ICE is scheduled to deport 26 Black and brown families with young children from two deportation centers located in Pennsylvania and Texas on Dec. 18, according to Amnesty International
Earlier this week a federal court in Washington D.C. lifted the stay of removal protecting the groups located at the Berks and Dilley family detention centers from being deported back to their respective countries.
Advocacy groups and members of Congress are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to halt the deportations as well as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to review the asylum claims denied under Trump administration policies which have seen been overturned in federal courts.
Amnesty International points out that the UCIS has authority to intervene in these matters due to the fact that the law is being pursued in favor of outdated policies. If the families are deported, they will face the same dangers they encountered as a means for escape.
“We fled Haiti due to government violence against us. We were university students speaking out against human rights abuse, injustice,” one father told Amnesty International. “We were attacked, beaten and barely escaped. […] We came to the US thinking ‘this is where we will find refuge’, only to be thrown in prison for more than 8 months. […] We are human beings, too, our children are human beings too and should not have to suffer like this.”
Friday saw a definitive series of changes for migrants and asylum seekers as the Supreme Court dodged a ruling on whether President Trump can exclude undocumented immigrants from a key Census count, CNN reports.
Trump’s fight over the Census count is in reference to blocking civil rights to migrants who reside in the States. The Constitution requires that every 10 years persons be counted to determine the number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes based on each state’s population.
Immigrant rights activists have warned they will seek legal action if Trump’s wishes take place.
Critics of Trump’s deportation policies point to an inhumane practice of increased deportations before Trump exits office. An estimated 16,000 immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa are being held in detention centers across the United States.
In a December report from the Los Angeles Times, several migrants described abuse, violence and overall state sanctioned violence at detention centers.
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