In An Uncertain Political Environment, AHRC Urges Responsible Vigilance And Stakeholder Cooperation:
The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) urges all, especially the immigrant communities, including the Arab and Muslim American community, to be responsibly vigilant considering President Trump’s flood of executive orders. These orders are a source of anxiety and uncertainty for many.
AHRC recognizes that the nation requires time to absorb and understand the sudden policy changes. These orders are impacting so much on various levels including federal government agencies and departments. The shock and awe approach to domestic and foreign policy is contributing to increasing people’s fear, anxiety, fear, insecurity, confusion, and speculations. The US government is not a corporation. Hundreds of millions of people are impacted and trillions of dollars in spending are affected. Responsible governance requires slow deliberation.
AHRC continues to receive a large volume of calls and inquiries from concerned citizens asking questions and wondering about the new circumstances, changes and the impact of these executive orders especially related to immigration enforcement on the local communities.
AHRC understands people’s concerns and has been actively engaged with law enforcement agencies at all levels to clear fact from fiction. The situation is very delicate and requires the cooperation of all stakeholders.
AHRC is very alarmed and disappointed by the DEI programs’ cancellation that put agencies and staff on hold including possible pausing of all outreach engagement with communities. Engagement between government and community is mutually beneficial and essential for the functioning of democracy.
We are committed to the concept of dialogue and engagement. We do not see it as an option. For us to achieve our mission, we must engage with stakeholders in government and out of government. AHRC will continue its active outreach efforts with all related federal agencies and will monitor the developing circumstances.
As to immigration enforcement, AHRC is against involving local and state law enforcement in immigration enforcement. The mandate of local and state law enforcement is different from that of federal immigration enforcement agencies. Local and state enforcement agencies work in communities on a daily basis. Community is vital to the work of local and state law enforcement agencies. Trust takes years, even decades to build. The trust should not be squandered for political expediency.
AHRC salutes all school districts and religious leaders locally and nationally of all faiths for standing in support of immigrants' rights and taking actual steps to help prevent any unnecessary tragedies around. Immigrants, documented or undocumented, are human beings and have constitutional rights. The US is a democracy. A climate of fear is not a democratic value.
AHRC calls upon the public to contact AHRC and report any incident that may occur in the Greater Detroit area and across Michigan.
“It is a challenging new environment, however with our partners and supporters we are ready to deal with these challenges,” said Imad Hamad, AHRC Executive Director. “Our mandate and our philosophy of engagement and dialogue do not change with one election’s outcome,” added Hamad. “Administrations come and go, and we continue to advance our mission in collaboration with all stakeholders, governmental and nongovernmental,” concluded Hamad.