1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

The Texas Land Commissioner's offer to provide a state-owned 1,400-acre ranch in Starr County as a site for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants raises serious ethical and legal concerns. The proposed plans evoke disturbing historical parallels and violate fundamental human rights principles. As a nation founded by immigrants and refugees, we must reject policies that enable inhumane treatment and family separations on a massive scale. We urge an immediate reversal of this misguided proposal. The focus should instead be on comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway to legal status for undocumented individuals who have established roots in our communities. Deportation must remain an option only for those convicted of violent crimes after due process. Broad-based, indiscriminate roundups and deportations are not only impractical, but also inhumane and contrary to American values of human dignity and equal justice under the law. We call for policies that keep families together and protect the human rights of all people within our borders, regardless of immigration status.