Campaign News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  March 18, 2021

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

“Today we celebrate the passage of the American Dream and Promise Act and the movement that made this moment possible. If it becomes law, this legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who came to the United States as youth and for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries. The passage of this bill is the result of organizing efforts led by immigrant youth, who have built and exercised their power over decades.  Immigrant youth won temporary reprieve through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, fought over the past four years to preserve it, and are determined to win permanent protections for themselves, their families and their communities.

We won’t stop now. We look forward to working with the White House and our champions in the Senate to use every opportunity to ensure that this bill becomes law, continue fighting for a pathway for the 11 million undocumented immigrants, and advance policies that center the dignity of all immigrants.  In doing so, we must be grounded in a vision of racial justice that rejects any further importation and entrenchment of the harms of the criminal legal system into our immigration system.”

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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  Thursday, February 18, 2021

CONTACT: Amanda Ebrahim cpd@fenton.com  (516) 492-9757 

“Today we celebrate the introduction of the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, a bill that lays out President Biden’s vision for reforming our broken and inhumane immigration system. This bill represents not only a departure from Trump’s white-supremacist immigration policies, but most importantly, it represents a new direction for reforming our immigration system grounded in a vision of an inclusive society. The introduction of such a progressive legislation is a testament of the power and tenacity of immigrant communities and allies that have organized for decades to protect our families and to demand an end to the deportation machine.

But the introduction of this bill is only the first step. Now, President Biden and Democrats in congress must use their power to ensure that the vision laid out in this bill is realized, starting with inclusion of immigrant youth, TPS holders and essential workers in the next COVID relief package. 

We look forward to working with the White House, and our champions in Congress, to use every opportunity to make sure that we are advancing  policies that prioritize the safety and dignity of all immigrants, and significantly shift away from the punitive and harmful detention and deportation system” 

Below please find additional quotes from leaders in Center for Popular Democracy’s network: 

"I have called the United States home for nearly two decades. I've worked hard to raise my two kids—one a DACA recipient and the other, a U.S. citizen—here in New Jersey. Today's introduction of the Citizenship Act of 2021 demonstrates the strength of our movement— we won't stop fighting until all 11 million undocumented people are on a pathway to citizenship. I am also filled with hope that I won't fear being separated from my children for the first time since I came to this country. I thank Senator Menendez and President Biden for their leadership and urge our representatives to pass this legislation as soon as possible."  Angeles Barranco, Make the Road NJ member, Union City, N.J.

“My family is happy. Our two oldest daughters and youngest two sons are U.S. citizens. My husband finally achieved permanent residency. Now, our middle daughter and I are next! After so many years, living with uncertainty, especially after this past administration, we are hopeful about all of us finally having the same status together. We are so happy that many other families in our situation will have an opportunity to do the same. Now, it is up to North Carolina Senators Burr and Tillis and North Carolina’s congressional delegates to do the right thing and support our president.” Silvia Sanchez, Action NC board member

“For decades, immigrants like me have worked in farms all over the country with fear that one day we would be deported. During COVID-19, we have stayed in the fields exposing ourselves to the virus so that others could be able to stay home protected. We did this knowing that if anything happened to us, we would get no support. I know that my work is essential and that I deserve dignity. For this reason, I look forward to the passage of this bill so all immigrants can live in peace in the place they call home.” Martha Lopez, PCUN Member and Community Organizer in Oregon

Clara Cortes, member of Make the Road New York, said, “This bill brings me hope for a better future. For over twenty years, I have waited for Congress to pass legislation like this. Immigrants like me have built our lives and our families here. This country is our home. Over the last year, while facing the constant risk of being torn from our loved ones, immigrants like me have also been trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. My husband has been hospitalized for almost a year after contracting the virus, and every time I see him, he worries about me since because of my lack of immigration status, I could be separated from my family. Today, I am happy to see that fixing our immigration system is a priority for the current administration, and it is crucial that Congress quickly acts to make a pathway to citizenship a reality.”

“In Arizona, immigrant communities raised from the ashes of racist law SB1070 to fight back against white supremacist policies, agencies and individuals. Since then, we are committed to push bold and permanent protection for all immigrant communities. We support a plan that provides a pathway for citizenship without the growing deportation forces of ICE and CBP.” Genesis Renteria member of Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Thursday, January 21, 2021

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

New York, NY — The new Biden Administration released a first-ever order to institute a moratorium on deportations.  This policy was unimaginable in previous years, and it is the result of many years of organizing by immigrant communities who made visible to the country the inhumanity of our detention and deportation systems.  So today, we celebrate this victory, while also calling attention to the fact that detention and some ICE arrests will continue during this moratorium.  We look forward to working with the administration and Congress to address the longstanding and ongoing harms of ICE raids, mass detention, and deportations and to transform our ineffective and inhumane immigration enforcement system from one focused on punishment to one focused on facilitating compliance and safeguarding dignity.

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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  Wednesday, January 20, 2021

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

New York, NY — After four years of enduring relentless attacks by the Trump administration, today, on his first day in office, President Biden will sign several executive orders reversing some of the most harmful policies enacted by Trump and plans to unveil legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. 

Today’s announcements represent a victory for immigrant families and communities. For the last four years, immigrants organized to resist Trump’s attacks, and helped pave the way for President Biden’s victory — all while disproportionately serving as essential workers critical to the COVID-19 response and being overwhelmingly shut out of government relief programs.

We welcome many of the proposed Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies as necessary first steps in reversing the former administration’s worst harms and outlining a roadmap to a just and humane immigration system and a pathway to citizenship for all. 

As we welcome these new policies, we must not lose sight of the decades-long punishment-only approach to immigration our communities have endured — being subjected to SWAT-like ICE raids, mass detention and border militarization, all while being denied a pathway to citizenship. We look forward to working with the administration and Congress to address these harms and transform our ineffective and inhumane immigration enforcement system from one focused on punishment to one focused on facilitating compliance and safeguarding dignity. 

We applaud the proposed immediate rescission of the Muslim and African Bans, along with the inclusion of the No Ban Act in the legislation. We also applaud the announcement of critical executive actions, including: the preservation and fortification of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the rescission of the order to exclude noncitizens from the census and apportionment count, the creation of the Family Reunification Taskforce, the halting of border wall construction, the restoration of the refugee admissions program and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Liberians and the mandate to conduct a comprehensive review of all immigration-related regulations implemented in the last four years.

We also applaud many aspects of the proposed legislation, including: the pathway to citizenship, the clearing of family-based immigration backlogs, the addition of permanent partner to family-based immigration, the increase in diversity visas, the guarantee of legal representation for children and other vulnerable populations facing removal and the elimination of the dehumanizing term “alien” from the law.

A swift and inclusive pathway to citizenship 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. An estimated five million undocumented immigrants are essential workers. Meanwhile, undocumented immigrants — and many immigrants with lawful status — have been shut out of government relief programs and afraid to seek out healthcare out of fear of negative immigration consequences.  

The time is now for the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to take bold, transformative action to achieve immigrant justice. While this happens, we call on the Biden administration to act swiftly 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. 

The Center for Popular Democracy and its network are committed to working with the administration to achieve these changes to ensure that our communities are given the dignity and respect 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