FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 9, 2022
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WASHINGTON – As part of the #FreedomForAll campaign, Alianza Americas, a coalition of 55 migrant-led organizations across the U.S., and Presente.org, the country’s largest Latinx digital organizing platform, petition the U.S. government to abolish immigration detention and defund private prisons that hold the majority of detained migrants.
The U.S. government spends billions of dollars in direct funds on inhumane and corrupt detentions that incarcerate migrants fleeing violence and humanitarian crises. The #FreedomForAll campaign website, launched today, features statistics highlighting how such funds could better serve our communities through safe and moral programs, including universal legal representation, improved healthcare access, access to quality housing, and other programs. It is time for President Biden to uphold his campaign promise, end detention centers, and establish humane migration programs.
“Even though the U.S. champions freedom as a fundamental right to our national identity, for too long now we’ve run this massive detention apparatus, locking up those who’ve come here seeking protection and a better life,” said Oscar Chacón, executive director of Alianza Americas. “We need laws and policies that uphold freedom for all, including people who migrate.”
“Wasting billions of dollars each year on immigration detention and privatized incarceration is the worst kind of racket, dangerous, corrupt, and inhumane approach. Our public funds should go toward guaranteeing universal legal representation for those in deportation proceedings, greater health access, better housing and education, and other programs for communities in need,” said Matt Nelson, director of Presente.org.
“People who’ve migrated to the United States bring incredible benefits to their communities. They should be welcomed and protected, not criminalized and incarcerated because of their migration status,” said Carolina Ortiz, a community activist with COPAL, a grassroots organization that defends migrant communities in southern Minnesota.
“People who migrate have the right to seek protection and regularize their immigration status, without being detained or locked up. President Biden campaigned on investing in alternatives to detention and ending the use of private prisons for immigration detention, but all we’ve seen so far are broken promises,” said Yaquelin López, co-founder of Women Working Together, a grassroots organization based in Miami, Florida.
Take action to pressure the Biden administration and Members of Congress to guarantee #FreedomForAll by signing our petition:
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Alianza Americas is the premier transnational advocacy network of Latin American migrant-led organizations working in the United States, across the Americas, and globally to create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of life for communities across North, Central, and South America.
Presente.org is the nation’s largest online Latinx organizing group — and the nation’s premier Latinx digital organizing hub — advancing social justice with technology, media, and culture. Presente.org is now a project of Alianza Americas.
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