For immediate distribution: 14 March 2023
Contact: Jossie Flor Sapunar (CASA), 240-706-2624, jsapunar@wearecasa.org
Gigi Pedraza (Latino Community Fund), 404-435-2472, gigi@LCFGeorgia.org
Georgia Organizations Reject the Reinstatement of the Family Separation Policy at the Border
GEORGIA – Sixteen Georgia immigrant advocacy groups signed on a letter today rejecting the Biden’s administration reinstatement of Family Separation Policy at the border. The organizations representing Asian, African, Latino and other immigrant communities, ask the President as well as the two Georgia Senators Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and John Ossoff (D-Ga.) to make a public statement disavowing this possibility and remind them of how the fate of children at the border were used as a campaign strategy last cycle.
“As organizations advocating for immigrant rights in Georgia, we share with you our energetic rejection to the reporting of reinstating the Family Separation Policy for immigrants crossing the southern border, a failed and inhumane practice that only leads to human trafficking of children and further empowering the bad actors that benefit from the disorder of the current immigration system,” read the letter.
The Task Force on the Reunification of Families announced that 3,924 children were separated from their parents between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021, and 1,000 are still not reunited with their families because of this cruel and xenophobic policy.
The letter is below:
The President of the United States, Joseph Biden
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
The Honorable Raphael Warnock
U.S. Senator Russell Senate Office
Building Suite 388
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Jon Ossoff
U.S. Senator Russell Senate Office
Building Suite 455
Washington, DC 20510
As organizations advocating for immigrant rights in Georgia, we share with you our energetic rejection to the reporting of reinstating the Family Separation Policy for immigrants crossing the southern border, a failed and inhumane practice that only leads to human trafficking of children and further empowering the bad actors that benefit from the disorder of the current immigration system. This was one of the most harmful policies of the previous administration, one which mobilized millions of immigrants and allies to support you in the past, and one all of our organizations thought were sealed in the past.
Last month, the Task Force on the Reunification of Families your administration established announced that 3,924 children were separated from their parents between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021, and a thousand are still not reunited with their families because of this cruel and xenophobic policy. We know for a fact that reinstating this policy will result in thousands more children being separated from their parents and put in detention centers, where multiple allegations of abuse were investigated by Senator Ossoff, leading him to conclude that in these facilities basic human rights have not been protected by the federal government.
Our organizations, rooted in our love for Georgia, this country and the communities we serve, are hopeful that the President and this administration is still committed to a fair and humane immigration system, as all of you have repeated on the campaign trail and as sitting officials. A return to a very recent and shameful past is not an option, and we sincerely hope keeping children in cages is never heard of again in a fundraising email in the future if this is even being considered.
Signatories
Center for Victims of Torture - Georgia
Women Watch Afrika
CASA
GALEO Impact Fund
Latino Community Fund (LCF Georgia)
Community EsTr(El-La)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta
Poder LatinX
Migrant Equity Southeast
Sur Legal Collaborative
Georgia Human Rights Clinic
Coalición de Lideres Latinos, Inc---CLILA-
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Indivisible Georgia Coalition
CASA Alterna
Somos South Georgia###
Virtual Town Hall in Spanish.
We know the recent elections have sparked a lot of uncertainty for immigrant families, and we understand how this period of unknowns can be deeply
November 14, 2024
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