas suspended a Biden Administration policy that prioritized the arrest of undocumented immigrants who are considered a threat to public safety and national security, leaving nearly all of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country vulnerable to deportation. See New York Times coverage here.
In response, Voces de la Frontera Action made the follow statement:
“The recent decision by a right wing federal judge to take away the prioritization policy under Biden and make 11 million people – including essential workers, immigrant youth not protected by DACA, the disabled, the elderly, and even children -a target for deportation is immoral and shameful. This heinous decision is part of a broader right wing strategy to suppress the will of the people by controlling all three arms of government- the executive, legislative and judicial branches, through voter suppression tactics and appointing and electing right wing judges. We are witnessing these attacks with the Supreme Court decision to repeal abortion rights for women and now with federal judges stripping 11 million immigrant essential workers and their families of protections from deportation.
What does this decision mean for the immigrant community? It means three things: (1) Immigrants should know that the Biden administration has said it will appeal the decision and look at each situation on a case by case basis. Immigrants need to know their rights to protect themselves from deportation in the immigration system; (2) As Latinxs and immigrants, we must use the full force of our voting power in upcoming Midterm elections to elect progressive champions in the primaries and defeat Republican right wing candidates within a modern day white supremacist political party; (3) We must continue to hold Democrats accountable. For too long Democrats have acted as “the lesser of two evils’ ‘ and failed to act boldly when they controlled the government, such as passing the Dream Act under the Obama Administration.
Voces de la Frontera is co-sponsoring a national day of action on July 25 in Washington DC with Never Again is Now to both condemn the actions of the far right Republican Party and to call on Biden to use his executive action to fulfill his campaign promise to abolish 287g that legalizes racial profiling and deputizes local law enforcement to act as ICE agents. Under the new circumstances, this national mobilization is more needed than ever, to force the hand of the Administration to grant more protections and push back against far right extremism.”
