End the Shutdown so Good Faith Negotiations on Immigration Can Begin

WASHINGTON, DC - In response to President Trump's January 19, 2019, speech, Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) issued the following statement:

"After nearly three years of vilifying immigrants and playing a game of bait-and-switch by constantly changing position at the last minute, the President has repeatedly shown that he cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith on this issue.

"Skepticism is also warranted when the President is attempting to use his own failed policies as bargaining chips. He has done everything he can to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, putting Dreamers' lives at risk, and now says he'll bring it back. He has systematically ended Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 people over the past two years, and now says he's willing to restore it. He ended in-country refugee processing for Central American minors as soon as he took office and now says he will implement a program that sounds strangely similar to the one he cancelled. He created a humanitarian crisis by separating and jailing Central American families and children and blocking their fair access to asylum, and now he says he wants to protect them too.

"Based on this track record, there can be no deal with the Trump administration until an actual offer can be seen in black and white, and any agreement must include strong protections to prevent the President from reneging on the deal and returning to his attacks on immigrants. It's time to re-open the government so lawmakers can begin serious talks to reform our immigration system."

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.