Squad member co-sponsoring bill decriminalizing illegal border crossings

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Arizona sheriff: Biden's executive orders on immigration 'hasty' and 'troublesome'

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels says 'why we need a secure border is common sense.'

"Squad" member Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Rep. Jesús Chuy Garcia, D-Ill., hosted a Facebook live video conference on Tuesday in support of their vision to transform the U.S. immigration system by expanding protections for noncitizens.

The pair reintroduced legislation known as the "New Way Forward Act" during the event, where Japayal said it is not enough to simply reverse the "hateful" immigration policies of Donald Trump’s administration.

"We have to deliver on a real, humane reform of our immigration system," Jayapal said. "America’s racist, xenophobic … immigration system has been broken for decades."

Jayapal said the legislation advances racial justice, keeps families together and protects due process for everyone.

ACTING DHS SECRETARY WARNS DEMOCRAT-BACKED NEW WAY FORWARD ACT WOULD 'GUT THE RULE OF LAW'

The bill would end mandatory detention of immigrants without bail release, ban for-profit immigration jails, and no longer allow the automatic deportation of immigrants who have had contact with the criminal legal system for things like drug convictions.

Further, local police would be prohibited from acting as deportation agents or carrying out mass deportations.

It also decriminalizes border crossings with an eye towards the broader goals of restoring due process to the immigration system and disrupting the prison to deportation pipeline.

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The legislation was initially introduced in Dec. 2019 but it had stalled in Congress.

The bill is being reintroduced as a complement to President Biden’s immigration policies, which were dealt a setback on Tuesday when a U.S. district court judge implemented a temporary restraining order against his 100-day moratorium on deportations following a legal challenge in Texas.