Target: John Thune, U.S. Senate Majority Leader
Goal: Repeal law unfairly targeting non-violent immigrants.
A 10-year-old girl battling cancer, a Lebanese doctor, a student protester, European tourists, young men from Venezuela, and Native Americans: these are just some of the people targeted – and often times deported – as the president’s extreme immigration policy is carried out. The aforementioned individuals were fully certified American citizens or in the country legally. And although deportations are supposed to be targeting violent criminals, a majority of the individuals caught up in the raids have no criminal records. The Venezuelan men who were deported and sent to a brutal prison in another country were labeled as gang members simply because they had tattoos. When a judge ordered the administration to cease their deportation because the men were denied due process, the administration outright defied the order. The targeting of others, like the university student, seemed to occur for no other reason than the administration didn’t like what the individuals in question were protesting. And the reported detention of people descended from America’s first true inhabitants is an outrage unto itself.
The administration is taking these highly controversial actions by invoking a law that is shrouded in controversy itself. The Alien Enemies Act, enacted in the late 18th century, grants the president unchecked authority to summarily detain, arrest, or deport adult or teenage males who are descended from “enemy” countries. The law is only supposed to take effect during wartime, and it was last used to justify the detention of Japanese Americans in “internment” camps during World War II.
America is not at war, and its leaders should not be hiding behind a law that’s only been wielded four times in history, often accompanied by discriminatory human rights abuses. Sign the petition below to demand Congress repeal an abused dictate antithetical to American values.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Thune,
A majority of Americans support the removal of individuals with violent criminal records from the United States. What they do not support, however, is the arbitrary harassment and abuse of law-abiding individuals whose greatest offenses are exercising free speech, getting tattoos, or falling gravely ill. The current invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is dehumanizing ordinary people and violating the human rights of men, women, and children, just as it did when it was last unleashed during World War II. Even setting aside the fundamental wrongness of this law, it is being misapplied because America is not in the midst of any war, nor is the targeting exclusive to of-age males.
The notorious Alien and Sedition Acts were repealed or expired for a reason. They refute every value this nation is supposed to embody. It is far past time to take out the last act standing and cast it into the dustbin of history. Repeal the Alien Enemies Act and remove this lingering weapon of discrimination and hate once and for all.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Efrem Efre
