American citizens have formed a group called ‘Connected Americans’ to denounce the immigration policy of Donald Trump’s Government and stop the mass arrests and deportations “that have devastated their families.”
According to a statement and its social networks, the group held an event in Philadelphia, a symbolic city for being “the cradle of the nation” on its 250th anniversary, attended by a hundred participants from all over the country to tell the stories of their families and communities affected by these policies.
Among the participants mentioned, a professor from Pennsylvania named Angela, reported that her husband has been transferred “16 times to 11 (detention) centers in the last 8 months” and in different states, even having won his immigration case, while she keeps her family together.
Josué, a pastor from Texas, revealed that in his congregation there are members in custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and “people are afraid,” and Nathaly, a teacher from New Jersey, said that at her school the children “are worried about their parents.”
«Some don’t know if their dad or mom will be there when they get home. That fear follows them to class, it affects their concentration, their attendance and their ability to be completely children,” added the last one, who advocated inspiring others to speak and take action.
Other activist groups have expressed their support for this movement of Americans, such as Shared Future and United we Dream, two important pro-immigrant networks that mobilize young people and fight for the rights of “dreamers” (beneficiaries of the DACA program).
During the event, held at the beginning of the month, there was a round table moderated by journalist Paola Ramos, participants were able to attend training, strategy sessions and other activities to have “tools” for action and awareness about the immigration system, the note indicates.
See this post on Instagram
Revoke citizenship
On the other hand, the United States Department of Justice has begun the process to revoke the citizenship of more than 350 people throughout the country, as revealed by The New York Times.
As Donald Trump’s Government officials revealed to the newspaper, the US Justice Department will soon present civil lawsuits to denaturalize these individuals and hopes to expand and accelerate these processes throughout the country.
For the government to revoke someone’s citizenship, it has to prove to a court that the individual obtained it fraudulently or illegally, for example by concealing a criminal record of crimes that would make him or her unfit for citizenship, or having entered into a fictitious marriage.
This process, however, can only be applied to “naturalized citizens,” as people who were not born in the United States but obtained citizenship after immigrating to the country are known.
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told the New York newspaper that the Trump Administration is seeking to achieve “the highest volume” of citizenship revocations “in history.”
In July of last year, the department released a memo directing its Civil Affairs Division to focus on citizenship revocation cases.
The document listed a list of individuals for the Department to prioritize in these processes, including people with links to terrorism, drug trafficking, involved in human trafficking or who have committed public aid fraud.
Among the requirements to obtain citizenship, which if not met can lead to it being revoked, is also “good moral character”, a term that is not specifically defined in the law and which, as some organizations have warned, can lead to citizenship being revoked for actions “protected by the First Amendment”, such as protesting.
«The Trump Administration has arrested, detained and deported pro-Palestinian protesters who attended protests where goods and property were damaged. “Denaturalization could become an extension of those attempts,” said a report by the Brennan Center for Justice.
