In response to President Trump issuing an executive order to address the crisis his administration’s anti-immigrant policies have created, Johanna Calle, director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, released the following statement, “This executive order does little to fix the immigration crisis Trump’s administration has created and jails children with parents, continuing the practice of detaining families who are seeking refuge. Family detention centers are not the answer. Putting families behind bars and giving them no real chance to appeal their case for asylum goes against the American tradition of welcoming migrants and refugees. In recent months we’ve heard not only the cries of families from the border but those of families in our own state where parents have been arrested by ICE and separated from their children. New Jersey’s ICE’s operations have called our families criminals and have detained thousands in our own backyard. Immigrant advocates across the state call on New Jersey to ensure that no local and state resources are going towards supporting ICE’s federal immigration enforcement tactics.”

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