New York, NY.- African Communities Together (ACT), one of the country's largest organizations of and for African immigrants, welcomed a major gift of $3 million from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, as part of Scott's commitment to distributing funds to organizations supporting the voices and opportunities of people from underserved communities.
Press Releases
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, 109 organizations issued a letter to the administration urging Secretary Mayorkas to designate Mali for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. Since 2012, the country has been experiencing ongoing armed conflict which has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths. Armed extremist groups, ethnic militias, government security forces, and Russian mercenaries regularly commit widespread human rights violations and abuses against the civilian population. Food insecurity and extreme poverty, in addition to the armed conflict, have resulted in over 6.3 million people in Mali in desperate need of humanitarian assistance. Recent coups, in 2020 and 2021, have created further political and economic instability, unrest, and a security crisis that makes returning to the country extremely unsafe.
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.
Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), a national collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations, uplifts the undocumented immigrant youths and allies whose steadfast organizing won protection for millions of immigrant children on the 10th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Ten years later, our communities continue to be targets of anti-immigrant policies and nearly every executive action on immigration is now challenged in court. Hundreds of thousands of families are in limbo due to Congress’s inability to pass legislation to give status to the DACAmented. We call on Democrats to deliver on their promises of permanent protections for our communities now!
NEW YORK, NY — Today the New York State Legislature passed the Stop Immigration Bond Abuse Act (SIMBAA) [#A7770 / #S7475]. The bill, co-sponsored by Senator Jamaal Bailey and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, received incredible support from representatives in both houses who understood the urgent need to provide consumer protections to their immigrant constituents who have been exploited by private immigration bond companies for years.
Communities United for Status and Protection (CUSP), a national collaborative of grassroots immigrant community organizations, denounces the injunction by Judge Robert R. Summerhays to block Title 42 from terminating today on Monday, May 23rd. Under the false guise of public health, Republican Attorney Generals coordinated legal action against the Biden-Harris administration to uphold the ban on entry of asylum-seekers under the policy indefinitely. As a collaborative representing African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Arab/Middle Eastern, and Asian immigrants, we know all too well the double standards by which this country’s immigration policies are applied to Black and Brown immigrants and call on the administration to quickly seek a stay for the injunction and to hold steadfast to their commitment of racial equity under their leader. We stand shoulder to shoulder in resistance to the continuation of racist, anti-Black policies that affect our membership.
Alexandria, VA - With hundreds of families faced with the threat of evictions, African tenants of the Southern Towers housing complex in Alexandria, Virginia sent a letter yesterday asking for the support of the public pension funds invested in CIM Group, including CALPERS, San Francisco Employee Retirement System, Arizona State Retirement System and New York Common Retirement Fund.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, April 1st, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Biden-Harris administration announced that the de facto asylum ban, otherwise known as Title 42 expulsion policy, would end on May 23rd, 2022. This Trump era order, which was perpetuated by the Biden administration, has blocked migrants at the U.S. Southern border from seeking asylum, in clear defiance of international human rights laws. This restriction on the right to seek asylum and refuge from harmful conditions has lasted two years under the guise of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Advocates and public health experts have repeatedly denounced this policy and explained that the order had no medical basis. Title 42 has resulted in over 1 million people being expelled back to dangerous conditions, including over 20,000 Haitian migrants.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the Temporary Protected Status Deferred Enforced Departure Administrative Advocacy Coalition (TPS-DED AAC) commends the Biden administration for its decision to newly designate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals from Sudan and extended and redesigate TPS for South Sudan. TPS provides protection from deportation and permission to work for eligible nationals of countries that have been designated temporarily too dangerous for return. Today’s designation comes after continuous advocacy and education—154 organizations and 34 Congress members signed on in support of South Sudan’s redesignation just last month. We also applaud the decision to provide Special Student Relief to international students from South Sudan due to the ongoing crisis, and we urge the administration to extend the same protection and flexibility to students from Sudan.
Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 11:00 AM EST, join African Communities Together, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown University Law Center, Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman, LLP, and plaintiffs in the Diversity Visa lawsuit, E.B. v. Department of State, for a virtual press conference discussing the recent federal court ruling vacating the Trump-era “passport rule”.