Responding to reports that DHS intends to reprogram disaster relief funds for ICE detention beds and funds for temporary court structures for hearings associated with the “Remain in Mexico” program, Amnesty International USA Advocacy Airector for the Americas, Charanya Krishnaswami said:

“This decision is an outrageous misuse of resources. At the start of hurricane season, DHS is robbing hundreds of millions of dollars from disaster relief to fund a disaster of its own making. It is using vital funds to further some of its cruelest policies – putting asylum-seekers in harm’s way and detaining families and children in search of safety.

“Everyone has a fundamental right to humane treatment. The government must immediately abandon its plan to further its agenda of hate an exclusion.”