NILC Stands in Solidarity with Black Community Members and Allies to Declare Black Lives Matter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2020

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, (213) 375-3149, [email protected]

NILC Stands in Solidarity with Black Community Members and Allies to Declare Black Lives Matter

WASHINGTON — Thousands of people in cities all around the country attended protests over the past week following the murder of George Floyd while in police custody. Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:

“Our hearts have been broken by and our souls ache because of the murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. The present outpouring of grief, pain, rage, and courageous civil disobedience on streets across our country in response to these deaths has captured the nation’s attention. For too long, we have lived within a system that perpetuates violence against Black people, casting Black lives as expendable.

“Enough. We demand change. We demand justice.

“As a multiracial organization whose mission is to defend the rights of immigrants, we see that the same system that guarantees a prison bed for anyone who makes a mistake but denies them a job, an education, or health care is part of the same system that rips immigrant children from their parents’ arms and enables for-profit incarceration of humans who simply seek a better future for their families.

“We commit to standing with Black communities to demand justice and to follow the leadership and example of Black movement leaders as we do everything we can to dismantle the systems of white supremacy, including within our immigrant justice movement. We grieve with our Black staff, board members, and neighbors, and we are committed to building an America where Black lives matter.”

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