Our collective social justice movements must continue to center Black voices in our struggle for a just immigration system.


** Updated Materials + A Note on Black History Month
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Dear Allies,

It has been exactly one week since President Biden signed his series of immigration-related Executive Orders, including one that orders the immediate review of the Public Charge regulation. Since then, the PIF team has been busy sharing out information with the coalition & planning what comes next.

This month is Black History Month and we want to recognize, celebrate, and honor black leaders and organizations who are on the frontlines of the fight for social justice. As we celebrate the month of February and as always, our collective social justice movements must continue to center Black voices in our struggle for a just immigration system and stand with our loved ones in the movement for Black lives. At PIF, we know that immigrant justice is racial justice, and the recent deportations of Black immigrants throughout the beginning of the month is yet another abhorrent entry in a long history of abuses in this country against Black people and Black immigrants.

We are grateful for and inspired by the tireless work of our partners at UndocuBlack and the Haitian Bridge Alliance who organized and put a stop to deportations to Haiti ([link removed]) last week, but unfortunately the ICE deportations have resumed ([link removed]) . We want to share a toolkit ([link removed]) developed by the Haitian Bridge Alliance & Families Belong Together that provides a list of readings, social media accounts to follow, and sample tweets and social media graphics to share in response to continued deportations of Black immigrants. While stopping deportations has not been a part of PIF’s history, we encourage all of us to stand with our colegas in this critical moment. “I think what motivates people is not great hate, but
great love for other people” - Huey P. Newton.


** Updated PIF Materials
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In light of last week’s Executive Order, we have updated some of our key materials to help advocates and families stay up-to-date on an evolving federal landscape. We updated our “What Advocates Need to Know ([link removed]) ” document to include updated information about the February 2 Exeuctive Order, and what next steps we can expect to see from relevant federal agencies. We have also updated our COVID guide, Immigrant Eligibility for Public Programs During COVID-19 ([link removed]) (also available in Spanish ([link removed]) ) to reflect analysis of the second COVID stimulus package from December 2020.


** NC Justice Center’s Vaccine Flyer
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Our partners at the North Carolina Justice Center developed a helpful flyer that explains immigrant access to COVID vaccines, while dispelling common concerns we are hearing on the ground. We want to share both the English ([link removed]) and Spanish ([link removed]) versions as great examples for you to use in your own communities to help combat the chill around receiving the COVID vaccine.


** Public Charge in the News
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* Washington Post ([link removed]) – Great commentary by columnist Catherine Rampell. Urges the government to take on the challenge of rebuilding trust with immigrant families, quoting PIF partners CLASP and CDF-Texas.
* CBS News ([link removed]) – Cites the new Urban Institute analysis.
* The Hill ([link removed]) – References a Vox / Data for Progress poll ([link removed]) released this week, finding majority support for reversing the “5-year bar” on most safety net programs for folks with green cards among Republican likely voters (57%), and supermajorities among Democrats (86%), women (71%), Black respondents (79%), and Latinx respondents (77%).

In Solidarity,

Eddie Carmona & Renato Rocha, on behalf of the PIF Team

Visit us at [link removed]

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