SO MANY LIES BEING SPREAD BY TRUMP!
It's important for us to know the truth about Trump's immigration policy & how it compares to Bush/Obama's policies to be clear about what our demands should be.
I asked @Blibal to help me understand.
Here's what I learned: (THREAD)
It's important for us to know the truth about Trump's immigration policy & how it compares to Bush/Obama's policies to be clear about what our demands should be.
I asked @Blibal to help me understand.
Here's what I learned: (THREAD)
Kids being stolen from their parents in mass is new, and is entirely the result of Jeff Sessions' decision to prosecute all people crossing the border, including asylum-seekers and parents with kids.
Laws that allow mass criminal prosecution of migrants have been on the books for decades-8 USC 1325 unlawful entry (misdemeanor punishable by up to 2 yrs) & 8 USC 1326, unlawful reentry (felony punishable up to 20 yrs depending on previous deportation and criminal history).
However, these laws were enforced sparingly until 2005 when the Bush implemented Operation Streamline which mandated that most people in certain border sectors would be criminally prosecuted. The number spiked, were maintained and actually peaked in the Obama administration.
Last year, 48% of all federal criminal prosecutions were for just these two petty immigration crimes. That's half of all charges in the ENTIRE federal criminal justice system, not just at the border. In border districts, these charges run 90-95% of charges.
USA Today 2/23/17:
"Private prison companies, which stand to make big gains under President Trump’s tough new immigration orders, also have contributed big sums to pro-Trump groups, including the organization that raised a record $100 million for his inauguration last month."
"Private prison companies, which stand to make big gains under President Trump’s tough new immigration orders, also have contributed big sums to pro-Trump groups, including the organization that raised a record $100 million for his inauguration last month."
There are also an increasing number of of immigrants who are being prosecuted internally for the felony after returning to the US to be with their families and being picked up often in raids or through ICE-local law enforcement collaboration programs.
When families were apprehended at the border prior to the Trump new zero-tolerance policy, they were either detained in an ICE family detention center or released into an alternative to detention program.
The family detention centers were horrible in their own-right, and advocacy and litigation made it so that families could only be detained for about 20 days in these unlicensed and for profit detention centers.
LET ME REPEAT: Kids being stolen from their parents in mass is new, and is entirely the result of Jeff Sessions' decision to prosecute all people crossing the border, including asylum-seekers.
Now what happens is Border Patrol refers the parents for criminal prosecutions and sends the kids to the Office of Refugee Resettlement centers. The parents spend a few days in federal jail and then are sent to an adult detention center.
WHAT WE SHOULD BE DEMANDING! We should be demanding that kids never be ripped from their parents arms & that they end this barbaric zero tolerance policy. We should be pushing Congress to repeal 1325 & 1326 as a legislative fix. There's no deterrent effect to these prosecutions.
We should be demanding that in this truly horrific moment, the people we elected to office, figure out a way to FUCKING WORK TOGETHER to fix this inhumane, unimaginable, disgusting policy. Call right now and demand they #KeepFamiliesTogether 202-224-3121.
And please pledge to join a June 30 #FamiliesBelongTogether Action here: act.moveon.org/survey/June_30…
