CUSP: Passage of Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

CUSP Celebrates the community and advocate led efforts that secured the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 with ZERO anti-asylum or anti-immigrant amendments 

 

August 7, 2022

 

Washington – After 15 hours of debate and attempts by Republican Senators to harm immigrant communities and permanently end asylum at the southern border, the Inflation Reduction Act has passed the senate. CUSP joined other immigrant groups in our call for Congress to vote ‘no’ on any anti-immigrant or anti-asylum amendments during this process. We thank Congressional champions who heeded the call of our communities by holding the line and passing this bill with no harmful immigration amendments. 

 

As we celebrate the historic climate and healthcare provisions of this bill, which will bring solutions to immigrant communities who are disproportionately impacted by these issues, we want to remind our representatives of the collective disappointment by the glaring omission of any immigration relief in this bill. We recognize the anti-Black racism and xenophobia that stoked the last ditch efforts to pollute this bill with anti-immigrant ammendments. As a multi-racial collaborative of grassroots organizations, CUSP is all too familiar with these hateful tactics. Our community was prepared to fight these efforts and today we celebrate our victory, while staying committed to the push for permanent protections for our people.  

 

The defeat of Title 42 amendments in this bill was a welcomed and necessary step, but the Trump era policy and growing use of dangerous “Replacement” and “Invasion” conspiracies continue to permeate our legislators’ consciousness and lack of awareness on how it causes disproportionate harm to Black migrants. Everyday that Title 42 stays in place is another day the U.S. fails to uphold the rights of individuals seeking refuge from dangerous conditions. CUSP reaffirms our call to the Biden Administration to end Title-42 immediately.      

 

“CUSP member organizations thank Senators Menéndez, Padilla, Bennet, Hickenlooper, Ossoff, Warnock, along with the API and Hispanic Caucuses for urging their Senate Colleagues to reject any amendments that would harm Black, Arab and Asian immigrant communities. Addressing climate change, healthcare, taxes, and inflation is vital to our communities and should not have been used as a vehicle for xenophobic anti-immigrant policy making. We look forward to their leadership in taking a firm stance against any codification of Title 42.”- Krystina Francois, CUSP Co-Director

 

“For far too long, Title 42 has harmed countless migrants and people seeking protection, including those who are especially vulnerable such as Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ asylum-seekers. Furthermore, this policy has only benefitted nefarious actors seizing on the desperation of people fleeing for their lives. We fought hard to ensure its codification did not taint this key legislation.” – Carolyn Tran, CUSP Co-Director. 

This administration campaigned on promises to end inhumane, draconian Trump border policies, uphold U.S. laws and treaty obligations to protect refugees and immigrant children, and adopt COVID-19 measures based in science. We call on the Biden-Harris administration to fulfill those promises and reflect the values of this country by welcoming those seeking asylum inside the United States with compassion and dignity.

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Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP) is a collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations working together to win permanent status for our members and communities, and build a more inclusive immigrant rights movement that centers the needs and experiences of African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Arab/Middle Eastern, and API immigrants.

The UndocuBlack Network (UBN), founded in 2016, is a multigenerational network of currently and formerly undocumented Black people that fosters community, facilitates access to resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people so we are thriving and living our fullest lives. UBN has chapters in New York City, the DC/MD/VA area, and Los Angeles, CA.

Adhikaar (Nepali: rights) is a New York-based non-profit, organizing the Nepali-speaking community to promote human rights and social justice for all. We are a women-led workers’ center and community center focused on workers’ rights, immigration rights, access to affordable healthcare and language justice. We organize the Nepali-speaking community to create broader social change; build coalitions on advocacy campaigns that address our community's needs; center women and the most impacted communities in our leadership; engage members in participatory action research; and implement community education, workplace development training, and support services.

African Communities Together (ACT) is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for our families here in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT empowers African immigrants to integrate socially, get ahead economically, and engage civically. We connect African immigrants to critical services, help Africans develop as leaders, and organize our communities on the issues that matter.

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides  bond support and humanitarian, legal, and other social services, with a particular focus on Black immigrants, the Haitian community, women, LGBTQAI+ individuals and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. Since 2015, HBA has provided services to asylum seekers and other migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, in U.S. detention, and during U.S. immigration proceedings.

National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) is a national consortium of independent Arab American community-based organizations. The Network’s primary mission is to build the capacity of Arab American non-profit organizations that focus on the needs and issues impacting their local community while collectively addressing those issues nationally.