Friend,

From Day 1, this Administration has engaged in an intentional, targeted effort to criminalize and disenfranchise immigrants – from the “Muslim Ban” to HUD’s rules against mixed immigration status households to recent changes to the Public Charge rule that would deny green cards and visas to immigrants who have sought to access public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid.

This week, I had the chance to sit down with Trevor Noah to discuss how this Administration’s cruel, inhumane policies are impacting immigrant communities – from our southern border to the Massachusetts’ 7th, where 40 percent of residents are immigrants.

Make no mistake – our immigration system is not broken. It is functioning exactly as the occupant of the White House and his Administration designed it to function – the cruelty is the point.

And the most sobering thing is, we’ve been here before, when slaves were sold on auction blocks and as indigenous people were forced onto reservations. We know that separating families – and specifically mothers from their children – is one of the most effective ways to oppress entire populations.

That’s why I’ve called for abolishing ICE, shed light on the imprisonment of migrants at the border, and stood in community with my immigrant friends and neighbors in the MA-7. But the cruelty and inhumanity coming out of this White House will not be defeated only by politicians, it demands a movement committed to building a more just and compassionate immigration system.

Chip in now to help us keep building that movement >>

In solidarity,

-- Ayanna