Commentary: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Today, in an attempt to bully localities into enrolling in Trump’s deportation machine, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session sent a letter to Albuquerque’s Police Chief, Gordon Eden, threatening loss of federal funding unless he agrees to direct his police department to directly collaborate with immigration agents. The policy being pushed by Sessions has been proven to erode community trust with the police, make communities less safe and result in terrorized immigrant families.
Gabriela Hernandez, Southwest Organizer for United We Dream and Director for the NM Dream Team, said:
“Immigrant youth call on Albuquerque’s Police Chief, Gordon Eden, to say NO to Jeff Sessions’s demand that Albuquerque police become a part of Trump’s deportation force.
“Sessions’s racist vision is for immigrants to have no protection and be in constant fear of deportation agents - it is a vision of terror for families like mine. That’s why he’s tried to kill the DACA program and that’s why he’s threatened to cut federal funding unless Albuquerque bows to his orders.
“As the movement of elected officials fighting to protect our families grows, Chief Eden must stand firm alongside the very people he was sworn to protect; and that includes tens of thousands of immigrants and people of color who are at the core of our city!
“We will continue to organize with our families and our community on August 15th, when we will take the streets to protect the vital DACA and TPS programs and fight for welcoming cities where all people of color, immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQIA+ folks can live without fear and thrive.”
Yazmin Irazoqui-Ruiz, Field Organizer for the NM Dream Team, said:
“In these times of continuous attack by the Trump regime, the NM Dream Team reminds the community that now more than ever it is crucial to plug into the fight for our families. They can do so by making sure theyKnow Their Rights, by calling on their local officials to fight alongside our immigrant families and to stay up-to-date with the latest in immigration by texting the word FightBack to 877-877.”
Connect with the NM Dream Team on Twitter: @NM_Dream_Teamand on Facebook: @NewMexicoDreamTeam
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The New Mexico Dream Team is a statewide network committed to create power for multigenerational, undocumented, and mixed status families through trainings and leadership development. We work to engage our community and allies in becoming leaders using an intersectional, gender, and racial justice lens—to develop and implement an organizing and advocacy infrastructure for policy change fighting to dismantle systemic oppression.
United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation, a powerful nonpartisan network made up of 55 affiliate organizations in 26 states. UWD organizes and advocates for the dignity and fair treatment of immigrant youth and families, regardless of immigration status. We seek to address the inequities and obstacles faced by immigrant youth and believe that by empowering immigrant youth, we can advance the cause of the entire community—justice for all immigrants.