The Leadership Conference Condemns Return of the Trump Administration’s Family Detention Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Rachel Hooper, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Jesselyn McCurdy, executive vice president for government affairs at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s reopening of family detention centers:

“Jailing vulnerable immigrant families in U.S. detention centers, together or separately, is inhumane, unjust, and unnecessary. Locking up children is inherently harmful to their health and well-being. This most recent announcement from the administration brings up many of the same problems as its widely condemned family separation policy in 2018, which needlessly traumatized thousands of children  — many of whom were never reunited with their families. The detention system as a whole does not improve public safety or border management. Congress should not fund an expensive detention and mass deportation program that violates basic human rights standards while lining the pockets of for-profit private prison companies. We strongly condemn the expansion of facilities to detain migrant families in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and any detention or separation of children. The newly reopened family detention centers in Texas must be immediately closed, and the proponents in the administration must be held accountable for the harm caused.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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