It’s a dark time for immigration in this country—a country of immigrants. Between threats to Deferred Action to Childhood Arrivals (DACA), this week’s reinvigoration of Trump’s travel ban, and this latest announcement that the Department of Homeland Security plans to collect social media information on all immigrants, it feels like a jarring departure from the values that represent America.
And the darkness is hitting close to home for us this week. Two of our team members have family in Venezuela, which has recently been added to the travel ban. But as the ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero declared, “President Trump’s original sin of targeting Muslims cannot be cured by throwing other countries onto his enemies list.”
While the country battles on a policy level, our sanctuary city is fortunate to have organizations like Casa Latina that work on a community level. The group empowers low-wage Latino immigrants to move from economic insecurity to economic prosperity and to lift their voices to act around public policy issues that affect them. We’ve been proud sponsors for years, and given today’s political climate, we’re increasing our support and are looking forward to celebrating their accomplishments at the upcoming gala.
Through organizations like Casa Latina, we can make incremental change against a monolithic policy. We can help the US regain its footing and to borrow a line from Dan Rather, “retain its standing in the world.”