NEW YORK, CMC – The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) has launched a marketing campaign towards the approaching threats posed by a second Donald Trump presidency in america and his proposed Challenge 2025 agenda.
NYIC, an umbrella coverage and advocacy group that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights teams all through New York, led a rally in Foley Sq. in decrease Manhattan on Thursday night time with member organizations, allies, and Caribbean and different immigrant New Yorkers in “standing up for immigrants.”
NYIC president and chief government officer Murad Awawdeh informed the Caribbean Media Company (CMC) that Challenge 2025 “seeks to create a nationwide deportation system that can have devastating penalties for a lot of weak communities.
“Donald Trump has explicitly threatened to deploy native legislation enforcement to deport all undocumented immigrants within the US – an estimated 11 million folks – together with round 4,500,000 folks residing in New York,” Awawdeh mentioned.
“These insurance policies undermine the rights and dignity of immigrants but in addition intention to dismantle the rules of inclusion and justice that outline our nation. Mass deportations would value New York Metropolis alone billions of {dollars} in financial exercise, lowering the workforce by a whole lot of hundreds of individuals and destroying numerous small companies,” he warned.
On the marketing campaign path, Trump and his operating mate, JD Vance, had always disparaged immigrants, notably Haitians residing in Springfield, Ohio.
Trump had continuously falsely claimed, even throughout his solely Presidential Debate with US Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of retired Jamaican economist Dr. Donald Harris, that Haitians had been consuming the canine, cats, and different pets of their neighbors in Springfield. The mayor of Springfield and the governor of Ohio had repeatedly acknowledged that there was no proof to help Trump’s declare.
The US President-Elect additionally mentioned that deporting immigrants can be his prime precedence on Day One when he assumes the presidency on Inauguration Day, on January 20, 2025.
“Trump’s victory received’t cease our motion from standing as much as his racist and fascist agenda,” Awawdeh informed the rally, including, “New York wouldn’t be the identical with out the 4.5 million immigrants who’ve helped form our tradition and fueled our financial system for generations.
“Donald Trump has demonized our communities and promised to tear our households aside beginning on Day One, however we won’t be intimidated. Trump has underestimated our power earlier than, and we are going to present him once more that we’re united and resilient.
“The work forward can be difficult however united. We are able to guarantee New York stays a beacon of hope for our immigrant neighbors and future generations. We’ll preserve preventing for a future the place each New Yorker can thrive.”
The workers legal professional with the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), Erik Crew, mentioned it’s unhappy to suppose that the folks of america elected a candidate who demonized immigrants and Black folks in migration, who lied about Haitians in Springfield to inflame hatred and concern and incite intimidation and violence.
He mentioned Trump promotes racist and xenophobic narratives, is prepared to place a complete city in a state of emergency for weeks to attain political factors, has threatened to deport folks in Springfield and throughout the nation, and has mentioned the Haitians in Springfield weren’t authorized in his thoughts.
“However Haitian Bridge Alliance was made for this second, and we’re devoted to defending the communities we serve and preventing for human rights, utilizing all of the instruments – humanitarian, authorized, and social – that we’ve constructed during the last near-decade.
“We’re dedicated to working along with each partnership we’ve, and to constructing extra each time attainable, to guard our group and promote a simply world – now, as a lot as ever (including in Haitian creole ‘anpil males chay pa lou’).”
The HBA is a grassroots nonprofit group group that advocates for truthful and humane immigration insurance policies and offers migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, authorized, and social companies, with a selected deal with Black folks, the Haitian group, ladies and ladies, LGBTQIA+ people, and survivors of torture and different human rights abuses.
New York State Meeting Member Michaelle C. Solages, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, who represents District 22 in Nassau County, Lengthy Island, New York, mentioned the outcomes of Tuesday’s US Presidential Elections “have instilled a wave of uncertainty in marginalized communities throughout New York, notably inside our Haitian group, who’re grappling with the looming risk of deportation underneath the brand new administration.
“Regardless of these obstacles, we stay resolute in our dedication to safeguard our neighbors and attempt towards a simply and equitable immigration system,” mentioned the fifth-term legislator.
“We received’t dwell on the challenges; as a substitute, we are going to mobilize,” vowed Solages, the primary individual of Haitian descent elected to the New York State Legislature. She is the Meeting Deputy Majority Chief and chair of The New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus.
The Guyanese-born founder and government director of the Caribbean Equality Challenge, Mohamed Q. Amin, mentioned that whereas “the political panorama could shift, in these instances of uncertainty and alter, we at Caribbean Equality Challenge stay steadfast in our dedication to empowering Caribbean LGBTQ+ New Yorkers.
“Our journey, as LGBTQ+ people, is marked by tales of braveness and resilience. We’ve confronted challenges head-on, from advocating for our civil rights, immigration reform, and trans fairness to navigating continued racism and the complexities of the COVID-19 disaster.
“Every impediment has solely served to fortify our resolve and deepen our dedication to 1 one other. Our historical past is a testomony to the ability of group, solidarity, and unwavering hope. Our mission is to empower Afro- and Indo-Caribbean LGBTQ+ immigrants, asylum seekers, and weak working-class folks to guide wholesome, profitable lives. We stand able to face any challenges that come our manner with braveness and conviction.”
New York Metropolis Council Member Alexa Avilés mentioned, “Now could be the time for our group to face sturdy and combat to guard each other.
“Because the chair for NYC Council’s Committee on Immigration, I do know that each New Yorker has a job to play in defending our metropolis’s sanctuary standing – insurance policies which have stored our group members protected for many years,” mentioned Avilés, describing herself as “a proud Boricua mother, Brooklynite, and democratic socialist devoted to public service and guaranteeing all folks have what they should thrive.”
A Boricua mother is a Puerto Rican mom recognized for her power, love, and resilience. “Boricua” is a slang time period used to check with an individual of Puerto Rican descent or a local of Puerto Rico. The phrase derives from the Spanish title for Puerto Rico, Boricua, a variation of the Indigenous title Boriquén.
“I can’t stand by and permit deportation insurance policies proposed by an ultra-conservative administration to incite violence, financial disruption, or the devastation of our vibrant immigrant communities,” mentioned Avilés, who additionally serves on the Metropolis Council’s Taskforce to Fight Hate. “We should put an finish to hateful rhetoric and defend our immigrant communities that make NYC entire.”
Commissioner of the Mayor’s Workplace of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), Manuel Castro, mentioned, “New York Metropolis will proceed to face firmly by the values which have made it a thriving metropolis of immigrants, the place all residents—irrespective of their immigration standing—ought to really feel capable of belief their native authorities and search a greater future for themselves and their households.
“We perceive that our immigrant communities are dealing with heightened concern and uncertainty,” mentioned Castro, who, on the age of 5, crossed the southern border of america along with his mom and grew up undocumented in Sundown Park and Flatbush, Brooklyn, residence to a few of the largest immigrant communities in New York Metropolis, together with Caribbean immigrants.
“They have to know that New York Metropolis is absolutely dedicated to following our Sanctuary Metropolis legal guidelines,” added Castro, who was a part of the early era of undocumented youth activists referred to as DREAMers, preventing for the correct to an training and authorized standing.
New York Metropolis Council Speaker Adrienne Adams mentioned the town “and the individuals who name it residence are resilient, and we are going to at all times stay steadfast in our dedication to the values that form our communities.
“We stay ready to guard New Yorkers from any anti-democratic and unconstitutional assaults that threaten the folks of our numerous metropolis. New York Metropolis is residence to prosperous immigrant communities who’ve constructed our city and powered its financial system, and we are going to proceed to be a beacon for them.
“Our metropolis has constantly persevered in adversity, together with a earlier Trump presidency. Standing collectively is how we emerge stronger, safeguarding our neighbors, rights, and shared values,” Adams added.
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