To: President Donald Trump
Stop the deportation raids against Central American refugees
I’m writing to demand that you immediately stop the waves of deportation raids targeting children and families who fled violence, primarily from Central America.
Since 2014, at least dozens have been killed and more targeted each day shortly after being deported to countries in Central America. Your administration is sending refugees back to their deaths. It’s an affront to the values of the United States, and a possible violation of international law.
Why is this important?
In the context of these due process problems – and the ongoing danger of violence faced by Central American refugees – it is irresponsible, dangerous, and inhumane to proceed with large scale deportation raids.
Many of the immigrants who recently entered the country are fleeing violence in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala – countries with some of the highest rates of violence in the world. Much of the violence – perpetrated by police, paramilitary gangs, and drug gangs – is the legacy of decades of anti-democratic U.S. intervention in the region.
Over and over again in Latin America, the United States government has undermined democracy, supported and trained oppressive military and police forces, and sent weapons. During the cold war, in the name of fighting communism, the CIA helped overthrow democratically elected governments, replacing them with violent dictators friendly to the U.S. The notorious “School of the Americas” – a U.S. military base in Georgia – trained Latin American dictators and their paramilitary foot soldiers in the use of torture and assassinations.
The U.S. has an obligation to give refuge to all immigrants who come here to escape violence. But when children and families from Central America come to the U.S. to seek safety from the violence in their countries, the U.S. has a special responsibility, given the role it has played in the region. Instead, the Obama administration is sending people back into a violent environment the U.S. helped create, with very little regard for their safety or rights as human beings.