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Protecting and Standing with Immigrant and Border Communities

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February 08, 2019

The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader 

The Honorable Chairman Richard Shelby, Senate Committee on Appropriations 

The Honorable Charles Schumer, Senate Democratic Leader

The Honorable Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy, Senate Committee on Appropriations 

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable Nita Lowey Chairwoman, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable Kay Granger, Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives 

Dear: Majority Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Leader McCarthy, Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger:

We, the undersigned organizations representing and serving millions of Latinos across the nation, stand together to say Basta! Enough! The Trump Administration’s constant attacks on immigrant children, families, and our historic Latinx communities on the southern borderlands and across the country, have endangered and threatened our families, our health, our safety, and our environment. The impacts of these attacks are hurting our most vulnerable communities now and will be for generations to come.

The Trump Administration has continued to demonize Latinx communities by inciting fear and prejudice with false narratives of unprecedented danger and violence in an attempt to justify inhumane treatment of immigrant families, law-abiding asylum-seekers, and their children. The Trump Administration has engaged in a multi-pronged assault on immigrants, migrants, and refugees, desperate for survival, longing for safety and a better life for their children and families. This assault includes the cruel separation and detention of immigrant families which has left countless children ripped from their parents with no viable plan for reunification, and the refusal to provide safe access and entry to primarily Central American refugees and asylum seekers which has contributed to the deaths and trauma of detained immigrant children.

Furthermore, this Administration has targeted immigrant communities across the nation for deportation by ICE, stripped the protective status of those under Temporary Protective Status (TPS), attacked DREAMers and DACA recipients, the overwhelming majority of whom are Latinx, while maintaining a xenophobic obsession over the construction of an unnecessary wall along our southern border.

In December 2018, we saw the Trump Administration’s blind determination to continue their assault on our Latino communities by holding hostage thousands of American workers and their paychecks until Congress approved billions more in funding for a wall, sending our nation into the most prolonged, harmful government shutdown in U.S. history. The impacts of the government shutdown were felt in nearly all communities and economies across the nation MAY continue to be felt for years to come.

We call on Members of Congress to:

  • reject and denounce the Trump Administration’s continued attacks on Latino and all immigrant communities, TPS and DACA recipients, refugee and asylum seekers, and southern border communities;
  • reject more wasteful funding for a wall and further militarization of our southern border communities;
  • institute measures to prevent DHS from transferring or reprogramming money toward building a wall, new detention facilities, or for enforcement programs, without congressional approval;
  • institute measures to prevent the President from transferring or reprogramming money, that was appropriated to help rebuild areas hit by natural disasters, toward building a wall;
  • insist on an end to the Administration’s policy of separating families at the border and demand all children be reunited with their parents immediately;
  • find permanent, legislative solutions for DACA and TPS holders.

We believe that the defense and protection of vulnerable communities, ecosystems, habitats, and civil and human rights are crucial to upholding principles of justice. We are committed to fighting for healthy and safe communities where we are all able to thrive, regardless of immigration status.

Latinx communities represent the best values of this country and we must, without hesitation or trepidation, embrace our nation's newest immigrants and historic Latino communities, and allow access to asylum seekers and refugees at our borders, and stand in solidarity with the fight for justice, respect, and freedom.

Sincerely,

Hispanic Federation
GreenLatinos
AGUILAS Alianza Americas
Americas for Conservation + the Arts (AFC+A)
Arianna's Center/Translatina FL
Chispa - LCV
Comité de la Diversidad de Sexo, Género y Orientación Sexua
Corazón Latino
Farmworker Justice
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)
Hispanic National Bar Association
Hispanics in Philanthropy
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Labor Council For Latin American Advancement (LCLAA)
Los Padres ForestWatch
MANA, A National Latina Organization
Mi Familia Vota
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association
National Latinx Psychological Association
QLatinx
Regenerative Solutions
Sachamama
The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL)
The Praxis Project
Unión=Fuerza Latinx Institute
Voto Latino