As Trump Prepares Immigration Rally in Arizona, Over 170 Organizations Release “2021 Immigration Action Plan,” Offering Blueprint to Transform America’s Immigration System

2021 Immigration Action Plan Outlines Ten Priority Actions for Incoming Administration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2020

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149, gastelum@nilc-ijf.org

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, President Trump heads to Yuma, Arizona, where he’s expected to host a major anti-immigration campaign rally to fire up his base. The National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund joined more than 170 of the nation’s leading immigration and advocacy organizations in releasing the 2021 Immigration Action Plan, laying out a blueprint for the next administration to transform America’s immigration system —not only to restore human dignity to a system weaponized by the Trump administration but also to reinforce core American values and power the economic recovery of the nation.

“Since taking office, the Trump administration has issued more than 400 actions related to immigration policy, most of which are harmful, cruel, and detrimental to the health and well-being of our communities,” said Archana Sahgal, director with the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund. “It is critical that we lay out a blueprint for the next administration to restore human dignity to a system that has been co-opted by the Trump administration, in order to reinforce core American values and power our country’s economic recovery. The work of envisioning a 21st century immigration policy begins now, and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund is proud to be a part of this effort.”

While the 2021 Immigration Action Plan seeks to undo the damage wrought by the Trump administration — from putting children and families in cages and restricting the due process rights of immigrants at the border, to extending the detention limit for children and families, and forging ahead with a failed border wall — it acknowledges that more must be done to truly transform the system. Trump’s divisive, anti-Black and racist rhetoric against immigrants fans the flames of xenophobia, further corroding a system that has been broken for decades. Reenvisioning the country’s immigration system to work in the long term will take a coordinated, clear-eyed effort that aims to benefit immigrant families in every policy initiative.

Ten Actions to Transform and Modernize America’s Immigration System

The ten actions will both reverse the racism and damage of the Trump years and reshape longstanding criminalization and deportation policies that have defined many past administrations:

• Action 1: Prioritize Equity and Harm Reduction in the Immigration System

• Action 2: End the Anti-Black and Discriminatory Targeting of Certain U.S. Citizens and Immigrants

• Action 3: Rebuild the U.S. Economy

• Action 4: Reenvision Leadership in the Next Administration

• Action 5: Decriminalize Immigration

• Action 6: Protect Immigrant Children, Families, and Their Communities

• Action 7: Phase Out Immigration Jails and Fund Community-Based Case Management Programs

• Action 8: Establish Thriving, Rights-Respecting Borders

• Action 9: Reimagine the Role of the Immigration Courts

• Action 10: Restore the Right to Seek and Receive Protection from Persecution, Torture, and Other Serious Human Rights Violations

The 2021 Immigration Action Plan has been a collaborative effort nine months in the making. Further information — including the full text of the plan — can be found here.

Below is a full list of the 173 organizations that have signed on to the 2021 Immigration Action Plan:

Adhikaar
Advocating Opportunity (AO)
African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA)
African Communities Together (ACT)
African Public Affairs Committee (AfriPAC)
Alianza Americas
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Alliance of Baptists
America's Voice (AV)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice)
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO
Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV)
Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA)
ASISTA
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)
AsylumWorks
Ayuda
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
Bread for the World
Break the Cycle
Bridges Faith Initiative
California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)
Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition (CAIR Coalition)
Care in Action
CASA
CASA in Action
Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities
Casa San Jose
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS)
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Victims of Torture (CVT)
Center Global, a program of the DC Center for the LGBT Community
Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)
Central American Resource Center -- CARECEN SF
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM)
Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos (CRECEN)
Centro Legal de la Raza
Centro Maya Guatemalteco
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)
Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
Church World Service (CWS)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Coalition on Human Needs (CHN)
Colectivo de Mujeres Transnacionales
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Community EsTr(El/La)
Compass Immigration Legal Services (CILS)
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Demand Progress
Detention Watch Network (DWN)
Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministries (RIM)
Durango Unido en Chicago
Every. Last. One.
Faith in Public Life (FIPL)
Families Belong Together (FBT)
Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF)
Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC)
Florida People's Advocacy Center (FL PAC)
For Good PGH
Franciscan Action Network (FAN)
Freedom Network USA (FNUSA)
Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees (FOMDD)
Frontera de Cristo
Future Coalition
Futures Without Violence (FUTURES)
Grupo de Apoyo e Integración Hispanoamericano
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”
Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC)
HEAL Trafficking
HIAS
HIAS Pennsylvania
Hispanic Federation (HF)
Hispanic Health Network
Human Rights First (HRF)
Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI)
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef)
Immigrant Food
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast (ILSCC)
Immigrants Rising, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives
Immigration Equality Action Fund
Immigration Hub
Indivisible
Innovation Law Lab
Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice (ICPJ)
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
La Raza Centro Legal (LRCL), San Francisco
Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN)
Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
Latinx LGBTQI+ Initiative Inc. (LILA)
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWE)
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)
March On
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
Massachusetts TPS Committee
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)
Michigan United
MomsRising
Muslim Advocates
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV)
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Association of Social Workers- NYC Chapter (NAWS-NYC)
National Council of Jewish Women
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Equality Action Team (NEAT)
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG)
National Justice for Our Neighbors (NJFON)
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)
Nebraska Appleseed
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice (NETWORK)
New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC)
NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (NILC IJF)
North Carolina Justice Center (NC Justice Center)
Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA)
OneAmerica
Open Immigration Legal Services
Partnerships for Trauma Recovery (PTR)
Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC)
People's Action
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)
Poder Latinx
Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance (RITA)
Refugees International
Removal Defense Corps (RDC), Southwestern Law School
Resilience Force
Salvadoran Association of Los Angeles (ASOSAL)
Save the Children Action Network (SCAN)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team
SPLC Action Fund
Sojourners
South Texas Human Rights Center
Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)
Tahirih Justice Center
Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP)
The Children's Partnership
The Lifeboat Project, Inc.
The Rhizome Center for Migrants
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC)
Ujima, Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
UnidosNow
UnidosUS
UNITED SIKHS
United Stateless
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)
USC International Human Rights Clinic (HRC)
Utah Health & Human Rights (UHHR)
Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR)
Voice for Refuge Action Fund
Voices For Freedom
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center (WOTS)
Women's Refugee Commission
Women Working Together USA
Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

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NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement in Response to Joe Biden Announcing Vice Presidential Choice

If elected, Biden-Harris ticket would be the first to send a woman of color to the White House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2020

CONTACT
Hayley Burgess, burgess@nilc-ijf.org, 202-805-0375

WASHINGTON, DC — In response to Vice President Joe Biden announcing his selection of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“In selecting Senator Kamala Harris, Joe Biden has sent a clear message that a Biden administration will work to build an economy that creates good-paying jobs, strengthens workplace protections for all workers, and gives everyone, including immigrants, a fair shot to succeed. More than anything, our country desperately needs leadership that can unite us, not divide us based on where we were born or what we look like.

“A Biden-Harris ticket gives us all a chance to make history by sending a woman of color to the White House.

“The pandemic has shown how interdependent we all are. The only way we will get through this crisis is if we come together and take care of everyone in our communities.

“As the daughter of immigrants, Senator Harris’s story serves as a powerful reminder that through their contributions, immigrants make America stronger. This is especially poignant as we are reminded that almost 70 percent of immigrants in the American workforce work in essential industries.

“The stakes are quite literally life and death in this election for immigrants and for all working families. This election is a referendum on our nation’s values, and we can’t take anything for granted. All of us who want to see our country celebrate the role that immigrants play and the contributions they continue to make must unite behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

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NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement Regarding Trump Administration’s Latest Move on DACA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2020

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, gastelum@nilc-ijf.org, 213-375-3149

WASHINGTON, DC — The Trump administration today issued a memorandum laying out its plans for the future of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The move is in response to the Supreme Court’s June 18 ruling that struck down the administration’s previous termination of the program. Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), which litigated the Supreme Court case, and of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“President Trump’s announcement today lays the groundwork to kill DACA and confirms what we have long said: DACA is on the ballot in November. While we are in the middle of a pandemic that has killed 150,000 Americans, Trump’s announcement is another example of how he’d rather divide us by race and birthplace than bring us together to get through this crisis as one country. We encourage young immigrants who currently have DACA to renew it, but we should be clear: Trump has simply reminded every immigrant family in America what is at stake in this election.”

“We are in a fight for our lives, and we need to elect a president who will stand with immigrants and do right by all Americans. NILC Immigrant Justice Fund stands with the immigrant youth of color who fought back against Trump and won at the Supreme Court in June with their inclusive vision for society. We will continue the fight to ensure their rightful place here at home, and we will continue this fight for justice in the courts and at the ballot box in November.”

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NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Responds to Republican COVID-19 Relief Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 28, 2020

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, gastelum@nilc-ijf.org, 213-375-3149

WASHINGTON, DC — Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Monday released a $1 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the HEALS Act. With millions of Americans seeking work or on the precipice of unemployment, the bill would cut financial assistance to those who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Like a previous relief bill signed into law in March, the bill excludes millions of immigrant taxpayers and U.S. citizens from financial relief. It also makes employers largely immune from liability due to the pandemic.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“House Democrats passed a COVID relief bill months ago, yet Senate Republicans and President Trump sat on their hands and refused to act, all while a resurging pandemic has continued to devastate communities in every part of our country. Now, Mitch McConnell has decided to prioritize the desires of huge corporations over our nation’s families and has put forward a bill that cuts help for those out of work, denies workers hazard pay, and intentionally excludes many immigrant families and U.S. citizens from relief payments.

“It is outrageous. We should be expanding financial help to all families, especially when so many taxpayers whose contributions are helping to provide relief for others were left out of previous bills. Instead, Republicans are proposing to leave more people behind despite the fact that we’re all being impacted by the pandemic. We must reject outright this paltry and shortsighted response to an unprecedented health and economic crisis.

“The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis have further exposed our country’s longstanding racial inequities and put into stark relief that we all depend on each other. To get through this time we must ensure that we all have access to the care and support we need. The shortcomings of previous federal relief packages cannot be repeated. They were wholly insufficient, excluding millions of Americans, including millions of immigrants and their families who do essential work to help keep our communities running.

“We need inclusive relief that helps everyone in our communities.”

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NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement In Response to Trump Rose Garden News Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2020

CONTACT 
Tenoch Flores, tenoch.flores@outlook.com

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to President Trump’s July 14 Rose Garden press conference, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“President Trump has chosen once more to divide Americans by national origin in an attempt to distract from his failure to protect us from the pandemic. More than 135,000 Americans have died, tens of millions are out of work, and COVID cases continue to reach record levels across the country. Yet instead of providing a roadmap for how his Administration plans to keep Americans safe and help us provide for our families, our failure of a president thought it was a better use of his time to ramble for over an hour about the different ways he would continue to divide Americans by how we look and where we’re from if given a second term.

“As Trump doubles down on being divisive, the only way forward for our country is for all of us to unite and ensure we overcome this public health threat, the economic crisis, and racial inequities.  We must come together to make sure Trump does not have the opportunity to continue wreaking havoc on everyday people and our democracy. Americans are hungry for a president who unites people, values the contributions of immigrants, and truly puts working families first. 

“That’s the kind of vision we put forward in the Biden Unity Task Force recommendations – one that understands we will only get through this crisis and rebuild a healthier, safer, and more just America if we do it together. We’ve been saying all along, when cornered, when desperate, when called out on his failure to keep us safe during a pandemic, Trump will retreat to his comfort zone: using immigrants to divide Americans and distract from his failure to lead. At the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, we’re putting forward a pro-immigrant vision for America that strengthens our country and will elect Joe Biden in November.”

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