In the wake of Donald Trump being re-elected President of the United States Tuesday, multiple New York City-based immigrant organizations have released statements in which they criticized Trump for his history of anti-immigrant rhetoric and reinforced their missions to protect immigrants from any unconstitutional actions his administration may take to get them deported.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump has been highly critical of the amount of immigrants in the United States, both legally and illegally. He also has not shied away from espousing xenophobic conspiracies, like saying that the legal Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were there illegally and stealing and eating residents’ cats and dogs.
Between Trump’s rhetoric and his anti-immigrant agendas during his first term as president, many immigrants in the United States are concerned about potentially being deported from the country.
“Trump will not defeat us. New York would not be the same without the immigrants who have built and rebuilt our culture and economy for generations,” New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh said. “Donald Trump has demonized our communities at every turn of this election and has promised to tear apart the families that have contributed so much more to our great state than he has. We stopped him before and we will stop him again. Together, we will fight the fascist President-elect and his racist deportation agenda every step of the way – to ensure that our immigrant neighbors, families and communities will live in safety and with dignity. We must stand together to protect our immigrant neighbors, and to build a just and inclusive future for all New Yorkers.”
During Trump’s first administration, Awawdeh was among the lead organizers of the protests at JFK Airport against the controversial Muslim ban, when Trump barred people from seven Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days and banned refugees from any and all countries for 120 days. Additionally, he and the New York Immigration Coalition have represented many other organizations that have responded to immigrants being bused from the south to New York State in recent years.
A state-wide member-led coalition of immigrant and refugee organizations, including grassroots and nonprofit community organizations, religious and academic institutions, labor unions and socioeconomic justice organizations, the New York Immigration Coalition’s goal is to transform the lives of New Yorkers by strengthening and building the power of the coalition’s members, organizing and educating local communities and the public and using their collective voice to advocate for opportunity and justice.
Since its founding in 1987, the New York Immigration Coalition has worked to spearhead innovative policies, promote and protect the rights of immigrant communities, improve newcomer access to services, develop leadership and capacity, expand civic participation and mobilize member groups to respond to the fluctuating needs of immigrant communities.
Make the Road New York, the largest progressive grassroots and immigrant-led organization in the state, also issued a statement on behalf of the organization’s over 28,000 members.
“We are outraged and heartbroken by the results of the election. The policies peddled by Donald Trump are racist, misogynistic and anti-immigrant,” Make the Road New York Co-Executive Director Theo Oshiro said. “We are clear-eyed about the dangers posed by a second Trump administration, especially as he has made vilifying and dehumanizing immigrants the centerpiece of his campaign.”
“It is now up to us—immigrants, working-class people, youth, women, the TGNCIQ (transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex and queer) community and allies—to protect our futures. We believe in a better United States. We know that all people, regardless of citizenship status, skin color or gender expression, have the right to respect. Ours is a country that—since its earliest days—has served as a haven for anyone coming in search of a better life for themselves and their families. To see that value betrayed is a slap in the face of generations of immigrants who have made this nation what it is,” Oshiro continued.
“And yet, while we mourn, we find strength in each other. Our commitment to collective action and social justice does not begin or end on election day. We are organizers, advocates, teachers and lawyers, and our work is to turn love into power. Even in the darkest days, that dedication to and belief in our community is what compels us to harness our sadness and fear into a force that is prepared to stand against whatever comes our way.”
Make the Road New York works to help build the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice in New York State through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education and survival services. The organization has five community centers, located in Bushwick in Brooklyn, Jackson Heights in Queens, Port Richmond on Staten Island, Brentwood on Long Island and White Plains in Westchester County.
