LULAC DEMANDS WORK PERMITS AND PROTECTONS AGAINST DEPORTATION FOR ALL UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS WAITING YEARS IN THE USA WITHOUT RELIEF
Nation's Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Urges Equal Treatment for Other Undocumented Immigrants Fleeing Danger, Violence and Here More than a Decade
September 21, 2023
For more information, contact David Cruz at (818) 689-9991
davidcruz@lulac.org
Washington, DC - LULAC announced it supports the Biden Administration's action as a humane and economically necessary step as more than 500,000 refugees from Venezuela await their applications for political asylum to be processed in the immigration courts system. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the action is necessary because of "Venezuela's increased instability and lack of safety."
"LULAC is very clearly in support of helping these men, women, and children fleeing desperate and dangerous conditions in Venezuela under the Maduro regime," says Domingo Garcia, LULAC national president. "The United States has historically welcomed and helped those individuals whose lives are in danger because of government oppression and civil wars in their countries of origin. The precedent is there, and LULAC supports such policies," adds Garcia.
Now, LULAC is urging the Biden Administration to move with equal vigor to normalize the immigration status of 11 million other persons in the United States, the vast majority Mexicans, many of whom have been in the country years or decades, working, living lawfully, and paying taxes. They cannot return to Mexico, experiencing a civil war between the cartels that has claimed more than 500,000 lives, more than all present Latin American conflicts combined.
"LULAC calls upon Americans of faith to put their beliefs into action by embracing all immigrants who are living their lives every day, obeying the law, paying their taxes, and supporting our way of life," says Garcia. "We will not join the chorus that may seek to divide us, turning one Latino against another. Nor will LULAC stand still and let Donald Trump use us as pinatas for his re-election to the White House by threatening another Operation Wetback style deportation of millions and breaking up innocent families in the process," says Garcia.
As long as Americans' insatiable appetite for drugs continues, the Mexican cartels that supply them will continue their civil war at the expense of innocent civilians. These death squads are violently ravaging small towns and cities to force young men into becoming their recruits or being executed on the spot.
“LULAC’s commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is as strong as ever, and this is a moment in history when the need in our nation for a strong labor force and infusion of economic life blood has never been greater,” says Lydia Guzman, Chair of LULAC’s National Immigration Committee. “Undocumented Mexicans in the U.S. are doing a great deal for our nation and deserve protections from deportation and exploitation.”
The daily dangers Mexicans face are real and have continued for years without let up. Yet, the United States government has refused to grant asylum protection to the millions of Mexicans already in the country and a vital part of the economy.
"LULAC has patiently waited for years for the United States government to address the reality of violence that has ravaged Mexico and forced millions to flee their homes and make their way north," says Ray Mancera, LULAC national vice president for the Southwest, whose region borders Mexico. "The plata o plomo (silver or death) life and death danger to them is no different from the Venezuelans under Maduro or the Cubans who fled their island since the 1960s to present and receive immediate protection from the moment they step on U.S. soil. We supported them receiving refuge and see no difference for Mexicans in the U.S. and have only received broken promises," he adds.
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