Following ICE Raids, Make the Road New York Provides Know Your Rights Information to Community

NEW YORK (February 13th, 2017) - In response to a "Fact Sheet" that the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement released today seeking to vilify immigrants victimized by its raids over the past week, Deborah Axt, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York, issued the following statement on behalf of the organization’s 20,000 members:

"ICE continues to try to obscure the fact that the principal effect of its raids is to separate families and sow panic in the immigrant community. In the latest 'Fact Sheet,' ICE attempts to paint 41 individuals with one brush by sharing selective information about only three of those individuals. Even if true, the extremely limited information shared is outrageously incomplete; it lacks any contextual information about mitigating factors surrounding the criminal convictions, the timing of the criminal convictions listed, and positive work that the individuals indicated may have contributed to our communities in the intervening period of time, for example. We will not be fooled by the spin of this notoriously non-transparent agency, which has a long track record of being dishonest in its operations. The agency's effort to cast immigrants as criminals is an extension of the hateful rhetoric that President Trump used throughout his campaign. We demand that ICE cease its raids. We demand that Members of Congress and other leaders in relationship with President Trump use all of their influence to end these attacks on our communities."

Dear Benjamin, Over the past week, ICE raids have torn five families apart in Staten Island, and 41 across New York. Members of Congress can stop this.  In Staten Island, Congressman Dan Donovan has refused to denounce the raids--and he previously has supported President Trump's anti-immigrant policies. Tomorrow , Valentine’s Day, call (718) 351-1062  to tell Dan Donovan:  DON’T LET ICE TEAR FAMILIES APART. We are working with our partners around the country to let members of Congress in every state and every district know that we’ll hold them accountable.  They must use every ounce of influence to stop #ICERaids. Call now to tell Dan Donovan:  Every time a family is torn apart in your district, every time a child comes home from school to find a parent has been taken, we will hold you responsible. You must take action to  stop #ICERaids.