Press Release

Washington, D.C. – The #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign condemns the passage of the Laken Riley Act, which passed in the Senate earlier this week and in the House on Wednesday. This bill will help facilitate and accelerate the Trump administration’s cruel mass deportation agenda, mandating the indefinite detention of immigrants, including children, who are merely accused of crimes as trivial as shoplifting.

Everyone deserves to be treated fairly, and under the U.S. Constitution, everyone is entitled to due process, including immigrants. This bill exploits the tragic death of Laken Riley to upend this fundamental right and hasten unlawful detention and deportations of immigrants and people seeking safety. In practice, it will promote racial profiling, inject more chaos in our immigration system, and inflict immeasurable suffering on our neighbors, loved ones, and community members.

“This law is the direct result of political cowardice,” said Hannah Flamm, Acting Policy Director at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). “The Laken Riley Act does not make anyone safer: it opportunistically exploits a tragic death to advance a vicious political agenda to deprive immigrants of basic rights and liberties. Apart from its senseless provisions authorizing mandatory detention–without conviction or even charges filed–for alleged petty crimes, this law hands out new powers on immigration matters to state attorneys general that could wreak havoc on federal courts and U.S. foreign policy. It gives local politicians seeking to scapegoat immigrant populations veto power over matters of national diplomacy. Without national political leadership championing human dignity and immigrant rights unequivocally, we are entering a race to the bottom with no end. Now is the time for Congress to provide a check on the Trump administration’s mounting assault on migrant rights.”

“This cruel legislation represents a direct attack on the principles of justice and due process that should protect all people, regardless of their immigration status,” said Estuardo Cifuentes, Program Manager for Project Corazon at Lawyers for Good Government.  “As a survivor of inhumane immigration policies, I have witnessed the profound suffering these measures inflict on those of us who are simply seeking safety. This bill perpetuates a system of exclusion and pain for vulnerable communities. Now, more than ever, we must reject these cruel policies and advocate for an immigration system that places human dignity at the core of its principles.”

“It is disappointing to see Congress exploit the tragic death of Laken Riley to erode the rights of immigrants, including children,” said Kate Jastram, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). “This bill was premised on the false notion that punishing immigrants and gutting due process somehow makes us safer. Lawmakers justified their ‘yes’ votes with rhetoric that demonizes and stokes fear against immigrants. We deserve better leadership. We urge Congress to advance real solutions to the challenges facing our communities.”

“The Laken Riley Act capitalizes on a horrible tragedy in order to advance President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda by scapegoating people seeking safety and stripping away their right to due process,” said Amy Fischer, Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Program at Amnesty International USA. “It will separate families and make our communities less safe. It is simply unconscionable to create a new mechanism that gives people the power to falsely accuse immigrants of theft knowing their detention is mandatory.”

“LSSNCA is gravely concerned about the violation of due process and the impact that the Laken Riley Act will have on our community,” said Kristyn Peck, CEO of Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area. “This bill mandates indefinite detention and deportation for our non-citizen neighbors, including children, accused – not convicted – of nonviolent offenses, like shoplifting. Expanding the grounds for mandatory detention is unnecessary, as migrants arrested for crimes were already subjected to detention. This bill undermines a core principle of our nation’s justice system: all people are innocent until proven guilty. Policies that mandate detention and deportation are not only unjust, they are harmful to families and our communities.”

“Congress is rolling out the red carpet for an already emboldened anti-immigrant administration, giving the President more tools to criminalize, detain, and deport massive amounts of people while denying them their due process rights,” said Alvaro M. Huerta, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (“ImmDef”). “Perhaps the worst part is that this was accomplished with the support of dozens of Democrats who have abandoned immigrant communities for the sake of political expediency. For shame.”

“The Advocates for Human Rights decries the passage of the Laken Riley Act.  The bill will subject people to arbitrary and prolonged detention by requiring immigration detention with no possibility of bond for individuals merely arrested for low-level theft offenses.  While framed as a bill to protect women, it does the exact opposite,” said Lindsey Greising, Policy Counsel at The Advocates for Human Rights.  “As experts in gender-based violence and human trafficking, we know that abusers use threats of arrest and deportation to trap victims in harmful situations.  By passing the Laken Riley Act, the US Congress has given abusers a way to turn those threats into reality, using false reports of crimes and the threat of indefinite detention as a weapon against their victims. The bill also makes our communities less safe by dismantling trust between law enforcement and noncitizen populations.  We will continue to protect the rights of people to be free from human rights abuses like prolonged detention while urging the US Government to cease its political games with the lives of survivors and noncitizens.”

Robyn Barnard, senior director for refugee advocacy at Human Rights First said: “The Laken Riley Act is a blatant violation of the fundamental right to due process – a right to which we are all entitled, no matter when or how we arrived in the United States. This bill will have far-reaching consequences on members of our communities – including children – merely accused of minor crimes such as shoplifting. At a time when the rights of immigrant communities are under attack, it is devastating to see the passage of a bill that accelerates the Trump Administration’s agenda of detention, deportation, and family separation.”