February, 13 2019, 11:00pm EDT
Congress Should Reject Funding Bill that Builds More Walls & Separates More Families
According to news reports, the House and Senate appear headed toward a vote on a funding bill that would, among other things, provide $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of border walls and increase the budget of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by over $500 million. Voces de la Frontera released the following statement in response:
MILWAUKEE
According to news reports, the House and Senate appear headed toward a vote on a funding bill that would, among other things, provide $1.375 billion to build 55 miles of border walls and increase the budget of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by over $500 million. Voces de la Frontera released the following statement in response:
"We oppose this bill, which builds more border walls and increases ICE's capacity to imprison and separate immigrant families," said Jose Flores, President of Voces de la Frontera. "In the last election, voters resoundingly rejected Trump's cruel attacks on immigrants and refugees. There is a broad consensus in this country against building more walls. We need to pass the clean Dream Act to provide a path to citizenship for the immigrant youth and refugee families now threatened by Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs. We need to pass a broader path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented people who call the United States home."
"During this time of abuses at the border and terrifying raids throughout the country like the raid last September in Wisconsin, we need Congress to use their power of the purse to hold ICE and Customs and Border Patrol accountable for their abuses and stop Trump's campaign of terror against immigrant communities," continued Flores. "This bill will cause more deaths at the border and wills separate more families in places like Wisconsin, and so we are urging our elected representatives to oppose it."
Voces de la Frontera is Wisconsin's leading immigrant rights group - a grassroots organization that believes power comes from below and that people can overcome injustice to build a better world.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
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According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
"That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer," the president said. "I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences—many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices. These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the Covid pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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