Viviane Faver Last week the Pennsylvania Immigrant and Citizenship Coalition (PICC),
organized partner organizations representing a broad array of immigrant groups for a rally at
City Hall to warn the Biden administration that going back to Trump-era immigration policies will
have a negative impact on his electoral prospects with critical elements of his winning 2020
coalition in a critical swing state.
“Immigrant voters in Pennsylvania are demanding the White House and Congress stop
scapegoating immigrants,” said Tsehaitu Abye, State Director of African Communities Together.
“President Biden must use his executive power to earn our support at the polls. Begin by halting
any executive orders stopping families from seeking asylum and instead close all immigrant
detention centers.”
“President Biden has already taken steps to remove families seeking asylum through the Family
Expedited Removal management program,” said Adrianna Torres-Garcia, Deputy Director of the
Free Migration Project. “Biden, Casey and Fetterman have not only turned their backs on
immigrants by demonizing and endangering families,” they added, “but this has all been done
while pursuing billions for proxy wars and genocide.
“The Biden administration’s policies on immigration and Palestine are not only out of line with
our values of dignity and justice but they are also a huge political misstep,” said Asiyah Jones, a
Youth Coordinator with CAIR Pennsylvania. “President Biden, you are pushing away the voters
who helped deliver your victory in PA 4 years ago. Muslim voters, Immigrant voters, BIPOC
voters, young voters, progressive voters. So many people are disgusted with death and politics.
You want our support, you need to earn our support. Ceasefire now, drop these executive
orders and shut down these detention centers.”
This White House is hanging its hat on how the economy has turned around, but what it’s failing
to do is acknowledge who turned it around,” said Vivian Chang, Executive Director of Asian
Americans United “The Washington Post just released coverage this week on the enormous
impact immigrants have had on economic growth in the past year. Immigrants did that and now
you are throwing our people under the bus and endangering people’s lives by returning to
Trump era policies and further fueling Anti-Asian hate. President Biden must use his executive
power to earn our support at the polls.”
