BALTIMORE – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, issued the following statement on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidance on immigration released Monday. Senator Cardin toured the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend, assessing security and counter-narcotics operations as well as the processing of undocumented migrants crossing into the United States.

“Like the President’s executive orders on immigration, these DHS guidelines will do more to harm national security and public safety than help. President Trump is fracturing longstanding bipartisan consensus that comprehensive immigration reform and efforts to improve border security must go hand in hand, a concept reinforced to me this weekend when I visited the US-Mexican border. Rather than double-down with a new executive order later this week, the President instead should repeal his early actions and work with Congress to pass bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform and my End Racial and Religious Profiling Act (ERRPA, S. 411).

“Turning away legitimate asylum seekers at the border, and requiring mandatory detention of families and children, will do nothing to make America safer. Such cruel actions will inevitably bring harm and potentially death to survivors of violence and torture, including many women and children, while undermining America’s values and damaging our relationships with our allies.

“Enlisting local police to carry out federal immigration law enforcement and raids to deport long-time residents, instead of focusing on violent criminals and repeat offenders, will further strain the relationship between our police and local communities.  These actions will invite widespread and harmful racial and discriminatory profiling and instill fear throughout communities across America.  Arbitrarily cutting off federal funds to state and local law enforcement agencies will make our communities less safe.”

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