JACL Condemns Proposed Reinstatement of Family Detention Policies

The JACL is shocked and deeply concerned by reports that the Biden Administration is considering the reinstatement of the practice of family detention. During his presidential campaign, President Biden spoke out against previous policies of detention and incarceration at our borders. A return to the detention of immigrant families would solve none of the problems with our broken immigration system.

Japanese Americans know all too well the impact of indefinite family incarceration. The traumas inflicted upon the families will carry on for generations. These are families seeking a better life, and we are adding to the pain and trauma they are already experiencing fleeing their homes.

Especially at a time when xenophobic rhetoric is leading to a rise in attacks on marginalized communities, including Asian Americans, we denounce any consideration to reinstate a policy of family detention as inhumane and in violation of our country’s morals. Our nation was built to be a beacon of hope and safety for those seeking a better life, a better existence. The Statue of Liberty, one of these symbols of hope and freedom even reads “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses.” Let us live up to these tenets we have held so dearly as a country.

We call on President Biden to reiterate his opposition to the detention of immigrant families and ensure that we do not return to such immoral and un-American policies.