FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2020
CONTACT
Tenoch Flores, tenoch.flores@outlook.com
LOS ANGELES – Upon the announcement that Joe Biden has been elected to the office of president of the United States, Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, issued the following statement:
“In the greatest voter turnout in more than a century, a majority of voters have called for our nation to move forward together and begin what is likely to be a long process of healing and recovery. We defeated the most anti-immigrant president in generations and saved American democracy in the process. In doing so, the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund (IJF) broke new ground for the immigrant justice movement by demonstrating that our issues, our values, and our families will no longer be taken for granted, ignored, or scapegoated during an election.
Over the past few weeks, we witnessed a vibrant democracy in action. This win is a victory for immigrants and their families, for justice, and an opportunity for our nation to live up to its promise and ensure that all of us, no matter where we were born or what we look like, have the opportunity to thrive. By electing Joe Biden, an overwhelming number of voters issued a rejection of Trump’s hateful rhetoric and sent a signal to all elected officials that immigrants are essential to the fabric of America.
The NILC Immigrant Justice Fund set out to prove that candidates and campaigns in battleground states could target persuadable voters with pro-immigrant messages, and win. That’s why we initiated our campaign to reach 130,000 persuadable voters in the battleground states of Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona with digital ads carrying pro-immigrant messages -- in some of these states, the number of voters we targeted was greater than the margin of victory for Joe Biden.
We delivered over 11 million digital ads to these key voters, winning two of three states that helped President-elect Biden secure the electoral votes he needed to win the presidency.
By reaching persuadable voters in battleground states, especially Independent women and persuadable Latinx voters, with a unifying, pro-immigrant vision for the future, advocates for immigrant rights helped determine the outcome of this election.
In 2020, we proved that a pro-immigrant message can be a winning message with persuadable voters, and we helped make clear that immigrants and immigrant families have value as political constituents. Voters will support leaders who include immigrants in building a better future for all of us, no matter where we were born, and politicians from both parties should take note.
This election, voters spoke with clarity and with force. Their message was undeniable: they wanted nothing to do with Trump’s anti-immigrant and xenophobic agenda. Voters want leaders who will prioritize their health and work to ensure a just recovery for all. Democrats and Republicans at all levels of government should heed this lesson or risk becoming politically irrelevant, and both parties must embrace a bold and inclusive pro-immigrant vision for America.”
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