Dear Senator:
I urge you to oppose the Toomey Amendment, which fails to address the urgent need to protect DACA and TPS holders and their families and instead would undermine public safety, cut off vital funding for economic development and job creation, and erode core due process protections.
By undercutting the institutions that are working toward community development, economic recovery, and job creation, this bill is an attack on all working people. By withholding federal funding for Community Development Block and Economic Development Administration Grants, this amendment will cut off much-needed support to low-income working people and reduce investment in economically distressed communities.
Effective community policing requires trust between law enforcement and community members, which this amendment would erode. The anti-detainer policies passed by hundreds of jurisdictions around the country have made it harder for abusive employers to use the threat of deportation as a weapon. Workers should not have to worry that an employer’s false tip to the police could set deportation proceedings in motion, yet this amendment would make that type of retaliation much more likely to occur.
This amendment would also erode adherence to core constitutional principles. Due process is the foundation of our legal system, and is critical to overcoming entrenched patterns of discrimination and racial profiling in law enforcement. Community trust policies do not prevent agencies from cooperating with federal immigration efforts; they merely insist that cooperation will only occur when duly ordered by the courts.
Rather than doubling down on enforcement strategies that criminalize our immigrant communities, we call upon you to protect DREAMERS and TPS holder and oppose the Toomey Amendment.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director Government Affairs Department