2021 Immigration Action Plan Outlines Ten Priority Actions for Incoming Administration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2020

CONTACT
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149, gastelum@nilc-ijf.org

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, President Trump heads to Yuma, Arizona, where he’s expected to host a major anti-immigration campaign rally to fire up his base. The National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund joined more than 170 of the nation’s leading immigration and advocacy organizations in releasing the 2021 Immigration Action Plan, laying out a blueprint for the next administration to transform America’s immigration system —not only to restore human dignity to a system weaponized by the Trump administration but also to reinforce core American values and power the economic recovery of the nation.

“Since taking office, the Trump administration has issued more than 400 actions related to immigration policy, most of which are harmful, cruel, and detrimental to the health and well-being of our communities,” said Archana Sahgal, director with the National Immigration Law Center Immigrant Justice Fund. “It is critical that we lay out a blueprint for the next administration to restore human dignity to a system that has been co-opted by the Trump administration, in order to reinforce core American values and power our country’s economic recovery. The work of envisioning a 21st century immigration policy begins now, and the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund is proud to be a part of this effort.”

While the 2021 Immigration Action Plan seeks to undo the damage wrought by the Trump administration — from putting children and families in cages and restricting the due process rights of immigrants at the border, to extending the detention limit for children and families, and forging ahead with a failed border wall — it acknowledges that more must be done to truly transform the system. Trump’s divisive, anti-Black and racist rhetoric against immigrants fans the flames of xenophobia, further corroding a system that has been broken for decades. Reenvisioning the country’s immigration system to work in the long term will take a coordinated, clear-eyed effort that aims to benefit immigrant families in every policy initiative.

Ten Actions to Transform and Modernize America’s Immigration System

The ten actions will both reverse the racism and damage of the Trump years and reshape longstanding criminalization and deportation policies that have defined many past administrations:

Action 1: Prioritize Equity and Harm Reduction in the Immigration System

Action 2: End the Anti-Black and Discriminatory Targeting of Certain U.S. Citizens and Immigrants

Action 3: Rebuild the U.S. Economy

Action 4: Reenvision Leadership in the Next Administration

Action 5: Decriminalize Immigration

Action 6: Protect Immigrant Children, Families, and Their Communities

Action 7: Phase Out Immigration Jails and Fund Community-Based Case Management Programs

Action 8: Establish Thriving, Rights-Respecting Borders

Action 9: Reimagine the Role of the Immigration Courts

Action 10: Restore the Right to Seek and Receive Protection from Persecution, Torture, and Other Serious Human Rights Violations

The 2021 Immigration Action Plan has been a collaborative effort nine months in the making. Further information — including the full text of the plan — can be found here.

Below is a full list of the 173 organizations that have signed on to the 2021 Immigration Action Plan:

Adhikaar
Advocating Opportunity (AO)
African Bureau for Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA)
African Communities Together (ACT)
African Public Affairs Committee (AfriPAC)
Alianza Americas
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Alliance of Baptists
America's Voice (AV)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Americans for Immigrant Justice (AI Justice)
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO
Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV)
Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA)
ASISTA
Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)
AsylumWorks
Ayuda
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
Bread for the World
Break the Cycle
Bridges Faith Initiative
California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)
Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition (CAIR Coalition)
Care in Action
CASA
CASA in Action
Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities
Casa San Jose
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS)
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Victims of Torture (CVT)
Center Global, a program of the DC Center for the LGBT Community
Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)
Central American Resource Center -- CARECEN SF
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM)
Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos (CRECEN)
Centro Legal de la Raza
Centro Maya Guatemalteco
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)
Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
Church World Service (CWS)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)
Coalition on Human Needs (CHN)
Colectivo de Mujeres Transnacionales
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Community EsTr(El/La)
Compass Immigration Legal Services (CILS)
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Demand Progress
Detention Watch Network (DWN)
Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministries (RIM)
Durango Unido en Chicago
Every. Last. One.
Faith in Public Life (FIPL)
Families Belong Together (FBT)
Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF)
Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC)
Florida People's Advocacy Center (FL PAC)
For Good PGH
Franciscan Action Network (FAN)
Freedom Network USA (FNUSA)
Friends of Miami-Dade Detainees (FOMDD)
Frontera de Cristo
Future Coalition
Futures Without Violence (FUTURES)
Grupo de Apoyo e Integración Hispanoamericano
Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”
Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC)
HEAL Trafficking
HIAS
HIAS Pennsylvania
Hispanic Federation (HF)
Hispanic Health Network
Human Rights First (HRF)
Human Rights Initiative of North Texas (HRI)
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef)
Immigrant Food
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)
Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast (ILSCC)
Immigrants Rising, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives
Immigration Equality Action Fund
Immigration Hub
Indivisible
Innovation Law Lab
Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice (ICPJ)
International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
La Raza Centro Legal (LRCL), San Francisco
Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN)
Latin America Working Group (LAWG)
Latinx LGBTQI+ Initiative Inc. (LILA)
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWE)
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)
March On
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA)
Massachusetts TPS Committee
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)
Michigan United
MomsRising
Muslim Advocates
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV)
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF)
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Association of Social Workers- NYC Chapter (NAWS-NYC)
National Council of Jewish Women
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
National Equality Action Team (NEAT)
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG)
National Justice for Our Neighbors (NJFON)
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA)
National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)
Nebraska Appleseed
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice (NETWORK)
New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC)
NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (NILC IJF)
North Carolina Justice Center (NC Justice Center)
Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA)
OneAmerica
Open Immigration Legal Services
Partnerships for Trauma Recovery (PTR)
Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PICC)
People's Action
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA)
Poder Latinx
Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
Reform Immigration for Texas Alliance (RITA)
Refugees International
Removal Defense Corps (RDC), Southwestern Law School
Resilience Force
Salvadoran Association of Los Angeles (ASOSAL)
Save the Children Action Network (SCAN)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas - Justice Team
SPLC Action Fund
Sojourners
South Texas Human Rights Center
Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC)
Tahirih Justice Center
Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP)
The Children's Partnership
The Lifeboat Project, Inc.
The Rhizome Center for Migrants
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC)
Ujima, Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
UnidosNow
UnidosUS
UNITED SIKHS
United Stateless
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)
USC International Human Rights Clinic (HRC)
Utah Health & Human Rights (UHHR)
Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights (VACIR)
Voice for Refuge Action Fund
Voices For Freedom
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians
Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center (WOTS)
Women's Refugee Commission
Women Working Together USA
Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

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