Fighting for Our Immigrant Communities

We have to make these investments to protect our immigrant communities right now because the Trump administration is dehumanizing and denigrating our immigrant families, friends, and neighbors. From seeking to change the rules in Immigration Court to reduce protections for asylum seekers, to reducing time judges receive to weigh important factors in immigration cases, to targeting immigrant communities like never before in sensitive locations like courthouses, schools, churches, and hospitals, the Trump administration is working to divide us from one another. And the Trump administration is changing policies in the cruelest way possible, moving to unnecessarily and punitively separate immigrant children from their parents. We must resist this pattern of Trump administration abuses with every fiber of our being.

We must stand in solidarity with our immigrant communities. For generations, immigrants have made indispensable contributions to our nation – they are critical to the fabric of our New York neighborhoods. We gathered at Masjid Kawthar in Crown Heights to announce funding for three great non-profits that protect the rights of immigrants: The Black Institute, Immigrant Justice Corps and Mobilizing for Justice. I am proud to stand with advocates and community leaders in protecting our immigrant communities and in announcing this $185,000 in New York State funding. This funding will help provide services, educate on resources, and connect our immigrant communities with necessary assistance. We must all pitch in, face down injustice, and uphold our values.