What you need to know about the 100-Day Moratorium on Deportations

Thanks to our organizing we won another victory! The Biden Administration has announced in a DHS memo a moratorium on deportations for the next 100 days! We made this happen. This is the most progressive memo in history! We know it’s far from perfect and we know that we can win more. We must continue to demand an end to ALL deportations and the release of people from detention. Here’s what you need to know:

1) This moratorium is a temporary stop to most deportations. People who have a final removal order will not be deported for the next 100 days beginning Friday, January 22! However there are some exceptions:

People who arrived in the US after November 1, 2020, and are still vulnerable to deportation.
People who sign voluntary departure waivers after having a chance to see a lawyer.

2) During these 100 days, the Biden Administration will do an agency-wide review of enforcement actions at DHS. The administration will be rethinking how enforcement, detention and deportation work and we expect new policies at the end of the 100 days.

3) The new priorities for enforcement (as in apprehensions and detention):

People who are considered a “national security threat” as decided by the government.
People convicted of an “aggravated felony” and released from prison after January 20 are listed as an exception to enforcement and apprehension.

4) The real talk is that this moratorium will stop most deportations, with the exception of those who signed voluntary departures. This is a huge problem because we know folks have been coerced by ICE agents and conditions in detention centers to sign off on their own voluntary departure without proper counsel. There should be no exceptions to the moratorium and people in detention should have the right to actual counsel not just access to it.

5) The change in enforcement guidelines is a huge opportunity to demand the Biden Administration end all deportations, release all people from detention camps and shut down all the camps! We must protect people without hurting people and base immigration laws on our humanity and not on labels created by a broken criminal legal system like “aggravated felonies”, or who are perceived as a “threat to public safety or national security”. We need citizenship for ALL undocumented people!!

6) Let’s continue moving in the right direction. And there’s still more to get done! All people should be free to move and free to stay in the place they call home. Let’s organize and win more! Join our fight for permanent protections and pathway to citizenship, text/visit (WeAreUndeniable.org or text undeniable to 877877)