Press Release: 2021 Immigration Action Plan

18 AUGUST 2020

As Trump Prepares Immigration Rally in Arizona, Over 200 Organizations Release ‘2021 Immigration Action Plan’, Offering Blueprint to Undo Damage Wrought by Trump, Transform America’s Immigration System

2021 Immigration Action Plan Outlines Ten Priority Actions for Incoming Administration and Comes on the Eve of Democratic National Convention’s Anticipated Focus on Wednesday Highlighting a New Vision for America’s Immigration System

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, as President Trump heads to Yuma, Arizona where he’s expected to host a major anti-immigration campaign rally to fire up his base ahead of the November election, more than 170 of the nation’s leading immigration and advocacy organizations unveiled the 2021 Immigration Action Plan, laying out a blueprint for the next administration to not only restore human dignity to a system weaponized by the Trump administration, but to transform America’s immigration system — reinforcing core American values and powering the economic recovery of the nation. The 2021 Action Plan — which counts amongst its supporters a strong, diverse cross-section of advocacy organizations from UnidosUS, SEIU, and Immigration Hub to Planned Parenthood, Children’s Defense Fund, and America’s Voice — represents a series of ten concrete, actionable, and fully articulated proposals addressing every stage of immigration policy and processing for a new administration, and envisions a new approach to migration and border governance.

“Americans are tired of the divisive, xenophobic rhetoric, they’re disturbed by the actions that have torn families apart and they’re ready for new leadership to restore and reinforce the values Americans treasure,” said Sarnata Reynolds, Director of Policy for Immigration Hub. “This 2021 Immigration Action Plan isn’t only a blueprint for undoing the horrors we’ve witnessed over the past four years, but is a roadmap for achieving an immigration system that’s grounded in equity and unity, and that’s integral to America’s economic recovery. As Trump takes the stage in Yuma, the more than 170 organizations who have signed onto this action plan are organizing, mobilizing, and reaching voters and communities across the country to shine a light on the transformation that’s possible under new leadership.”

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. Re-envisioning 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.

“The emerging multiracial majority in America wants to turn the page on the Trump era,” said Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice. “In no issue area is this more true than in immigration. Instead of the intentional cruelty, naked xenophobia and ugly divisiveness of the current administration, Americans want immigrants and refugees treated fairly and humanely, solutions that reflect our values and realize our ideals, and policies and structures that modernize and transform our immigration system. For policymakers gearing up to make big changes on immigration, this action plan is the consensus of the best thinkers and experts in the country and should serve as a blueprint for the next President.”

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 long standing 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: Re-envision 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, spearheaded by the Immigration Hub and America’s Voice. 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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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.

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