In response to President Trump signing the Laken Riley Act, Amy Fischer, Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Program at Amnesty International USA, made the following statement:
“The Laken Riley Act capitalizes on a horrible tragedy in order to advance President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda by scapegoating people seeking safety and stripping away their right to due process.
“This legislation mandates the arrest and detention of our undocumented neighbors for being convicted or charged of any theft, shoplifting, burglary, or larceny offense. Mandatory detention solely for being accused of theft strips people of their right to due process and constitutes arbitrary detention under international human rights law.
“The Laken Riley Act is based upon false, xenophobic narratives that dehumanize and criminalize an entire group of people due to the actions of one person. It will separate families and make our communities less safe. It is simply unconscionable for Congress to create a new mechanism that gives people the power to falsely accuse immigrants of theft knowing their detention is mandatory.
“This legislation is entirely unworkable and would necessitate billions in additional funding to have the capacity to detain every undocumented person even accused of committing a type of theft and would create chaos in the federal courts, as states will be empowered to sue the federal government on the basis of any discretionary decision to release people.
“Communities across the country are struggling to make ends meet and they deserve better than this legislation that will invest billions of their hard-earned tax dollars on mandatory detention of our immigrant neighbors rather than policies and programs that will help our communities thrive.”
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