Black women stand with Dreamers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 20I7
Contact: Alexa Mauzy-Lewis, Camino PR alexa@.caminopccom / 212-255-2575

Statement from In Our Own Voice
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Today, the Trump administration announced plans to end the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects undocumented immigrant children from deportation by allowing them to work and attend school in the United States legally. According to a statement from Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke, current beneficiaries will not be affected before March 5, 2018. However, no new applications will be accepted after today.

Marcela Howell, founder and executive director of 1n Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, issued the following statement in response:

“The president’s decision to cut DACA is a crime against humanity and a deliberate act of cruelty against the 800,000 young people whose lives depend on this program. While the moral consequences alone are reason enough to maintain DACA, the dismantling of the program will also have severe economic consequences, as more than 1,400 people a day could lose their ability to work.

“‘It is clear that Trump’s decisions are derived from a hate-fueled agenda focused on both a disdain for Hispanic immigrants and an obsession with erasing the legacy of the country’s first and only Black president. His obsession with discrediting President Obama -from years ofleading the ‘birther’ rhetoric to attacks on Obamacare and now DACA -reveal motivations rooted in racism and bigotry.

“This administration’s incessant targeting of marginalized groups – including immigrants, LGBTQ people, women and people of color -is emblematic of the normalization of white supremacists in positions of power in the Trump era. We will continue to stand with immigrants, LGBTQ people, women and all who are targeted by Trump. We call on elected officials in Congress and across the country to join us in resisting Trump’s hateful vendetta against our immigrant sisters and brothers.”

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In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda is a national reproductive justice organization focused on lifting up the voices of Black women at the national and regional levels in our ongoing policy fight to secure reproductive justice for all women and girls.