News » CGRS Decries Planned Raids, Stands with Immigrant Community

CGRS Decries Planned Raids, Stands with Immigrant Community

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Jul 12, 2019


The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) decries the Trump Administration’s planned raids on immigrant and asylum-seeking families and stands ready to defend the rights of impacted communities. After postponing last month’s planned immigration sweep, the Trump Administration is now preparing to launch a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across major U.S. cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, and San Francisco. These raids, which are scheduled to commence on Sunday, will target thousands of immigrant community members, including asylum seekers, mixed-status families, and teenagers who came to the United States as unaccompanied children.

The planned raids will undoubtedly result in the cruel separation of many immigrant and asylum-seeking families and inflict irreparable trauma and suffering on vulnerable children. Research shows that the fear of separation from immigrant family members can take a significant psychological and emotional toll on children. Children who witness their parents’ arrest by ICE suffer lasting behavioral and mental health challenges. Moreover, families and children apprehended in the planned raids will be sent to already overcrowded immigration detention centers and shelters where conditions are notoriously inhumane and unsafe.

“Mass immigration raids are carried out with the reprehensible objective of instilling fear in immigrant communities and deterring others from seeking safety in the United States,” CGRS-California Directing Attorney Christine Lin said today. “Our local northern California rapid response networks stand with communities and are prepared to defend those targeted in this latest round of raids.”

CGRS urges communities nationwide to stand with immigrant and asylum-seeking families: