My hope is that he will exercise that authority on behalf of the parents of those childrenU.S. citizens. permanent residents. and DREAMers. My hope is that he will ease some of the arbitrary restrictions that prevent the DOCA program from achieving its full purposerestrictions like the cutoff age. As he acts to exercise his prosecutorial discretion with respect to deportation. he should also consider his administrations policies with respect to detention. As I wrote to the President earlier this year. along with my colleague and friend Chairman LEAHY. I believe the administrations decision to dramatically expand the detention of whole families. many of whom have shown a credible fear of being returned to dangerous situations in their home countries. is counterproductive and harmful. Migrants must be given an adequate opportunity to show they have a valid claim as refugees. The policy of indiscriminately holding families in enormous. privately run facilities leads to inhumane living conditions. Violence against women and children and simply inefficient use of resources are more the rule than the exception. Warehousing young children in complexes that are little more than jails is deeply incompatible with our national values and it serves none of the goals of an effective immigration system. Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Keywords matched
Migrants deportation refugees immigration