Washington, D.C. – As immigrant communities and advocates prepare to face the challenges of the incoming Trump administration, the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign and our 124 member organizations stand ready to continue defending people seeking safety in the United States.
Members of the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign assist and work alongside communities who will be acutely impacted by the president-elect’s mass detention and deportation policies. In the face of attacks on immigrant communities, divisive rhetoric, and cruel policies, the Campaign is working across the immigration movement to defend and uphold the rights of people seeking safety. The Campaign, which transitions to a new institutional host, Human Rights First, this month, will work with its member organizations to preserve access to life-saving protections for immigrant communities who are an essential part of the social and cultural fabric of this country while continuing to advocate for concrete, tangible solutions to the humanitarian and operational challenges we see at our southern border.
#WelcomeWithDignity Campaign members include community groups, policy advocates, faith leaders, communications strategists, and legal and humanitarian service providers working at the border and in welcoming communities across the country. Today, as we brace ourselves for the challenges to come, the Campaign is resolute in our commitment to the rights of people seeking asylum.
To learn more about what we stand for, visit us online: https://wwdignity.org/solutions; to request an interview with an experts from the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign, visit us here.
Robyn Barnard, senior director of Refugee Advocacy, Human Rights First, the new host of the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign: “We stand firmly beside those seeking safety in our country and are committed to defending their right to do so. Human Rights First is honored to be the host of the #WelcomeWithDignity Campaign, an important space bringing together 125 groups working across the country to welcome migrants and look forward to working with the Campaign members to further our goal of building an immigration and asylum system that is fair, humane, and rights-respecting.”
“For over 25 years, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) has defended the rights of people seeking asylum in the United States through strategic litigation and advocacy,” said Kate Jastram, Director of Policy and Advocacy at CGRS. “We will continue to hold our government to account and fight for our vision of a world where people escaping persecution are welcomed with dignity and fairness. We urge our leaders to reconsider policies designed to terrorize immigrants, divide our communities, put children and families in harm’s way, and abandon refugees. We will use every tool at our disposal to defend people seeking safety and build towards a more just future.”
“As an Afghan asylee, I deeply understand the struggles of displacement, and as an advocate, I see the resilience and contributions of immigrant communities every day,” said Fatima Saidi, Director of the We Are All America coalition. “Immigrants and refugees are not only seeking safety—they are building the very fabric of our communities, carrying hope, and protecting dreams. In the face of divisive rhetoric, mass detention, and deportation policies, we remain steadfast in our commitment to uphold the rights of those seeking safety. No administration can erase the core American value of welcoming those in need. Together, we will continue to fight for dignity, safety, and belonging for all. We are one family, united by a shared belief in justice, and we will ensure that no voice is silenced and no one is left behind.”
“The Advocates for Human Rights has stood by and with our immigrant communities in the Upper Midwest for more than 40 years, and we will not cease during this time,” said Michele Garnett McKenzie, Interim Co-Executive Director of The Advocates for Human Rights. “We know our communities are made stronger when all people can live with dignity and access due process of law. Attempting to sow fear through threats of mass detention and deportation, and to threaten the crucial lifeline of asylum, for political purposes not only turns our back on long-held and supported values of welcome, but subverts the foundations of protection that have formed a bedrock principle following the horrors of World War II. The U.S. must work to implement expert recommendations to build safe, orderly, and fair pathways to migration– not expel, detain, and harm.”
“Xenophobia has no place in our country, and we are ready to push back immediately and strategically against the Trump administration’s expected efforts to codify anti-immigrant hate, criminalize seeking safety, and push forcibly displaced people into even more dangerous and precarious circumstances,” said Sharif Aly, President of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). “We hoped to never be here again, but we’ve been preparing for this possibility. We are not afraid and we are not naive. We are ready to use every tool in our toolbox to uphold the rights and dignity of people seeking safety, and to fight for a more welcoming future for all.”
“The Central American Resource Center of Northern California began four decades ago as a seed planted by refugees seeking safety from the U.S.-backed conflicts in Central America, and as we grow we remain steadfast in our affirmation of dignity for all, freedom of movement, and the right to safety,” said Lariza Dugan Cuadra, Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center of Northern California – CARECEN SF. Tearing families apart, terrorizing communities by attempting mass detention and deportation, and demolishing asylum protections is dangerous for us all, and for the soul of the country. Through community building, advocacy and excellence in social services we will continue to engage in, and support, the humanizing of people who migrate, and uplift the historical and current reality that people who immigrate to the U.S. are, without a doubt, integral parts of the fabric of this country.
“The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) provides direct legal services to over 10,000 people each year,” said Jesse Franzblau, senior policy analyst at NIJC. “Our clients have survived persecution, torture, and catastrophes in their home countries and many dangers throughout their journey to the United States in search of safety. While the Trump administration seeks to eviscerate our laws protecting asylum seekers and refugees, we will continue to advocate for human rights protections and access to justice for immigrant communities. We are going to need to unite across movements to protect our immigrant families, and engage in strategic advocacy to ensure our government resources go towards humane processing and not mass deportations.”
“For 10 years, Immigrant Defenders Law Center has provided pro bono legal services to thousands of asylum seekers, refugees, unaccompanied children, and detained and non-detained individuals. We are ready to defend immigrant communities no matter what comes next, and we will continue the fight to protect due process for all,” said Alvaro Huerta, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). “We reject the fear-based anti-immigrant agenda of the Trump administration and commit to building a world where no immigrant stands alone. We stand ready to defend the dignity of immigrants and the right to asylum, while also working toward systemic changes to our unjust immigration system. We will not back down.”
“At Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort (ICARE), a coalition of legal services organizations, we stand with thousands of unaccompanied immigrant youth who, under the incoming administration, face mounting threats and harmful policies that place a target on their backs,” said Sierra Kraft, Executive Director of Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort (ICARE). “We see every day how transformative legal representation can be. With an attorney by their side, young immigrants have a real chance to navigate complex immigration processes and build safe, stable futures. As mass detention and deportation loom, we are ready to fight for a system that values dignity, protects due process, and secures the futures of every child and family.”
“For over a decade, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) has documented the devastating impact of harsh U.S. border policies that harm migrants while failing to address the root causes of forced migration, such as violence, corruption, and poverty,” says Maureen Meyer, WOLA’s Vice President for Programs. “Borders should not be barriers to human rights. WOLA remains committed to defending the right to seek protection from persecution, demanding accountability for abuses against migrants, and advocating for fair, humane migration policies that uphold due process and dignity.”
“For more than 37 years, Las Americas has been at the forefront of the fight to permanently end family separation and fully restore access to our asylum system. We remain steadfast and committed to our purpose of advocating for the dignity and rights of our immigrant neighbors and providing quality legal services for some of the most vulnerable,” said Marisa Limón Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. “When people cross borders, their human rights come with them. This fact does not change depending on who occupies the White House. We will continue supporting our communities and ensuring every person seeking safety has an accessible, transparent, and fair opportunity to apply for asylum and other forms of protection.”
“As Jews, many of our families came to the U.S. searching for safety here,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.” As for the family members they left behind– they couldn’t enter the U.S. after this country closed its doors in 1924, and after the Holocaust, many of them were never heard from again. Today, we are on the other side of those borders, and we will not let history repeat itself. We refuse to callously send our fellow human beings back to the dangers they fled. We will be loud in our insistence that every person is a creation in the image of the Divine and deserves safety and dignity. In the face of increased xenophobia, racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, we remain committed to pursuing a just, humane and transparent system for all migrants.”