Standing together, grounded in our dignity
Updated: Dec 11, 2019
On the eve of the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, we would like to once again share this powerful message of immigrant community resilience and resistance created at our conference in November:
“We are the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network sending a message to undocumented communities and other communities living in resistance. The struggle continues and we need you. You have power. You can break through fear and together we are power. The power is within us, not with politicians. We are here. We live here. We work here. We are here to fight. We dance here. We love here. We belong here. We remain here. We are here, cultivating resistance, harvesting dignity!“
Listen to immigrant and refugees from the Southeast convey this powerful multilingual message in Mixteco, Hmong, Creole, Farsi, Otomí, Spanish and English and please share on social media.
We also have these words for Donald Trump:
On the eve of your inauguration as President, we stand together more determined than ever to defend the rights, dignity and humanity of our communities. We reject the hateful rhetoric that dominated your campaign and that continues to be propagated by many of your most reactionary supporters. We will vigorously fight against any of your initiatives designed to criminalize immigrants and people of color, or strip them of their rights. We will hold you, your administration and other politicians accountable for inhumane deportation policies that divide our communities and separate our families. We will oppose your border wall and any policy designed to further militarize the U.S.-Mexico border. We will condemn any efforts to enact a ban of Muslim immigrants and refugees or a blanket ban of immigrants/refugees from specific countries. We will stand strong against your attempts to dismantle existing refugee and family visa programs. And we will resist your unjust policies and all attempts to harm and divide our communities.
While we fight your destructive and hateful agenda, we reaffirm our steadfast commitment to a shared struggle for justice and dignity for everyone. We will continue to build a movement that is led by those directly affected by unjust policies. We will continue to build stronger, more resilient organizations and communities. We will honor and celebrate our cultures and contributions. And justice and dignity will prevail.