MALDEF DENOUNCES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DECISION TO END TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR SALVADORAN IMMIGRANTS

Los Angeles, CA – Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), issued the following statement today in response to the Trump Administration’s announcement that it will end temporary protected status (TPS) for more than a quarter of a million immigrants from El Salvador:

MALDEF DENOUNCES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DECISION TO END TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN REFUGEES

(Los Angeles, CA) – Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), issued the following statement today in response to the Trump Administration’s announcement that it will end temporary protected status (TPS) for refugees displaced by a devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti:

MALDEF STATEMENT ON DETENTION OF 10-YEAR-OLD ROSA MARIA HERNANDEZ BY BORDER PATROL AGENTS

(Los Angeles, CA) Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), released the following statement today in response to the detention of Rosa Maria Hernandez, a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who underwent emergency gallbladder surgery in Texas. Rosa, a Mexican national, was detained by Border Patrol agents at the hospital where she was recovering and transferred to a San Antonio immigration detention facility for minors. She remains in custody and separated from her family.

MALDEF STATEMENT ON NEW REPORT INDICATING LASD PROVIDED DETAILED INMATE INFORMATION DIRECTLY TO ICE

(Los Angeles, CA) Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), released the following statement today in response to a new report by the Office of Inspector General County of Los Angeles. The report found Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department staff shared detailed information about inmates held in its jails directly with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Ice Out of Communities

MALDEF has sponsored or backed legislation nationwide to fight the Trump administration’s war on immigrants, including California’s SB 54, which limits cooperation by state and local officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal authorities.

TESTIMONY OF THOMAS A. SAENZ, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, MALDEF BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

Good afternoon. My name is Thomas A. Saenz, and I am president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), which, next year, will celebrate 50 years promoting the civil rights of all Latinos living in the United States. MALDEF is headquartered in Los Angeles, with regional offices in Chicago; San Antonio, where we were founded; and Washington, D.C.

MALDEF, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION, CA SECRETARY OF STATE RESPOND TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DISCRIMINATORY POLICIES

Los Angeles, CA – Civil rights groups and the California Secretary of State vowed Friday to work together to combat the Trump Administration’s efforts to suppress minority voting while also urging the White House to keep in place Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a 2012 initiative that protects some young immigrants from deportation.