KBI Media Report: April 2017

This month’s media report covers the continuation and escalation of harsh deportation policies that misrepresent immigrants, invite abuses, and separate families.

• • Deportation and the First 100 Days: The current administration has followed through on campaign promises to target undocumented immigrants for deportation and boost border enforcement. Despite claims of a preponderance of criminal immigrant elements, an increasingly significant portion of detentions in the U.S. are of people with no criminal record. Read more about the ways in which the Trump administration is continuing, and intensifying, the hard-line deportation policies and resulting family separation of the Obama years here: https://theintercept.com/2017/04/28/100-days-of-deportations-trump-policies-terrorize-immigrant-families-and-neglect-criminals/.
  • Detained Immigrant Protections in the Trump Era: As jails fill with detained immigrants during this latest deportation crackdown, long-standing protections designed to ensure humane treatment of those held in detention are falling by the wayside. The intent is to quickly convert local correctional facilities into holding areas for undocumented immigrants without burdening the staff with extra rules, such as providing interpreter services or implementing suicide watches. The KBI condemns the expansion of an immigration incarceration system that is already inadequate to the task of treating detainees with respect and human dignity. Read more about curtailed detainee protections here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/us/detained-immigrants-may-face-harsher-conditions-under-trump.html?_r=0.
  • The “Other” Border: Referencing the work of the KBI, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson offers his perspective on the border to counter the imbalanced speech and policies of the current administration and describe the desperation and hope of immigrant experience in this opinion piece: http://tucson.com/news/opinion/column/guest/bishop-kicanas-attorney-general-sessions-heard-only-part-of-the/article_01d3e24d-b8a7-5af1-9a76-fd4ee5dcac19.html.