Washington, D.C. - In the wake of last week’s tragic attack on two members of the National Guard in Washington D.C., the Welcome With Dignity Campaign unequivocally condemns this act of violence. We extend our thoughts and deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all those affected by this tragedy.
The Welcome With Dignity Campaign is deeply alarmed by the rhetoric employed by the Trump administration to vilify entire communities and the drastic policy response to collectively punish large groups of people for the heinous acts of one individual. In the days since, the administration has announced that it will reexamine all green cards issued during the Biden administration years to people from the 19 countries subject to the Trump 2025 Travel Ban and review grants of asylum from the same time period; suspend all immigration processes for Afghan nationals; and halt all asylum decisions regardless of nationality. These sweeping, discriminatory, and punitive policy decisions will cause untold harm to entire communities who are seeking safety in the United States, including those the United States promised to protect. We urge our leaders to resist and denounce the scapegoating of Afghans and other immigrant and asylum seeking communities, and to continue upholding our moral responsibility to offer protection and refuge to those fleeing violence and persecution in their countries of origin.
Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, members of the Welcome With Dignity Campaign have worked tirelessly to welcome our Afghan allies and at-risk community members fleeing Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan continues to be untenable – women and girls, human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTQ+ individuals, religious and ethnic minorities, civil society leaders, and those who put their lives on the line to work with the former Afghan government, U.S. military, or international organizations are at risk of certain persecution by the Taliban if they are forced to return.
It is clear that the administration is using this tragedy as pretext to continue its unpopular mass deportation, detention, and disappearances agenda – an agenda that makes us all less safe, and attempts to engender fear and exclusion in our communities. The Welcome with Dignity Campaign remains steadfast in our commitment to people seeking safety, as well as newcomers and longstanding immigrant community members who are rebuilding their lives in the United States. We stand alongside our 129 members to uphold and fight for the dignity, humanity, and rights of all our communities, including our Afghan neighbors and allies.
“The Trump administration is exploiting tragedy to advance its campaign to shutter all remaining legal pathways to safety,” said Blaine Bookey, Legal Director at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS). “The discriminatory policy changes announced over the past week punish and endanger refugee families, children, and adults from Afghanistan and around the world for the actions of one individual. The administration’s pause on asylum decisions impacts people like our client, an Indigenous mother and domestic violence survivor from Mexico, whose children are now indefinitely trapped living with her abusive ex-partner. And as the White House rolls out these cruel policy changes, President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Noem have embraced increasingly dangerous, racist rhetoric that stokes fear, dehumanizes immigrants and refugees of color, and makes all of our communities less safe."
“The Trump administration’s response to the horrific attack on two members of the National Guard has been to exploit tragedy and grief to further their cruel and discriminatory anti-immigrant agenda. Sweeping policy proposals—such as halting all asylum applications—will only harm the families, children, and adults who have been waiting for years to reunite with loved ones, rebuild their lives, and finally access the stability and safety our government has promised them,” said Robyn Barnard, Senior Director, Refugee Advocacy at Human Rights First, and co-lead of the Welcome With Dignity Campaign. “In 2021, we made a promise to our Afghan allies to offer protection and refuge in the face of unfathomable danger caused in part by actions by our government. Today, they are a vital part of our communities—our friends, neighbors, loved ones, and colleagues. Although the administration continues to cruelly shut the door on people seeking safety, we will be steadfast in offering our support and solidarity.”
“We are heartbroken by this tragedy, and our prayers are with the families of U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe,” said Kristyn Peck, CEO of Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area. “We are also concerned by the inflammatory rhetoric and series of reactionary policies targeting people from Afghanistan based on the actions of one individual. This is a time for unity, not division. Our shared faith traditions compel us to uphold the inherent dignity of every person. These sweeping actions inflict further harm on our neighbors and friends – many of whom served alongside U.S. forces – to whom we promised safety and solidarity.”
“The rhetoric coming from the White House ever since last week’s horrific shooting has been unconscionable. An entire group should never be vilified or punished for the actions of one individual. It is irresponsible that the Administration is exploiting this tragedy to further their hateful anti-immigrant agenda, in defiance of the law and any common sense," said Rricha deCant, Senior Director of Policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). "We stand with our immigrant neighbors and friends and call on the government to rescind these harmful actions that will further endanger Afghans and other displaced populations abroad.”
“This administration is shamefully exploiting last week’s tragedy to further its harmful political agenda,” said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Executive Director at Refugee Congress. “ The latest battery of discriminatory immigration policies are not what this nation wants or needs. People across the United States want economic opportunity, affordable housing, accessible health care, and quality education. These are the same priorities that our forcibly displaced and immigrant neighbors are championing every day. We cannot allow this administration to use our fear and heartbreak as a pretext for cruelty against some of the most vulnerable Americans.”
“Where there should be compassion and unity, the Trump administration saw a moment of grief as an opportunity to demonize people seeking safety and justify sweeping, xenophobic attacks on immigrant communities,” said Margaret Cargioli, Directing Attorney of Policy and Advocacy of Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). “It is unconscionable to manipulate public sorrow to strip away rights and cast entire nationalities as threats. We must not allow grief to be twisted into a tool for discrimination; our responsibility is to defend human rights and safeguard the rights of people seeking refuge.”
“As an Afghan asylee, I know what it means to flee danger, to rebuild from nothing, and to hold onto the fragile hope that America can be a place of safety,” said Fatima Saidi, Director of We Are All America. “This order shatters that hope for thousands of refugee families. People who have already survived war, persecution, and displacement are now being told that even here, their future is uncertain and their protection can be taken away. No one who escaped violence should have to fear losing their home all over again. We must stand with refugees now, not only to defend their legal rights, but also their belief that safety is still possible in this country.”
“President Trump is using this tragedy as a pretext to demonize, criminalize, and target an entire community, said Arash Azizzada, co-director for Afghans For A Better Tomorrow. “Exploiting this incident to cast suspicion on Afghans, people who have already endured decades of displacement and the consequences of America’s forever wars, is both irresponsible and cruel. Furthermore, it upends and breaks the promise to Afghans who stood alongside Americans for twenty long years. We reject this form of collective punishment and denounce the administration’s anti-black, anti-brown and anti-immigrant agenda. Afghans, who have become the backbone of this country and pillars in their community, deserve safety and stability–not legal limbo, detention or deportation.”
"Each day since last week's tragic shooting in D.C., the Trump administration has expanded upon its agenda to exclude and scapegoat not just Afghans, but also Somalis, nationals of the 19 travel ban countries, and all immigrants and refugees," said Laila Ayub, Immigration Attorney and Co-Director of Project ANAR. "The administration will increase surveillance, detention, and deportation while leaving more people without any form of protection. This approach is an unlawful abandonment of United States obligations under international and domestic law. It's on Americans and our elected officials to reject the administration's decision to stop all affirmative processing for an ever-growing list of immigrants. We must call this out for what it is: a weaponization of one man's actions as a pretext to disappear more of our neighbors."
“We continue to mourn this tragedy, and our prayers are with the families of U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. "It is unconscionable for the Trump administration to weaponize this heartbreaking event and use it to continue to criminalize all immigrants and continue their calculated attack on so many vulnerable communities. We stand firm against using tragedies for political gain and the use of cruel policies that will continue to divide us instead of bringing our country together.”
"We are heartbroken by last week's horrific attack on two National Guard members in D.C.," said Trudy Taylor Smith, Senior Administrator of Policy and Advocacy for Children's Defense Fund-Texas. "We are also alarmed by the way in which this tragedy is being used to justify further violence against an entire group of people, including children and families, simply because of their nationality or because they are looking for safety in the United States. People applying for asylum are seeking protection because their lives are at risk in their home country due to violence and persecution. Halting our nation's asylum program places countless children back in harm's way after they have already endured dangerous journeys and have overcome incredible obstacles in order to survive. They deserve a compassionate, legal, and fair application process that honors our legal and moral obligations as a nation to care for children and foster their safe passage to adulthood."
“We grieve last week’s horrific attack on service members in our nation’s capital. We pray for the families of the victims and all those suffering,” said Rick Santos, President and CEO of Church World Service. “We must not let this tragedy beget more tragedy. We must not let it sow hate and division. And we must not let the newcomers who make our country strong be painted with the same brush as the one used for the perpetrator of this attack. Instead, let us heed our better angels.”
“The use of last week’s tragic shooting by this Administration continues an abhorrent effort to vilify our refugee and immigrant communities. Instead of grieving the tragic loss of life and comforting those affected, this government has instead stoked the flames of hatred and pushed for immoral and always unjustified collective punishment,” said Sergio Perez, Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “Our country is made stronger when it welcomes those in need and those who have aided it, and we cannot lose sight of the overwhelming positives that we reap when we welcome those who are both different and alike. We reject the Trump Administration’s move to rescind past work to ensure that those who qualify receive refuge in the United States, and will do our part to make sure its racist campaign of hate is unsuccessful.”
“The Trump administration is using the tragic shooting last week to roll out yet another ban on Black and Brown migrants,” said Azadeh Erfani, Director of Policy at the National Immigrant Justice Center. “There is no excuse for demonizing entire nationalities for the act of one individual. But we expect no less from an administration that dehumanizes immigrants at every turn, separates families daily, and abducts people from our communities based on racial profiling.”