The Trump administration has dramatically ramped up immigration arrests inside the US while it scapegoats millions of people by painting them as violent criminals who should be deported.
The administration claims it is focusing on serious, violent criminals, but President Trump’s new policies make every unauthorized immigrant a target, regardless of their actual criminal histories. The crackdown is also sweeping in immigrants who are legal residents but who have been convicted of sometimes only minor or old criminal offenses. . Many of the people targeted for deportation have strong family and community ties in the United States.
The impact of these arrest and deportation policies is borne by people who in no way present a threat to national security or public safety—including the mothers and fathers of US citizen children, tax-paying employees, and respected community members who are being arrested, locked up, and deported. Our researchers have traveled to interview people who have recently been deported—or are facing potential deportation---since President Trump was elected. These are their stories.
If you would like to share your story, please contact us.
Mission: English:
Human Rights Watch is seeking individuals with first-hand experience as part of an investigation into the impact on American families when immigrants are deported for criminal convictions. HRW will publish a report on its findings. Our immediate focus is on immigrants who have been convicted of drug offenses, but we are also interested in cases involving other types of offenses.
Human Rights Watch does not provide legal representation in individual cases. However, we plan to advocate for changes in US immigration law and policy to ensure that any immigrant facing deportation receives a hearing that includes individualized consideration of all the factors in their case (including family ties, community ties, military service, and other relevant considerations). We also seek to create avenues for immigrants who have already been deported to have a reasonable opportunity to reunite with their families in the United States.
Human Rights Watch in 2007 and 2009 produced a series of reports called "Forced Apart." We estimated that from 1997 to 2007, over a million spouses and children, including US citizens, had been forced apart from their loved ones by punitive and inflexible deportation policies for immigrants with criminal convictions. (For more information, see the report links below.)
We now plan to update those reports to include data and personal stories involving people who were deported or detained for criminal convictions from 2008 to the present. Personal accounts from individuals and families directly affected by these laws are crucial for an understanding of the impact of these policies on ordinary people.
Please send a direct message to us or email Grace Meng, researcher, at [email protected], if you would like to share your experience or if you have any questions. If you would like to keep your identity confidential, we can leave out your name and other identifying details from our reporting. We take our commitment to respecting confidentiality very seriously, as our work depends on earning and keeping the trust of those who share their stories with us.
Español:
Human Rights Watch desea contactarse con personas que hayan tenido experiencias directas relevantes para una investigación que evalúa el impacto en las familias estadounidenses de la deportación por condenas penales de inmigrantes. HRW publicará un informe a partir de estos hallazgos. Nos enfocaremos, en primer lugar, en inmigrantes que hayan sido condenados por delitos relacionados con drogas, pero también nos interesa recibir información sobre otro tipo de delitos.
Human Rights Watch no ofrece representación legal en casos individuales. Sin embargo, nuestra intención es exigir cambios en la legislación y las políticas estadounidenses para garantizar que todos los inmigrantes que puedan ser deportados tengan acceso a una audiencia en la cual se consideren de manera individualizada todos los factores del caso (incluidos vínculos familiares, lazos con la comunidad, si se prestó servicio militar y otros factores relevantes). También deseamos establecer vías por medio de las cuales los inmigrantes que ya hayan sido deportados tengan una posibilidad razonable de reunirse con sus familias en Estados Unidos.
Human Rights Watch produjo en 2007 y 2009 una serie de informes denominados “Separación forzosa” (Forced Apart). Según nuestras estimaciones, entre 1997 y 2007, más de un millón de cónyuges e hijos, incluidos ciudadanos estadounidenses, fueron separados de sus seres queridos como resultado de políticas de deportación inflexibles y de contenido punitivo aplicadas a inmigrantes con antecedentes penales. (Para obtener más información, ver los enlaces a informes que se presentan más adelante).
En esta oportunidad, nos hemos propuesto actualizar estos informes e incluir información y testimonios individuales de personas que hayan sido deportadas o detenidas por condenas penales desde 2008 hasta hoy. El testimonio personal de individuos y familias directamente afectados por estas leyes es clave para entender el impacto que estas políticas han tenido para las personas comunes.
Lo invitamos a enviarnos un mensaje directo o comunicarse por correo electrónico con la investigadora Grace Meng, escribiendo a la dirección [email protected], si desea compartir su experiencia o si tiene preguntas. Si desea que su identidad se mantenga bajo reserva, podemos excluir de la información que publiquemos su nombre y otros datos que podrían facilitar su identificación. Consideramos fundamental nuestro compromiso de respetar la confidencialidad, dado que nuestro trabajo depende de obtener y mantener la confianza de quienes nos transmiten sus historias.