June 10, 2025 -- JACL denounces the Trump administration’s continued attacks on immigrants in the United States, escalated this week with a new travel ban targeting non-European nations, withdrawal of Temporary Protected Status for Nepali immigrants, and the expanded immigration raids that have culminated in the unlawful deployment of the National Guard in California.
In a proclamation issued on June 4th and effective June 9th, the administration announced a new policy to restrict the entry of nationals from twelve countries and partially restrict the entry of nationals from an additional seven countries. The listed countries encompass those from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. As with the travel ban issued during the first administration, the President makes flimsy claims of national security necessity. This order once again plays upon the isolationist and xenophobic stereotypes that led to the Chinese Exclusion Act and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. We call upon the courts to pierce through these false justifications of national security and recognize the illegality of the bans as violations of established civil rights law.
In another attack on immigrant communities of color, on June 9th, the Department of Homeland Security announced the removal of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepali immigrants. Nepal was given TPS in 2015 in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake from which the country has yet to fully recover. Now these immigrants who left their home over a decade ago, are being told they have 60 days to uproot their lives and return to a home which is unsafe and unlivable.
Nepal is not the only country to lose its TPS designation over the past several months. Several other immigration communities have faced similar challenges as their status has been removed without regard for safety conditions in their home countries, not in a manner that allows them to adequately prepare themselves to either return to their home country or go through the arduous immigration process our nation currently has in place. The withdrawal of TPS designation is not informed by reason or by concern for the safety of Americans it serves only to illuminate the indifferent cruelty of this administration.
As ICE and other immigration enforcement officials conduct mass raids across the country, escalating over the weekend in Los Angeles, we are deeply concerned by the expansion of overly aggressive and unlawfully discriminatory targeting by immigration enforcement agents. There have been too many instances of U.S. citizens and those here through a valid visa or permanent residency being swept up in immigration enforcement actions. In nearly all such instances, the targeted individuals are from communities of color. Deployment of the National Guard and Marines was an unlawful activation by the President and an unnecessary escalation of violence by the government.
Immigration has been the lifeblood of this country since its founding. Immigrants have provided the core of the labor that has driven the growth of this country. The continued anti-immigrant actions of this administration are a betrayal of our American values and the fundamental dream that so many immigrants have that they might come here to make a better future for themselves and their children.###
About The Japanese American Citizens League
The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational, and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community.
