FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2017

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, delatorre@nilc-ijf.org

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions today released a memo guiding federal prosecutors to engage in extreme tactics and aggressively pursue charges against immigrants and those who engage in daily interactions with immigrants. Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund.

“Attorney General Sessions seems intent on dusting off Arizona’s failed anti-immigrant playbook and forcing it upon the rest of us. If followed, the recommendations highlighted in his memo wouldn’t just criminalize immigrants who have been contributing to our communities for decades, but also the native-born Sunday school teachers, friends, and loved ones we live with.

“These recommendations are harmful to public safety and community unity. President Trump and Sessions have asked for billions of dollars to help enact their mass deportation agenda, and Congress is deciding now whether to finance it. The question facing House Speaker Paul Ryan is clear: Do Republicans take a stand for their communities, or do they embrace this police-state vision for America?”

# # #