According to new data provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), immigration arrests are up nearly 40% since Trump signed an executive order on immigration enforcement, and more than half include people without a criminal record.
In response, Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition issued the following statement:
“It is a senseless use of law enforcement resources to police working people who pay taxes and are members of our communities. Despite the President’s stated goal of only going after the “bad hombres,” he’s targeting parents who are just trying to put food on the table to feed their families. We will not be safer when a whole group of people are needlessly criminalized and therefore afraid to report crimes or serve as witnesses. This is not who we are as Americans, and this is not our New York."
###
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) is an umbrella policy and advocacy organization for nearly 200 groups in New York State that work with immigrants and refugees. The NYIC aims to achieve a fairer and more just society that values the contributions of immigrants and extends opportunity to all by promoting immigrants’ full civic participation, fostering their leadership, and providing a unified voice and a vehicle for collective action for New York’s diverse immigrant communities.