WASHINGTON, DC – Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, the national powerbuilding organization serving working-class Black, Latino, African-descendant, Indigenous, and immigrants, issued the following statement denouncing President Trump’s promised executive orders that attack Black and brown immigrant families. From ending birthright citizenship, restricting asylum, and sending further funding to the border – these executive orders are just the beginning of the many actions in carrying out his dangerous mass deportation agenda.
“Today, President Trump has launched a full-scale assault on immigrant families and communities of color. From directly challenging the 14th amendment by threatening to end birthright citizenship to suspending asylum access and refugee resettlement to the most vulnerable among us, these executive actions are rooted in xenophobia and part of his very well-known strategy to dehumanize people of color.
“The Trump administration is once again leading the United States in abandoning its legal and moral obligation to be a refuge for those fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries and effectively dismantling our asylum system. Thousands of CASA members have come to this country to avail themselves of those protections, leaving their home countries with heavy hearts and a hope that they will be welcomed here.
“Deploying more troops to the border and funneling additional funding for wall construction will only continue into a precedent of cruelty, seeking to end that hope for those who need to come here in the future. President Trump has further moved our country closer to authoritarian rule. We will not stand by and let this happen. CASA will continue to fight for a humane and just immigration system that is prepared to respond to the needs of those fleeing violence and seeking safety here in the United States.
“The Trump administration has made its intentions clear in targeting and dehumanizing Black and brown over the next four years. We condemn ending diversity and equity programs that seek to balance the scales against the centuries-long anti-Blackness of this country. We stand firmly against effectively erasing transgender people and the queer experience by declaring a gender binary. We will always champion working class Black, immigrant, indigenous, Latino peoples, no matter what President Trump has to do or say. That means holding him accountable, even taking the President to court, to protect the rights that he’s trying to trample. As we continue to see the executive orders announced today, over the course of this week, and looking ahead to the next four years, we will fight back.”