NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement on Final Presidential Debate Between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2020

CONTACT
Tenoch Flores, tenoch.flores@outlook.com 

LOS ANGELES -- As the final presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump came to a close, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“As expected, Donald Trump offered nothing new during tonight’s debate, just more of the same blame-shifting, scapegoating and attacks on immigrants that voters have come to expect for the last four years. Joe Biden articulated a pro-immigrant inclusive vision for our nation that promises everyone a fair shot at success.

The choice is clear: four more years of Donald Trump will be devastating for immigrants and for our nation. Dangerous and inhumane policies like family separation will only get worse. In comparison, under Biden, 11 million Americans who were born elsewhere will have a pathway to citizenship and our nation can move forward with a focus on healing and rebuilding our economy.

With twelve days to go until the final votes are cast, those of us who are committed to reclaiming our nation’s role as a beacon for those seeking a better life are winning the argument by articulating a pro-immigrant vision for our nation and carrying that message to persuadable voters in battleground states.

During tonight’s debate, NILC IJF Vote Team volunteers contacted over 22,000 persuadable voters in Arizona, urging them to vote for Biden-Harris. In addition to direct voter contact, our paid digital program has delivered over 7 million video ads featuring pro-immigrant messages to 130,000 persuadable independent women and persuadable Latinx voters in Wisconsin, Arizona and North Carolina.

Trump may have lost tonight’s debate but we will be taking nothing for granted until Joe Biden is sworn in as the next President of the United States, and we can all focus on uniting, healing, and rebuilding our nation for all of us, including immigrants.”

# # #

National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund Statement Regarding the Nomination of Chad Wolf to Lead the Department of Homeland Security

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2020

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

WASHINGTON, DC — The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted today to advance the nomination of Chad Wolf for secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Government Accountability Office and at least one federal court have found that Wolf was illegally appointed as acting DHS secretary and has been serving unlawfully since November 2019. President Trump announced his official nomination late last month.

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

“Chad Wolf has been deeply involved in executing the Trump administration’s cruel anti-immigrant policies and has repeatedly enabled Trump’s brazen disregard for the Constitution and the law. To confirm Wolf as DHS secretary would be an affront to the values to which we aspire as a country.

“Wolf also continues to play an active role in politicizing DHS to aid Trump’s scapegoating of immigrants to divide and distract us from Trump’s failures. He played a key role in family separation, used the COVID-19 pandemic as a shield to effectively shut down the country’s immigration and asylum systems, directed DHS agents to target protestors in Portland, and led the agency as it kept immigrants detained in hazardous, inhumane conditions as a pandemic ravaged throughout immigration detention facilities. After the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s attempt to end DACA was illegal, Wolf has continued to dismantle this successful policy.

“The stakes have never been higher. The Trump administration will continue to stack the deck against low-income immigrants, and the only way we can prevent a further assault on their rights is to exercise our power and vote, to ensure that Donald Trump is a one-term president.”

###

NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement on First Presidential Debate Between Joe Biden and Donald Trump

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2020

Contact: Tenoch Flores, tenoch.flores@outlook.com 

LOS ANGELES — As the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump came to a close, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement: 

“Tonight’s debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump once more showcased the stakes for all of us in this election: the opportunity to elect a leader who unites, instead of divides; the need to rebuild our economy with jobs that give everyone, including immigrants, a fair shot; and just as importantly, the opportunity to elect a leader who recognizes that immigrants make this country stronger.

More than 200,000 of our family members, friends, and fellow neighbors, have died as a result of the Trump administration’s callousness and incompetence in the face of the worst pandemic in over 100 years. Tens of millions are out of work, and calls for healing, racial equity and justice continue to grow louder. In the midst of this, Donald Trump chooses to exploit our divisions in order to distract from his failures on the pandemic, the economy and with his personal finances. 

As The New York Times recently reported, President Trump paid $750 in federal income tax in 2017. Millions of immigrants who pay and file their taxes using an ITIN paid $23.6 billion in total taxes in 2015 alone. That’s far more than the $750 that Donald Trump paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and again in 2017. In spite of their contributions, these tax-paying immigrants and in many instances their U.S. citizen spouses and children were excluded from federal COVID-19 relief by Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress.

In 35 days, and with early voting already under way in some states, each and every one of us who is eligible to vote must do so without hesitation and vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. This election is not only a referendum on Donald Trump’s record, it is also a referendum on our values as a nation, and an opportunity to resoundingly reject Trump’s politics of hate and division, including his anti-immigrant and xenophobic agenda.

We need leaders that value all of us -- regardless of race, where we were born, or how much money we have -- and are committed to uniting our country. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the right team to begin the process of healing and rebuilding that our nation so desperately needs.”

# # #

NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Releases First Flight Of Digital Ads Targeting Persuadable Voters In Battleground States With Winning, Pro-Immigrant Messages

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2020

Contact: Tenoch Flores, tenoch.flores@outlook.com 

Digital Ads Will Target Persuadable Voters In Wisconsin, North Carolina And Arizona

LOS ANGELES -- On Friday, September 4, the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund (NILC IJF) launched a digital ad campaign targeting 130,000 persuadable voters with pro-immigrant messages in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona.

“Our digital ads are based on polling research that shows candidates can effectively communicate a pro-immigrant vision for our country and win elections,” said Archana Sahgal, Director of the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF). “We’re setting out to reach key voters in battleground states who will decide this election. These are voters who would otherwise only hear Donald Trump’s divisive and bigoted rhetoric toward immigrants.”

The digital ad campaign represents among the first efforts to engage persuadable voters in battleground states on a pro-immigrant vision.

“Campaigns and candidates should know that simply being anti-Trump is not enough, they can win by articulating a pro-immigrant vision that brings us together, no matter what we look like or where we’re born,” continued Sahgal.

Polling conducted on behalf of NILC IJF showed three pro-immigrant messages that were particularly effective at moving persuadable voters in battleground states and increasing favorability for candidates who used those messages. Those messages are:

• We need leadership that brings us together, no matter what we look like or where we were born, and heals the racial wounds that have plagued our country, instead of dividing us. The presidency is not about one person, it’s about us all working together to build a better future.

• We need to build an economy that creates good paying jobs and gives everyone, including immigrants, a fair shot to succeed. Instead of continuing to reward big corporations and the wealthy, we need to reward hard work and the people who collectively make this country stronger.

• Immigrants make America stronger. 1 in 4 doctors, 1 in 6 nurses, and 1 in 5 restaurant workers in the U.S. are immigrants. Immigrants have helped keep the country healthy, safe, and cared for during this public health crisis. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

“These ads are built using proven, poll-tested messages that actually move persuadable voters in battleground states,” said Sahgal.
NILC IJF’s paid digital campaign will run through election day and target 130,000 persuadable voters in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona.

The digital ads are available here.

# # #

NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement on Donald Trump Speech Accepting the 2020 Republican Presidential Nomination

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2020

CONTACT:
Tenoch Flores tenoch.flores@outlook.com

LOS ANGELES – As the Republican National Convention (RNC) comes to a close with Donald Trump addressing the nation, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“In the midst of a devastating pandemic that has killed more than 180,000 Americans and left tens of millions without work, and historic uprisings calling for racial equity and justice, Trump used this convention to try to paper over his considerable failures, and distract from his well-established record of dividing us based on how we look or where we are from. It is clear that Trump and his advisors are just now recognizing that the country is hungry for leadership that brings the country together. 

“Despite his theatrics at the RNC, actions speak louder than words. Trump's actual policies have hurt so many families, including immigrants who are at the forefront of getting us through this crisis. Millions of Americans are struggling, and in the midst of this pandemic, immigrant families were excluded from federal relief – including tax paying, working immigrants and their U.S. citizen children and spouses. Trump’s actions have hurt our democracy, and his failed leadership has left us divided from our neighbors and in worse shape than before he took office. 

“This is the most consequential election of our lifetimes. We need leadership that brings us together, no matter what we look like or where we were born – leadership that heals the racial wounds that have plagued our country instead of dividing us further. Americans must unite to resoundingly reject Trump’s politics of hate and division that hurt all of us. That’s why in November, we must elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who will put working people first and celebrate the contributions of immigrants, because the only way we will get through the multiple crises we are facing as a country is to get through them together.”

NILC Immigrant Justice Fund Statement on Joe Biden Speech Accepting the 2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2020

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

LOS ANGELES ­­– As the Democratic National Convention comes to a close and presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke to the nation, Archana Sahgal, director of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“Tonight, Vice President Joe Biden reminded us of our nation’s promise, and who we can be at our best– a country that welcomes and celebrates immigrants from around the globe united around a shared dedication to freedom, equality, and justice for all. Those values are what have long made us a beacon of hope to the world, and they are central to the soul of the country that we are fighting to restore in this election.

“We are at a moment of national peril that calls for leadership that brings us together and heals the racial wounds that have plagued our country. We need a president like Joe Biden who will put working people first by building an economy where everyone has a fair shot to succeed, no matter what you look like or where you were born. More than 170,000 of our neighbors have lost their lives and tens of millions of us have lost our jobs, yet all President Trump can do is divide us, scapegoat immigrants, and spread fear. Tonight, Joe Biden showed us what unifying, inclusive leadership looks like, and between now and November 3rd, the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund is committed to doing everything we can to elect him as our next president and put an end to Trump’s reign of cruelty, division, and hate.”