State of the Union Response
San Antonio, Texas – In response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address, RAICES has released the following statement.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Biden broke his promise to build a more welcoming, inclusive immigration system. It is even more evident now than one year ago that The White House has a single immigration priority: to shut down U.S. borders to those seeking their human and legal right to asylum.
President Biden called on Congress to “finish the job” on 13 of the biggest issues facing our nation — but not immigration reform. Make no mistake, he perpetuated demeaning stereotypes about immigrants before offering an immediate concession to fund the continued and cruel separation of families through the use of state-sanctioned force at the southern border.
“Yet again, the American public was presented with the false choice between ‘securing our borders’ and ‘welcoming families,’ making it clear that fighting for our immigrant community is not a political risk that President Biden is willing to take,” said RAICES head of communications Faisal Al-Juburi. “But we will not back down until asylum protections are restored in full.”
We must hold our elected officials accountable and demand that the right to “equal protection under the law” shall not be denied to asylum seekers and immigrant families.
