Washington, DC — On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected a Texas and Louisiana lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration’s immigration enforcement priorities. In response to this news, Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director at Detention Watch Network, issued the following statement:
“We are glad to see the Supreme Court block Texas, Louisiana, and the right-wing extremists who lead their state governments from advancing their anti-immigrant agendas. While we welcome this decision, we are clear that the heart of the issue lies in the U.S. immigration enforcement system itself.
“The focus of the lawsuit is the 2021 DHS interior enforcement priorities memo issued by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. While the memo aimed to narrow the scope of people who could be targeted for enforcement, it doubled down on categorical exclusions by relying on public safety, border security and national security frameworks as pretext for targeting immigrants and Black and brown communities. The majority of people in ICE detention are recent arrivals or those who have been transferred from prison or jail, which is the population most at risk for being targeted based on the memo.
We unequivocally reject this approach to migration policy which targets those who are already most vulnerable to detention and deportation. We demand that the Biden administration stop targeting those that have been historically criminalized and demonized by the racist criminal and immigration systems, including those who have recently arrived or have had contact with the criminal legal system. ICE must use every available avenue to release people currently in immigration detention and begin to dismantle the detention system.
“Our fight for migrant justice is intertwined with the fight against the U.S. criminal punishment system. No matter where you are born, everyone deserves to be safe from detention and deportation, including people who have recently arrived in the United States seeking safety and protection, those who have had contact with the criminal legal system and those who are demonized because of where they were born.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States. Founded in 1997 by immigrant rights groups, DWN brings together advocates to unify strategy and build partnerships on a local and national level. Visit detentionwatchnetwork.org. Follow on Twitter @DetentionWatch.