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From the Desk of Bob Goodfellow, Interim Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
Dear Friends,
I hope this email finds you safe and well.
Over the past four years, we’ve watched in horror as the Trump administration has thrown kids in cages, left thousands of people seeking safety to die at the border, bombed civilians globally, stoked white supremacy and emboldened violence from the police, and left hundreds of thousands of people — including frontline workers — to die from COVID-19, during a horrific time for human rights in this country.
President Trump has done untold damage to human rights in the U.S. and abroad, and worked to dismantle the very human rights institutions responsible for ensuring that all people can live freely, in safety and with dignity. But egregious human rights violations by the U.S. government long precede Donald Trump.
With your input, we’ve developed policy priorities for a new Biden administration, including:
- Ending the police killings of Black people and gun violence across the U.S.
- Defending the right to protest and free expression, which have been severely hampered by the U.S. government.
- Freeing people, including all families together, from ICE detention.
- Restoring asylum access at the U.S./Mexico border and releasing immigration detainees.
- Safeguarding human rights as the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and its long-lasting effects.
- Addressing the urgent climate crisis as the human rights crisis it really is.
- Promoting gender equality worldwide.
- Protecting persecuted populations around the world.
- Halting civilian deaths committed by U.S. arms and U.S. lethal operations globally, and finally closing Guantanamo.
We’ll need your help to ensure the Biden administration takes these critical steps. Stay tuned for Part 2, our email on Wednesday, for the next way to stay engaged.
I have watched with admiration as our staff and members around the world have worked around the clock to hold past administrations accountable and expose human rights abuses. It is one of the many reasons I became involved in Amnesty’s work as a youth member. I know this energy and dedication to our cause will continue given the meaningful opportunity we have in front of us to meet these challenges head on and create lasting change.
Thank you for all you do. I’m so proud to be in this fight with you.
Onward,
Bob Goodfellow
Interim Executive Director
Amnesty International USA
P.S. We have hope for new commitments to a bold human rights agenda. Keep an eye out for Part 2 of this email on Wednesday, for the next way to call on President-elect Biden to take action to end human rights violations in the U.S. and around the world.
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