Campaign News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 3, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT: Center for Popular Democracy press@populardemocracy.org

New York, NY — We applaud the leadership of House members who passed HR1 today. They took action urgently needed to work toward an inclusive, multi-racial democracy and to push back against white supremacy. They heard the call of so many people, including Center for Popular Democracy affiliates and their members, saying now is the time to make the promise of our democracy real for all of us and to chart the course out of crisis.

HR1 is a crucial step forward for democracy and racial justice, removing structural barriers to participation designed to silence Black and Brown communities. The democracy reforms in this bill work together as a comprehensive package to protect the freedom to vote, to unlock big money's grip on our politics, and to allow for fair and diverse representation. HR1 also sets the stage for restoring the Voting Rights Act (HR4) and establishing DC statehood (HR51).

The intensified attacks on voting rights in states like Arizona and Georgia drive home the importance of these federal protections and changes. We must make sure the politicians who rely on voter suppression to cling to power do not take us backward.

As we work at the state and federal level to expand access to our democracy, we look to the Senate to pass their S1 companion bill and join the House in serving the people who elected them, without letting the undemocratic filibuster stand in the way.

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The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level. www.populardemocracy.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Tuesday, February 2, 2021

MEDIA CONTACT: Center for Popular Democracy press@populardemocracy.org  

New York, NY — Today, President Biden issued executive orders to undo some of the last administration’s most harmful immigration policies.  We commend the administration for starting to lay the groundwork to rebuild and improve our country’s asylum system and reunite families separated at the border.  We will never forget the horror of watching children being torn apart from their families and kept in cages; those images made the inhumanity of our current immigration systems undeniable and drove thousands to the streets to demand justice.  

We also welcome President Biden’s executive order directing immediate review of the public charge rule, a “wealth test” for green cards, and other policies that created barriers to legal immigration.  The public charge rule has had a chilling effect on immigrants’ access to healthcare and other critical services, which has been particularly devastating during the COVID-19 crisis when an estimated five million immigrants have been putting their lives at risk as essential workers.  In addition to the public charge rule, the previous administration erected many other barriers to already-existing pathways to lawful status that caused uncertainty for many immigrants and their families.  We are heartened by this administration’s commitment to reverse these damaging policies.

While these executive actions are critical to start undoing some of the last administration’s most harmful policies, much is needed to transform our immigration system to one defined by dignity and respect.  The time is now for the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to take bold, transformative action to achieve immigrant justice.  A swift and inclusive pathway to citizenship--including for the five million undocumented essential workers and their families--and the transformation of our immigration system is not only the right thing to do, but also necessary to ensure that the United States can emerge from the COVID-19 public health and economic crises.  

The Center for Popular Democracy and its network are committed to working with the administration to achieve the just and welcoming immigration system we deserve.   

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The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level. www.populardemocracy.org

Here is her story:

Today, on President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day, I am going to eviction court in Alamance County, North Carolina—where I will try to convince a judge to let my five kids and me stay in our home.

I am just one of up to 40 million renters across the country who could be put on the street when eviction protections expire, and have no idea how we could pay back rent since the pandemic started. My family has been housing insecure for years, but COVID has made it so much worse. We don’t even qualify for the CDC Eviction Moratorium, because our landlord has decided to not renew our lease. This is not the first time we have been evicted but before COVID, we could find another place to live. The coronavirus has made it almost impossible to find a home. We thought we’d be able to find something else, but there is no housing available during a pandemic.

Both my husband and I have been to prison, and when I came back from prison, I wanted to turn my life around and create as much good in the world as I could. But now, it seems like the world is telling us we don’t deserve a home. I don’t think that’s right—how could anyone not deserve a place to live?

Here’s what I think: no one should ever be forced to live on the street. Especially children. That’s why I joined a group of mothers across the country who have said that they will stay in their homes and resist our evictions with our communities.

On this day when President Joe Biden moves with his family into government-funded housing, I literally do not know where my family will be sleeping after February 1st. There are tens of millions of American renters who don’t know where they will be sleeping in the next month.

I hope Joe Biden understands that he faces a huge, unprecedented housing crisis--and that he needs to act on DAY ONE–today–for renters.

I’m Bree Newsome Bass, and I am an organizer with a statewide housing justice coalition here in North Carolina, where we hear stories like Amy’s every day.

In the midst of the greatest health and economic crisis in a century, millions of Americans have been abandoned. Because everyone understands that housing is health care, even under Donald Trump the Center for Disease Control has said that stable housing needs to be protected in the interest of public health during this pandemic. Instead, weak eviction protections and months of back rent are threatening as many as 40 million renters. From a public health perspective alone, housing insecurity joins the vaccine rollout as the central crisis President Biden must address today.

We are building a grassroots movement led by tenants, and our people power has transformed the political landscape of the country. Mothers and families are calling on President Biden to guarantee housing as a human right to address head on the economic and public health crisis families like Amy’s are facing every day. Families across the country need both immediate short term action as well as long term protections for tenants; they can’t wait any longer for relief.

President-elect Biden should issue a universal eviction moratorium covering every renter in the country and cancel rent and mortgage payments. The new administration must pass expansive tenant protections, regulate the predatory actions of corporate landlords in the housing market, and invest significant resources in the preservation and expansion of public housing. If it weren’t for millions of at-risk mothers, renters, and their families braving intimidation and the virus to vote, Joe Biden would not be taking the oath of office today. It’s time to honor their resilience by recognizing housing as a human right—today.  

Racial justice activist Amy Cooper’s eviction hearing takes place in Alamance County (NC) on Inauguration Day.  Bree Newsome Bass is a North Carolina-based housing activist who is an organizer with the NC Statewide Housing Justice Coalition and the #NeedaHome2StayAtHome Campaign.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Wednesday, January 20, 2021 

MEDIA CONTACT: Center for Popular Democracy press@populardemocracy.org

New York, NY — “Today, we usher in a new, brighter moment for our people and for our future with a series of executive orders issued and proposed by President Joe Biden. After four years of attacks on Black, Brown and Native communities, we are relieved that the new president’s first action has been to issue orders intended to undo several of the countless harms imposed by the Trump administration. 

The executive orders that the president has issued today are necessary first steps, but they are not enough. We urge the Biden-Harris administration to continue to act aggressively and swiftly to put this country on a true course to freedom and justice — and we will hold the administration accountable to make sure our communities get the resources we need. We need policies that ensure we can access the care we need to stay healthy and well; that guarantee our children can learn in schools that keep them safe and help them grow; that provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants; that protect our ability to stay in the homes we know and love; and that begin to restore the centuries of harm we’ve inflicted on the planet that we all call home.  

A principal aim of the Trump administration was to target immigrants with cruel and dehumanizing policies and practices — including family separation, SWAT-like ICE raids, mass detentions and border militarization — all while denying any pathway to citizenship. It’s a testament to the advocacy and organizing work of the immigrant community that President Biden’s first actions include sending an immigration bill to Congress that will provide a path to citizenship, rescinding the Muslim Ban, preserving DACA and creating a family reunification task force. Now, we call on the administration to enact a moratorium on ICE arrests and deportations — without carve outs — to provide a respite from the harms that detentions and deportations cause immigrant communities. 

In the past year, over 400,000 people have died and millions more have fallen into poverty due to COVID-19 and the government’s dangerous inaction and indifference. We are relieved that President Biden’s actions extend the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, which will help millions of people keep a roof over their heads. However, our communities are in great need of housing security. We call on the president to work with Congress to immediately institute a comprehensive national eviction moratorium that bars all evictions and foreclosures, and to implement rent forgiveness to help all renters stay in their homes.

As we look to combat the spiraling climate crisis, we welcome the initial steps set forth in the executive orders, including revoking the Keystone XL permit, rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and elevating climate change as a national security priority. Now, we urge President Biden and Congress to fully divest from systems like fossil fuels, and ensure economic recovery by investing in the pillars outlined in the Green New Deal THRIVE Agenda.

After the damage caused by the Trump administration, President Biden’s executive orders to advance equity are a welcome change, but not nearly enough to address white supremacy and the pervasive anti-Blackness that permeates every aspect of our society. The president must both work with Congress and take independent action toward establishing a transformed criminal legal system, investing in the health of Black and Brown young people, committing resources that support safety initiatives outside of policing and work to reduce the prison population. 

Finally, we welcome other significant executive orders signed and proposed, including extending the moratorium on student loans during the pandemic, a federal mask mandate, reversing the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization, a commitment to swiftly and equitably distributing COVID-19 treatment, reducing the undue influence of corporate lobbyists going through the revolving door, ensuring Census appointment data includes undocumented immigrants and strengthening efforts to advance the human rights of LGBTQ+ persons overseas.

This historic day must be credited to the Black, Brown and Native communities who delivered this win by turning out to vote in record numbers, overcoming all adversity and obstacles placed in our path. We are relieved to see President Biden acting to undo several of the policies that target these communities on his first day in office, and we hope to see additional bold reforms going forward.”   

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The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level. www.populardemocracy.org