At least 16,000 Southeast Asian community members, mostly refugees, have received final orders of removal with at least 14,000 remaining in the U.S., meaning that tens of thousands of Southeast Asian American families are living in limbo with at least one family member at risk of arrest and deportation.
In FY 2018, 4,197 Indian nationals were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at or near the southern border, and many of whom are seeking asylum. These asylum seekers, along with many others from around the world, have been subject to harmful changes in the asylum process and harsh detention conditions.
Read more about the harmful impacts of immigration enforcement on AAPI communities in our issue brief.
Right now Congress is negotiating and deciding the budget for Fiscal Year 2020 and must make a decision by Nov. 21 in order to avoid shutting down the government. Congress can pass either a final negotiated bill or a temporary continuing resolution. No matter which path Congress takes our values and demands are the same: Congress must protect our communities by decreasing funds for ICE and CBP.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP have been responsible for incarcerating and separating families at the border and in our communities, have an alarmingly high death toll of adults and children in custody, and use coercive and abusive tactics targeting immigrant communities. And they operate bloated budgets using tax dollars that should be going to building up communities and supporting families.
TODAY, November 13,
join the Defund Hate Campaign in calling Members of Congress!
1. Dial 1-844-332-6361 and follow the instructions to connect with your Member of Congress. 2. Use the following script as a guide, we encourage you to add an example of why this is important to you and for your community.
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I'm calling from [PLACE]. I'm calling to ask [MoC] to make sure that ICE and CBP don't receive any increased funding in the short-term funding bill Congress is likely to consider in November. I expect [MoC] to oppose all requests for increased funding for these agencies--including all "anomalies" for CBP and ICE which we know they will use to expand immigrant detention and implement other cruel anti-immigrant policies. Will you commit to work to Defund Hate?
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to connect with your remaining Members of Congress. It is important that your representative and your senators hear from you!
