Asian Americans Advancing Justice Condemns Statements By the White House and Attorney General Scapegoating Immigrants
- Contact
Washington, D.C. – The President called on Congress to end our family immigration system, which he calls “chain migration,” based on yesterday’s isolated attack in New York. Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrongly joined the call to end the family immigration system and the diversity lottery, vilifying all immigrants who do not enter via a “merit-based system”.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a coalition of five civil rights organizations, issued the following statement:
“Asian Americans Advancing Justice strongly condemns these statements by the President and the Attorney General. It is shameful to use moments of tragedy to scapegoat all immigrants and push for unrelated policies that would drastically harm immigrant communities while doing nothing for improving national security. We condemn the attack and extend sympathies to the people injured yesterday.
Two-thirds of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are immigrants, and 92 percent of Asian Americans are immigrants or the children of immigrants. The majority of Asian immigrants entered the U.S. through the family-based immigration system, and many Asian immigrants that come on employment-based (so called “merit-based”) visas are invested in their jobs and communities because they are able to use the family-based system to reunite with their family members.
The administration’s attempt to use the attack is a blatant attempt to undermine immigrant families and communities. The more than 43 million immigrants living in the U.S., including their families, enrich our economy and society. We call on Congress to reject the administration’s scapegoating of immigrant families and to swiftly pass the clean DREAM Act.”
###