WASHINGTON, D.C., February 16, 2017—Today, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund joined lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) advocates and immigrant rights activists taking part in “A Day Without Immigrants” actions taking place all across the country. In Washington, D.C., advocates marched to the White House to call on the Trump Administration to stop the massive raids sweeping the nation. In the last week alone, close to 700 immigrants have been arrested, detained, and processed for deportation regardless of the immigration status.
“The Trump Administration’s massive raids are reprehensible, inhumane and simply put, un-American. Instead of working to fix our broken immigration system, and provide a pathway to citizenship to the 11 million undocumented immigrants, including 267,000 LGBTQ immigrants, who are already living, working, paying taxes, and contributing to our society, Donald Trump is terrorizing immigrant communities through massive, indiscriminate, and destructive raids. Hundreds of families have already been separated because of Trump’s actions targeting and dehumanizing immigrants.
“President Trump’s actions in his first few weeks in office are direct attacks on the lives and liberties of black, brown, immigrant and Muslim people. We will not allow Trump’s hate rhetoric, Islamophobia, incitement of violence, and scapegoating of refugees and immigrants to prevail. We will not allow Trump’s infringements on our civil rights to continue without a fight. We will continue to stand up against Trump’s racist agenda and challenge it every step of the way.
“We call on everyone to join us in demanding DHS Secretary John F. Kelly immediately stop the massive raids, detentions and deportations. We also urge House Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican-led Congress to stand up to Trump’s Deportation Force and protect immigrant communities from being terrorized,” said Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund Executive Director.
Featured is a photo of today’s Washington, D.C. action. For additional video and photos, please check out our social media accounts at Twitter.com/TheTaskForce and Facebook.com/TheTaskForce.
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CONTACT:
Jorge Amaro
Media and Public Relations Director
213-842-7564
jamaro@thetaskforce.org