New Jersey Immigrants’ Rights Advocates Respond to President Trump’s Executive Order which Replaces Family Separation with Family Detention

New Jersey–  In response to President Trump issuing an executive order to address the crisis his administration’s anti-immigrant policies have created, Johanna Calle, director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, released the following statement,

“This executive order does little to fix the immigration crisis Trump’s administration has created and jails children with parents, continuing the practice of detaining families who are seeking refuge. Family detention centers are not the answer. Putting families behind bars and giving them no real chance to appeal their case for asylum goes against the American tradition of welcoming migrants and refugees.

In recent months we’ve heard not only the cries of families from the border but those of families in our own state where parents have been arrested by ICE and separated from their children. New Jersey’s ICE’s operations have called our families criminals and have detained thousands in our own backyard. Immigrant advocates across the state call on New Jersey to ensure that no local and state resources are going towards supporting ICE’s federal immigration enforcement tactics.”

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NJAIJ Member Organizations:  1199SEIU | 32BJ SEIU | American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey | American Friends Service Committee | Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey | Beacon Unitarian Universalist Church of Summit | Casa Freehold | Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen | Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton | Centro Comunitario CEUS | Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War | Central Unitarian Church of Paramus – Social Action Committee | Community of Friends in Action | Drug Policy Alliance | El Centro Hispanoamericano | Faith in New Jersey | First Friends NJ & NY | Haiti Solidarity Network of the North East | Hispanic Family Center of Southern New Jersey | Hudson Civic Action | Ironbound Community Corp. | Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) | Make the Road New Jersey | Latino Action Network | Latin American Legal Defense & Education Fund (LALDEF) | National Association of Social Workers – NJ Chapter | New Jersey Communities United | New Jersey Policy Perspective | New Labor | New Jersey Institute of Social Justice | New Jersey Working Families | OASIS | Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, Inc. | Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton |UU Faith Action NJ | The Social Responsibilities Council of The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood | Wind of the Spirit, Immigrant Center

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