Congressman Serrano on Implementation Memo and Details of President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order

Washington, DC – US Congressman José Serrano today released the following statement on the immigration enforcement implementation memos released yesterday by the Trump Administration:

“The implementation memos released yesterday allow the Trump Administration to enact a mass deportation and detention agenda and essentially undoes decades of guidance to protect vulnerable populations while keeping our country safe.

“It takes away the whole system of prioritization in immigration enforcement- every non-citizen immigrant is at risk of deportation now- documented or undocumented. Unlike President Obama’s prioritization efforts, which sought to primarily go after criminal aliens, this memo includes anyone who is undocumented or who is a legal permanent resident with a decades old minor violation. There is no priority in the process and no one is exempted from potential deportation.

“The rules also potentially widely increases the use of expedited removal- which basically allows the removal of an individual without an immigration court hearing.  This policy was previously restricted only to areas near the border and for individuals who have been in the country less than two weeks.  These memos plan to apply the policy to the whole country and remove length of time limitations. This means that anyone can be deported, separated from their family immediately, without due process.  These efforts are unconstitutional.

“These rules not only lack common sense, they have serious implications for public safety and federal spending. Going after immigrants aggressively and indiscriminately will create more fear in immigrant communities and push individuals into the shadows. These enforcement efforts will also undermine public safety in communities with large numbers of immigrants, many of whom will be too scared to report crimes or cooperate with local law enforcement.  

“It is also going to be very expensive to implement this expansion of deportation services, which require the hiring of at least 10,000 additional immigration agents. President Trump has failed to provide a clear and sensible answer on how he intends to pay for building the wall and implementing his Executive Orders on immigration- he seems intent on wasting resources that we should be investing elsewhere as a nation. As a member of the Appropriations committee and Dean of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I will object and obstruct the allocation of any funding for the implementation of a misguided set of policies that fail to address the fundamental problems in our immigration system."

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