Several weeks ago, threatening statements were made by the Trump Administration to ramp up deportations. Today, news outlets including The New York Times have reported that scheduled neighborhood ICE raids will begin this Sunday, July 14th in selected cities.
Voices for Utah Children is a non-profit advocacy organization that aims to influence policies, raise awareness, and provide data-driven research to support all children in our state, regardless of immigration status. We continue to oppose this threat that targets immigrant families and creates more fear to community members in our state.
We continue to wait for additional details regarding this operation and understand that as of now, no Utah cities are on the list. However, we understand that raids and threats of raids directly impact our state. Operations such as this run counter to the values we uphold in our state. Raids add to the climate of fear for immigrant families pushing children and parents to be more likely to miss school, work, church services, doctors’ appointments, and more. Research shows that children are negatively affected by raids, especially those who witness arrests in a home setting, being more likely to suffer from mental and behavioral health issues.
Voices for Utah Children will continue to oppose measures like this that aim to separate and bring terror to our immigrant neighbors, colleagues, friends, and loved ones. We are proud to continue being a part of the Enriching Utah Coalition to promote dialogue and policies that reflect human rights and dignity for all, including immigrants and refugees. We continue to call on our local officials to speak out against this plan and support immigrant families impacted by deportations and raids.
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