Advocacy

70+ AAPI Organizations Oppose Nomination of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General

January 30, 2017

Senator Sessions’ poor record on civil and human rights make him unqualified and unfit to be the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S.

As organizations representing Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, we are extremely troubled by Senator Sessions’ record of disenfranchising and denying the rights of people of color, immigrants, and Muslim communities. Senator Sessions, if confirmed, would be the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, charged with protecting the rights of all people in the United States as well as overseeing the immigration court system. His record makes him unfit for this role.

When Senator Sessions bemoans the state of immigration since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, preferring the prior patterns of immigration that excluded people of most backgrounds, except Western Europeans, what our communities hear is that he does not want us here.

Given Senator Sessions’ anti-civil rights, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim record, we do not have faith that he will enforce the rights of all of our communities and all people in the United States. As such, we strongly encourage you to oppose his nomination.