{"id":22900,"date":"2020-08-30T21:20:19","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T01:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?p=22900"},"modified":"2020-09-02T12:02:39","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T16:02:39","slug":"aa-house-transform-dhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/aa-house-transform-dhs\/","title":{"rendered":"AA House Transform DHS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo courtesy NBC News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Action Alert: Transform the Department of Homeland Security and provide relief to immigrant families!\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Urge our Representatives to strengthen oversight of DHS in its FY2021 Appropriations bill<\/b><\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security includes the agencies that enforce immigration and customs laws, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and provide services for immigrants\u2019 legal residence and citizenship, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).\u00a0 UUSJ encourages that these immigration-related agencies, which have aggressively enforced anti-immigrant policies, placed the lives of asylum-seekers at risk, and spent millions on an ineffective border wall, be strictly controlled.<\/span><\/p>\n

We must urge our Representatives now to set limits on both funding and policy for DHS enforcement agencies for the Fiscal Year 2021, which begins October 1.\u00a0 The only leverage that Congress has at this point is appropriations to run the agency.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Description of the issue<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The House of Representatives\u2019 Appropriations Committee introduced to the full House a bill (H.R. 7669) covering appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for FY2021. It was originally, in July, part of an omnibus bill including six other federal departments, but the DHS component was separated out and not approved by the full House. Concerns exist about ICE\/CBP mismanagement, re-prioritizing contrary to enacted legislation and the non-transparency for which DHS has become known.<\/p>\n

UUSJ supports all the provisions strengthening oversight currently included in HR7669. These would, inter alia: (i) prohibit funds beyond the minimum appropriated to be used for constructing border barriers, (ii) eliminate most reprogramming authority, (iii) stop ICE from deporting US residents who are willing to accept custody of unaccompanied minors, (iv) ensure Members of Congress can have access to detention facilities, (v) prohibit obstruction of migrant access to legal counsel and (vi) ensure migrants are advised of their rights when held in CBP custody. The current proposed bill also reduces the FY funding for ICE and CBP below FY2020 enacted levels.<\/p>\n

The US House of Representatives will either take up DHS appropriations before the end of September or pass a Continuing Resolution to maintain current funding levels until after the elections. In either case, UUSJ recommends you encourage your Congressperson to pass funding for DHS now that strengthens Congressional oversight of this agency as much as possible. Just passing a Continuing Resolution now will allow sustained suffering and uncertainty for thousands of immigrants and asylum-seekers.<\/p>\n

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Why it\u2019s important<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

DHS has become what some call a \u201crogue\u201d agency, introducing inhumane policies and practices that ignore US commitments under national and international law to provide asylum-seekers due process, not to detain minors for more than 20 days, and to provide adequate conditions for those in detention.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Detainees have died in DHS custody, <\/span>including of COVID-19<\/b>, and tens of thousands of asylum-seekers have been returned to Mexico and refused due process consideration of their claims on any reasonable schedule. Courts have determined that children being held too long by ICE with their family members must be released but the deadline for that has passed and children are still being held.\u00a0 Thousands of human beings are suffering physically and psychologically from their treatment by DHS enforcement agencies.\u00a0 There are alternatives to detention that are far more cost-effective, but DHS will not use them. DHS has recently started to ignore information requests from Congressional committees responsible for its oversight.\u00a0 <\/span>The only leverage that Congress has at this point is over appropriations to run the agency<\/b>.\u00a0 This is where we need to focus our support for constraints and limitations that will begin to transform DHS.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Suggested Talking Points<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

[It is most effective use your own examples, tell your story, and\/or d<\/i>raw on some of these suggested points]<\/i><\/p>\n