John,
On Sunday evening, a group of evacuees fleeing the devastation in the Bahamas were turned away by US Border Patrol and sent back to the Bahamas. Let me repeat that. Refugees from an island nation which has just been ravaged by a Category 5 Hurricane were turned away from America.
Their homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. Many have lost friends and family members. But instead of welcoming them with open arms and offering support, we’re sending them back to an island with little shelter, no food, and no access to basic necessities.
This is unacceptable. That’s why we’re taking action.
On Wednesday, we’ll hold a rally outside the Customs and Border Patrol Office in DC, and we hope you’ll join us.
If you can’t make it, stand with us and Bahamian climate refugees by signing this petition to Customs and Border Patrol demanding they #LetThemIn.
Make no mistake, this is Trump’s climate policy: turn our back on the world as climate change ravages it and build walls to keep everybody out. It’s deeply racist. The reason Trump gave for keeping the Bahamian refugees out? Among the Bahamian refugees were “some very bad people.” [1] (This comes from the person who said neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville and killed a peaceful protester in 2017 included some “very fine people”)
We have a choice about who we want to be as a country. As the climate crisis makes storms like Dorian stronger and deadlier, will we build bigger walls and keep polluting and making the crisis worse, or will we give the most vulnerable a safe haven in their time of need and commit ourselves to tackling this crisis?
Tell Trump and immigration officials: The survivors of Hurricane Dorian deserve compassion and support, not isolation and exclusion. Sign this petition, and we’ll deliver it to Customs and Border Patrol tomorrow night as we protest outside their office in DC.
It’s moments like these that make me so grateful for this movement. Thank you for all you’re doing to fight for a world where parents don’t have to choose to flee their homeland just so their children can have clean water and shelter. It’s people like all of you who make me believe that we can do this.
Varshini Prakash
1: HuffPost: Trump Claims Those Fleeing Bahamas Could Be ‘Very Bad People’
