Uphold Human Dignity
Stop harmful deportation practices.
Across the United States, recent immigration enforcement practices have raised significant concerns among faith leaders, humanitarian organizations, and communities nationwide. These policies have impoverished and torn apart families, disrupted community life, and challenged widely shared principles of human dignity and due process.
What You Can Do
Take action today by sending a letter to your elected officials.
Why This Matters
Many individuals currently caught in mass deportation actions are non-criminal residents — people without any criminal convictions, with humanitarian ties, and deep connections to the United States, including families with U.S. citizen children.
Key Problems Identified
- Detaining and deporting persons without criminal records, including asylum-seekers, individuals stripped of temporary status on humanitarian grounds, and long-term residents with strong family ties in the U.S.
- Conducting enforcement in sensitive locations like schools, courts, hospitals, and places of worship where people are fulfilling essential, lawful duties.
- Harsh enforcement tactics that have led to fear, civil unrest, and harm to U.S. families and community cohesion.
- Removing individuals to third countries where they have no connection and may face danger or persecution.
How Communities Are Affected
- Families separated and children left without caregivers
- Community fear and reduced trust in local systems
- Barriers to accessing essential services (school, medical care, legal help, worship)
- Increased trauma and disruptions in education, health, and civic engagement
Core Issues in Enforcement Practices
- Targeting Non-Criminal IndividualsMany people caught in enforcement efforts have no criminal histories. These include asylum-seekers and individuals with longstanding community ties, including families with U.S. citizen children.
- Sensitive LocationsSchools, hospitals, courts, and houses of worship are considered sensitive according to long-standing enforcement guidance, yet enforcement actions still occur in these spaces, affecting education access, care, and participation in civic and spiritual life.
- Enforcement Tactics & Community ImpactAggressive tactics have led to fear, civic unrest, harm to individuals, and disrupted community life.
- Third-Country RemovalsThe practice of removing individuals to countries where they have no ties raises serious safety and humanitarian concerns.
Policy Approaches Under Discussion
Below are examples of policy ideas and legislation under discussion that aim to address concerns raised by communities and faith leaders:
– Updating Immigration Law
Proposals like the Renewing Immigration Provisions of the Immigration Act of 1929 (H.R. 4696 / S. 2468) would advance the admission cut-off date, offering a path to legal status for long-term residents with good moral character.
– Protecting Sensitive Locations
Legislative language such as found in the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act (S. 455 / H.R. 1061) would restrict immigration enforcement near schools, hospitals, courts, and places of worship, except in specific exigent circumstances.
Additional Actions You Can Take
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are “sensitive locations”?
Sensitive locations include places where people must go to meet essential needs or obligations, such as schools, hospitals, courts, and places of worship. Immigration enforcement actions in these spaces can prevent families from seeking medical care, attending school, worshiping freely, or fulfilling legal responsibilities.
Who is being impacted by these deportation practices?
Many people affected by mass deportation policies have no criminal records or only minor immigration or traffic violations. This includes asylum-seekers, individuals stripped of temporary status on humanitarian grounds, and undocumented people with strong ties to the United States — including parents of U.S. citizen children.
Why are current enforcement tactics raising concerns in communities?
Harsh enforcement tactics have terrorized targeted communities, separated families, and impoverished households. These practices have also fueled civic unrest, led to the detention of U.S. citizens, and raised serious concerns about accountability and the rule of law.
What does it mean to remove someone to a “third country”?
Third-country removals refer to deporting individuals to countries where they have no personal or family ties. People removed to third countries have been brutalized in foreign prisons and left stranded in communities in which they have no ties.
