PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
July 20, 2015
NATIONAL HISPANIC LEADERSHIP AGENDA CALLS FOR AN END TO SCAPEGOATING IMMIGRANTS
Rushed political reaction to tragedy in San Francisco is recipe for bad policy
Washington, D.C. –The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 39 of the nation’s preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, is calling on Members of Congress to stop politically exploiting the tragic death of Kathryn Steinle by rushing to propose harsh policies that will erode rather than improve public safety.
In recent weeks, a number of Senators and U.S. Representatives have proposed legislation, held hearings, and unfairly characterized immigrants as criminals in terms that mirror those recently made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. These assertions are erroneous at best, as numerous studies have found that immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans, less likely to commit crimes, and less likely to be repeat offenders.
Current proposals in Congress could result in harsh deportation and detention policies that go beyond impacting those involved in violent crimes. The federal government has tried harsh immigration removal policies in the recent past – known as Secure Communities – which federal courts found to be unconstitutional, and which failed to promote public safety. Instead, Secure Communities tore families apart by deporting individuals for minor non-violent offenses and created a fear of authorities that undermined cooperation with local law enforcement.
“We send our deepest condolences to the family of Kathryn Steinle, who tragically lost her life in a senseless act by an evil individual. We also condemn the politicians who are trying to score points off of her family's terrible loss. No responsible public official – Republican or Democrat – should scapegoat the Latino community or use this isolated tragedy as an excuse to implement harsh policies that only serve to satisfy the anti-immigrant impulses of certain politicians while doing nothing to improve public safety,” said Hector Sanchez, NHLA Chair and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. “We don’t need knee-jerk reactions. We need thoughtful immigration reform legislation to fix our broken immigration system from the bottom up.”
“It is always dangerous to make policy based on a single incident, no matter how tragic, and particularly when policy is formed precipitously, without considering or even knowing all the facts and carefully weighing them,” stated Thomas A. Saenz, NHLA Vice Chair and President and General Counsel of MALDEF. “In this instance, policymakers seem to be drawing all of the wrong conclusions; the tragic murder in San Francisco strongly suggests the folly in ever using deportation as a tool of criminal justice.”
“Congress must not capitulate to those who are eager to exploit this senseless and tragic murder to advance their anti-immigrant agenda,” stated Jose Calderon, President of the Hispanic Federation. “It is the latest appalling attempt to make ‘criminal’ and ‘immigrant’ synonymous, and we condemn any attempts to use this tragedy to tear immigrant families apart and, ultimately, undermine the public safety of cities across our nation.”
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Established in 1991, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. In 2013, NHLA launched the Latinos United for Immigration Reform campaign. For more information, please visit www.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
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