28 MAY 2021, WASHINGTON, DC – Immigrant advocacy organization CASA issued the following statement after President Biden released the Department of Homeland Security budget for detention and detainment of immigrants.

“Last week, we celebrated the Biden administration’s closure of detention centers at Irwin and Bristol. Today, we lament that immigrant detention will continue. Detention and deportation is an immoral response to people clamoring to reunite with their families and those escaping political and economic crises. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas knows that a detention center is ‘not where a family belongs.’ The actions offered by the Biden administration must match up with their rhetoric. Fulfilling the promise to welcome immigrants and keep families together means rebuilding trust in communities that are being ripped apart. It’s possible to reimagine an immigration system without immigrant detention, and our members who have risked so much to come here and have kept us alive during a pandemic deserve no less.”

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With over 115,000 members across the states of Maryland, Virginia, and South Central Pennsylvania, CASA is the largest member-based Latino and immigrant organization in the mid-Atlantic region. Visit us at www.wearecasa.org and follow us on Twitter at @CASAforall