(Milwaukee, Wisconsin) — Voces de la Frontera Action issues the following statement in response to the inauguration of Joe Biden as 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris as the first woman and first Black and South Asian Vice President of the United States on January 20th, 2021:
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera Action, said:
“We celebrate the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris today, as we close the dark chapter of the previous administration. This new moment is a result of Latinx and people of color voters in Wisconsin and nationally, who formed a powerful, multiracial coalition in which people of color led the charge.
Latinxs and immigrants organized and voted not just as a rejection of Trump, but because of their hope in a Biden/Harris Administration and their pledge to champion and deliver on immigration rights. They did this despite the mixed legacy of the Obama Administration.
President Joe Biden has committed to using his power of executive order this week to immediately rescind the Muslim ban, halt the construction of the border wall, create a task force to reunite families, and instate a moratorium on deportations.
Today, on the first day of his presidency, Biden is also poised to release his immigration plan which includes an 8-year pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented in our country and an expedited path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and farmworkers. This bill also addresses the root causes of migration from Central America; restores rights to asylum seekers and legal counsel for children; creates transparency and accountability for border agents; and modernizes the family visa system, especially visa backlogs. Most importantly there are no enforcement trade offs.
To make this proposed bill a reality will require building on our momentum, and a moment when there has been a break with the far right white nationalism within the Republican Party by Republican US legislators and voters. Obstructionist politics by Republicans is no longer an option under a pandemic and the threat of violent white nationalists, empowered under the previous administration.
In Wisconsin, we call on Representatives Bryan Steil (R -1), Mark Pocan (D-2), Ron Kind (D-3), Gwen Moore (D-4), and Mike Gallagher (R-8) and on Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) to support our state’s immigrant workers and families that are critical to the dairy industry and other essential industries, by voting for passage of Biden’s immigration reform bill and encouraging others to do so as well. We continue to call for the resignation of Representatives Scott Fitzgerald (R-5) and Thomas Tiffany (R-7) and Senator Ron Johnson (R), who, as part of the “Sedition Caucus” supported Trump’s lies and provocation to violence in order to subvert the will of the American people. We also call for the resignation of Representative Glenn Grothman (R-6) for his failure to hold Trump accountable in the recount effort and trivializing the events of January 6th, 2021 and Trump’s role.
As a movement we also demand that the forthcoming COVID-19 relief package provide a speedy path to citizenship for all undocumented essential workers and their families. You cannot be “essential” and “deportable.”
Black, Brown, and immigrant voters did our part to flip the House, the Senate, and the White House. Now, we must organize to demand that the White House and Congress do their jobs and keep their promises. Latinxs and immigrants are a strong political, social and labor force. Over the next 100 days we must be relentless in our demands to ensure our representatives deliver the justice our families need and deserve.”
