Washington –Yesterday, the Biden Administration rescinded former President Trump’s immigrant visa ban. The National Partnership for New Americans in conjunction with We Are All America and the Opportunity for All campaign applaud the Biden Administration’s reversal, which will allow countless families to be together once more in the United States.
Advocates, including NPNA and We Are All America, have pushed to reverse this proclamation due to the harmful impact it has had on immigrant and refugee families who have been separated for the duration of this policy.
I hope Biden’s lifting of restrictions on family visas will help reunite with me with my wife and daughter, who currently are stuck in Lebanon,” said Taj Suleman, a former refugee who is now a US citizen living in Dubuque, Iowa. “My four-year-old needs her father in her life in a safe and healthy environment. We thank the Biden Administration and ask USCIS to help my family and other families like ours that deserve fair and equitable treatment, so that we may again believe in the American dream, one that includes everyone regardless of their backgrounds.”
Former President Trump first originally initiated this ban halting immigration on April 22, 2020, on June 22, he expanded the scope and extended the ban through 2020, and on December 31, extended it through March 31, 2021. The ban virtually halted all legal immigration, which separated hundreds of families, deprived over 120,000 people from obtaining family-based visas in 2020 and thousands more who had been awarded diversity visas. The ban also impacted businesses who had immigrant employees, stymying the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Banning immigrant employees and promoting the idea that immigrants present a risk to the US economy during the pandemic was not only wrong but it was also inhumane. This is the time the world must show love and compassion for one another. The pandemic has made it clear that immigrants are essential workers in the United States and in so many other countries worldwide,” said Tshishiku Henry, Refugee Congress Delegate for Washington State.
In addition to NPNA, We Are All America’s national partners include Alianza Americas, Church World Service, Human Rights First, Refugee Congress, the Refugee Advocacy Lab, Refugee Council USA, and Welcoming America.
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The National Partnership for New Americans is a national multiethnic, multiracial organization that represents 41 of the largest regional immigrant and refugee rights organizations in 37 states. Its members provide large-scale services for the communities, to leverage their collective power and expertise for a national strategy. Opportunity for All is a vibrant, national campaign – led by former refugees, asylees and immigrants – designed to shift social, political and economic conditions so that refugees can achieve their full potential and ensure America remains a nation of opportunity for those seeking freedom, safety and refuge in the United States. More information about the Opportunity for All campaign is available at https://www.weareallusa.org/o4a
