CAPAC Chair Chu Praises New DHS Immigration Enforcement Priorities

Washington, D.C. — Today, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced new guidelines regarding immigration enforcement priorities. The new priorities state that just being a “removable noncitizen” is no longer sufficient basis for deportation action. It also restores prosecutorial discretion for an individual’s immigration case with new mitigating factors such as one’s age, length of stay, and impact of removal on one’s family. Instead of relying on the overcriminalization of immigrants, the new rules take into account a person’s entire history in determining if they are a deportation priority. Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) issued the following statement:

“I am so thrilled to see compassion and common sense return to our country’s immigration priorities. Instead of treating all immigrants as threats, tearing apart families, and leaving ICE and others overstretched, this new guidance recognizes that immigrants are humans, many with families here, and have the ability to make great contributions to our nation. Our efforts are better spent fixing our broken immigration system rather than terrorizing undocumented communities. This is the right decision for these immigrants, their loved ones, and their communities and local economies that depend on them. And it is especially significant for Southeast Asian communities and others in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community who had been deported, threatened with deportation, or lost loved ones to deportation due to an action that may have happened decades ago. I believe we must judge people on their contributions and actions in our communities, not just by affiliations and past behaviors, and I am glad that this Administration will be looking at immigrants as whole individuals before making decisions to disrupt entire lives and communities.”