FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 2024
Contact:
Assefash Makonnen, Communications Manager
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IMMIGRANT RIGHTS GROUPS HOLD RALLY AND MARCH CALLING FOR PROTECTION FOR CONGOLESE IN THE US; DELIVER PETITION TO STATE DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE
Advocates are urging the Biden Administration to use its authority to designate Temporary Protected Status for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Washington, D.C.—Advocates gathered yesterday outside the State Department to rally and draw attention to the growing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and call on the Biden Administration to designate the country for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The conflict in the DRC is considered one of the deadliest armed conflicts in modern human history, and yet, organizations are still fighting for this status. “6 million people killed. 7 million displaced. That’s the situation in the DRC,” said Nils Kinuani, Federal Policy Manager at African Communities Together. “We are here to remind the State Department, the U.S. Government, that the DRC deserves this program and that the conditions on the ground, in the D.R.C. clearly warrant TPS.”
Over the last few years, the group has mobilized hundreds of organizations to urge the administration to make the designation and even secured support from over 46 members of Congress, including U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), and Steven Horsford (NV-04), who led a letter to the Administration in April of this year.
“With the complex web of armed conflicts, internal displacement, public health epidemics, resource exploitations, widespread gender-based violence, just to name a few, no where in Congo is safe,” said Haddy Gassama, Esq., The UndocuBlack Network, “Just like many other sites of conflict and genocide, we know that when there is an armed conflict of any kind or destabilization in one part of the country, chaos erupts and it renders the entire place unsafe. The facts on the ground tell us that the DRC is no place for anyone to be deported to. And so to deport anyone there is a choice.”
As state department staff walked past, advocates, led by immigrant rights group African Communities Together (ACT), chanted in English and French, “What do we want? TPS for DRC! When do we want it? Now!” President Claude Kamana of the Congolese Community of Washington Metropolitan, delivered a petition to a representative from the State Department, while members of ACT, CASA de Maryland, SEIU, and the UndocuBlack Network held signs bearing the Congolese flag.
Congolese advocates from New York City also traveled down to participate, including Germain Masuangi, who traveled early Wednesday morning to make it to the rally. In a speech in French, interpreted into English by Kinuani, Masuangi enthusiastically cheered,“We will not give up. We will go all the way.” Maimouna Diakite, a New Yorker from Mali who is a leader in the campaign for Temporary Protected Status for Mali, also voiced her support for the DRC to receive TPS.
The rally concluded with approximately 50 people marching along C Street NW towards the White House, ending the day chanting to onlookers with the backdrop of the White House in the distance.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) provides critical protection to non-citizens of designated countries in the United States, including undocumented immigrants, who cannot be safely returned to their home country. Congress created TPS as a mechanism to provide humanitarian relief to those who cannot and should not be returned to dangerous conditions. TPS and SSR designations are crucial for addressing critical and temporary humanitarian crises.
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About African Communities Together
African Communities Together is an organization of African immigrants fighting for civil rights, opportunity, and a better life for African families in the U.S. and worldwide. ACT connects African immigrants to critical services, helps Africans develop as leaders, and organizes African immigrant communities on the issues that matter.
Twitter/Instagram: @AfricansUS
Facebook: facebook.com/AfricansUS
Website: www.africans.us