WASSERMAN SCHULTZ ON TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN

WASHINGTON D.C. — U. S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23) issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s mass deportation plan:

“President Trump’s mass deportation plan is cruel, costly and dangerous, and it undermines America’s long-held values of due process and welcoming immigrants to our shores.

The human toll will be immeasurable. It will tear apart families, and incite panic as untold numbers of our friends, co-workers and neighbors will now be frightened just to go to work, school or the hospital. Many more will now avoid police, even if they’re victims of a crime.

The costs to staff up Trump’s mass deportation machine will also siphon away scarce federal funds better spent on our nation’s health and education needs. Worse, these plans actually make our communities less safe: instead of specifically targeting truly dangerous criminals, resources will now be diverted to focusing needless attention on any deportable immigrant, regardless of the threat they may, or may not, pose to a community or our national security.

Trump’s mass deportation plans are also likely to unleash serious due process abuses. Not only will he target those convicted of petty crimes, but the guidelines allow immigration agents to pursue those merely suspected of committing a crime.

These guidelines will cause chaos throughout entire communities around the country, and will undoubtedly drag us even further away from the sensible conversation we must have on comprehensive immigration reform. This is an especially mean-spirited and narrow-minded immigration policy, and I will join with Democrats in opposing it at any turn.”

###