Everyone - regardless of #immigration status or criminal history - deserves dignity and human rights. I hope that US elected officials will stand up to this outrageous, and unprecedented, "agreement" that will undoubtedly result in torture and death. 5/

Conditions in the jails have been reported as "hellish" - characterized by a lack of medical care, lack of food & water, and cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment frequently meted out, including torture. More than 300 people have died in custody since 2022. 4/

The president of El Salvador, #Bukele, is a self-declared "world's coolest dictator" who has rounded up more than 80,000 Salvadorans since taking office and declaring a state of emergency. He acknowledged in November that at least 8000 of those people were innocent. 3/

Nearly 2% of El Salvador's population is behind bars. For those incarcerated, there is virtually no due process - mass trials, judges whose identity is withheld, no presumption of innocence and no right to a fair trial. amnesty.org/en/latest/ne... 2/

The weaponization of language is real; discursive strategies used by authoritarians are dangerous and intentional. This memo - short, pithy and matter of fact - should scare those of us who care about noncitizens. 7/

Instead, the memo focuses on the testimony (?) of two judges, themselves immigrants, who preach the privilege and "treasure" that is US Citizenship. They say, essentially, that they are unbothered by this word, so we should be too. 6/

Notably absent from the memo are the myriad ways in which this word has been used as a weapon - to dehumanize, exclude and even to incite violence. 5/

Al*en connotes strangeness, inferiority and outsider status; of course, that matters - legally, socially and politically. The author knows this. The term helps reinforce nativist sentiment, emphasizing those who belong, and those who don't. 4/

The memo - without a hint of irony - further states that "words matter." Which I suppose is why they insist on using a term that is as inaccurate/imprecise as it is dehumanizing. 3/

PM 25-07 recommends against using the word noncitizen, & suggests using "al*en" instead. The memo says that there is "no need to be offended" by this word & it's "not an insult." 2/
www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...

If your senator voted yes to discussion, please call them now & urge them to vote NO. It's just 8 horrible pages & can be found below (rumor is that many have not even read the text).

☎️ Please call your Senators now, 202-224-3121, and urge them to vote NO. 7/
www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

The following senators voted NO to even discussing this horrific bill - Booker, Hirono, Kim, Markey, Merkley, Sanders, Schatz, Smith & Warren.

Please take the time to call these senators and thank them. 6/

Sadly, the foundation for Trump's mass deportation agenda was laid a long time ago. But this bill adds dangerous new tools to Trump's toolbox. It will sow fear and terror in immigrant communities and enable even more racial profiling. 5/

This bill is a gift to abusive partners & employers. You want to punish your spouse? Accuse her of a theft crime. You want to get off the hook for paying your employee? Accuse him of a theft crime. B/c no conviction is required, allegations alone are enough to get someone locked up indefinitely. 4/

The bill will give the power to states - and anti-immigrant Attorney Generals like Ken Paxton - to sue the federal gov't for a breathtaking number of immigration related decisions. Even where the state has no legitimate interest in doing so. This will create fear and chaos. 3/

This bill requires ICE to detain any noncitizen who is *arrested or charged* for a theft offense. This means that a mom who shoplifts milk for her baby or a kid with DACA who shoplifts candy from CVS - or anyone *accused of doing these things* - will be detained w/ no opp for release on bond. 2/