In response to the comments made by Sec. Johnson as reported by the Hill in which he defended family detention and rejected the growing demand for a moratorium on deportations, Marisa Franco of the #Not1More Campaign issued the following statement:

“Jeh Johnson was appointed to be a reformer of what the Administration admitted are inhumane immigration policies. Instead, he has become a defender of the indefensible.

For the Administration to reject the growing consensus for a moratorium on removals after the Supreme Court decision on DAPA shows a lack of imagination and lack of compassion.  For the Secretary to admit that it is punishing undocumented immigrants who are already part of our communities in order to send a message of deterrence shows the real cruelty behind current policy.

The Secretary is missing in his assessment that immigrant communities already are in a humanitarian crisis. It is caused by the policies he is defending. The President has unused authority and unfinished work to dismantle the deportation machine he built and bring humanity to its immigration policy before passing it along to his successor.”

More than 50,000 individuals have signed petitions calling for a moratorium on deportations in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.