HANA Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), Korean Resource Center of Southern California, and NAKASEC VA, denounce Trump’s proposed immigration plan to reduce family-based immigration and limit asylum seekers in this country in favor of a so called “merit-based” immigration system. President Trump, Stephen Miller, and their colleagues simply do not believe that family bonds have any “merit."
82% of Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants come to the United States through family-based immigration so that they can support their loved ones and stay together with their families. The proposed reductions to this sensible and effective system are a direct attack to our communities and will increase the separation of families across the country. We also cannot separate the racist, xenophobic motives behind Trump’s immigration proposal, considering the derogatory comments that he has made in the past about family immigration.
We emphatically reject Trump's plan. We must uphold family-based immigration and provide refuge for asylum seekers. To judge admittance into the U.S. on arbitrary characteristics of “merit” is unethical and denies the humanity of immigrants families and asylum seekers. We call on our members of Congress to denounce Trump’s immigration plan and demand that the White House protect and strengthen family-based immigration and resources for asylum seekers.
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