This Week in Immigration Reform — Week Ending March 10
Week Ending March 10
This week in immigration: NCLR responds to the President’s Muslim ban 2.0; continued efforts of the administration’s deportation force.
NCLR responds to the administration’s Muslim Ban 2.0 This week, President Trump signed another executive order that bans travel to the U.S. from six Muslim-majority countries and halts refugee resettlement. The executive order follows the decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to block the initial executive order. NCLR President and CEO, Janet Murguía, tweeted:
New #Muslimban2, same hate. Still cruel, inhumane, and completely unnecessary. A policy in search of a problem. #ProtectAndDefend
— Janet Murguía (@JMurguia_NCLR) March 6, 2017
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has asked the federal judge that issued a halt to the ban under the first executive order to find that his order applies to the second ban as well. If the judge agrees, the government would not be able to put the new ban into effect next Thursday as scheduled, without further action from the court.
NCLR responds to continued deportation force actions: This week, NCLR participated in a press conference on the administration’s executive orders and mass deportation efforts. NCLR Deputy Vice President, Clarissa Martinez de Castro, joined representatives from United We Dream, National Immigration Law Center, SEIU, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, ACLU, Human Rights Campaign, Center for American Progress, and the Advancement Project. During the press conference, leaders discussed how President Trump’s executive orders on immigration are a vehicle for mass deportation, and why now is the time for Congress to step up and increase their efforts to block and defeat the administration’s efforts to criminalize and deport millions of immigrants. CNN streamed the press conference on Facebook and you can check it out here. 
Clarissa Martinez De Castro of NCLR joins other civil rights leaders at a press conference this week.
Janet Murguía joined Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, and the heads of 17 other leading progressive organizations—ranging from traditional civil rights groups to immigrants’ rights groups to unions—in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly asking that he take immediate action to halt the deportations of Daniela Vargas of Mississippi and Daniel Ramirez of Seattle, as well as any other DREAMers—young unauthorized immigrants—in his custody, and release them back to their families and communities. You can see the letter here.
After an incredible effort of many organizations putting pressure on DHS, news broke today that Daniela Vargas, a DREAMer who was detained after speaking out about ICE raids, has been released from detention. This victory will fuel our fight.
You may have seen Univision hosted a televised national town hall on immigration on Sunday night. Clarissa Martinez De Castro participated in the town hall. You can watch a clip here.
NCLR Affiliate, Latino Memphis, pens op-ed on the contributions of immigrants: Mauricio Calvo, Executive Director of Latino Memphis, recently contributed an op-ed to The Commercial Appeal, the leading daily paper in Memphis. Here is an excerpt from the op-ed:
In the last few weeks, our team at Latino Memphis has been conducting workshops and meeting with officials about this issue. Our legal department, working alongside our many partners, have talked to hundreds of people about how to be prepared for possible deportation, helping individuals create power of attorneys and custody arrangements.
I invite you to imagine what it would be like to have to decide who will take care of your children in case you don’t come back from work today. Consider the conversations taking place around dinner tables in these homes about the uncertainty and fear of being separated. When a knock on the door triggers the “who is it?” question, for many immigrant families, it could mean the end of life as they know it.
At Latino Memphis, we stand ready to protect and support our families. This is vital not only for the Latino and immigrant communities; but also for the future success of our city and our country. Would you join us?
Read the full op-ed here.
NCLR staff were quoted in articles this week in the following: Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, EFE, Univision, and Telemundo
You can find an immigration legal service provider near them by going to immigrationlawhelp.org – a directory of nonprofit immigration legal service providers.
Know Your Rights information can be found here.
