by Carlos E. Rojas Rodriguez
For the last 6 months, the New Way Forward (NWF) National Campaign has worked to create the Platform for Immigrant Justice, a series of executive demands for the Biden Administration. Inspired by organizing and advocacy efforts led by our NWF campaign partners and with the support of the Immigrant Justice Network’s (IJN) policy and legal teams, we came up with eight executive demands that reflect the powerful on-the-ground efforts of our campaign partners.
We launched the Platform for Immigrant Justice by organizing a week of action in January to put pressure on the Biden Administration as they enter their fourth year in office.
Some of our demands were centered on campaign promises President Biden made as a candidate in 2020 such as ending private detention. Our campaign partners in New Jersey, led by Pax Christy and First Friends, organized a webinar to share updates and a call to action to shut down the Elizabeth Detention Center, the last remaining detention center in the state. The American Friends Service Committee in Colorado hosted a Love Knows No Borders action with a Valentine’s Day theme to highlight the efforts to shut down the GEO-Group Aurora Detention Center. This detention center is under federal investigation after the death of Melvin, a detainee who passed away in custody due to GEO-Group’s negligence.
We teamed up with Never Again Action and the 287(g) Campaign to highlight efforts to end 287(g) agreements nationwide, the program allowing state and local agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents. This call to action included a mobile ad and a projection in Washington, DC which also highlighted our full Platform for Immigrant Justice.
Families for Freedom in New York, continues advocating to prevent the incarceration, detention, and deportation of community members. They hosted a phone and email zap to demand immediate relief for two directly impacted community members, Garfield Green and Adrian Smalls.
Our Texas partners at Woori Juntos and Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project hosted a teach-in focused on the Harris County District Attorney and Sheriff. Speakers provided information on local and county policies and practices that target and incarcerate our communities. We also got to hear from a directly impacted mother who shared her testimony. It was really moving and powerful with a clear call to organize and inform our communities about the importance of local elections in Harris County.
Just as we were wrapping up our week of action in early February, we heard back from the White House about a meeting request we sent in 2023, and they finally agreed to meet with our New Way Forward Campaign partners. We were eager to speak directly with the White House to share our organizing and advocacy efforts as well as our Platform for Immigrant Justice.
On February 20th, around 40 advocates, organizers and directly impacted community members, representing 20 immigrant rights organizations from across the country, got the opportunity to meet with the White House.
Our speakers shared their local work and made direct demands to the White House. We were really powerful and united in our advocacy. We hope to hear back from the White House shortly but in the meantime, we will continue organizing and demanding justice for our communities.
