Immigration Advocates Speak Out on Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 16, 2018 – On a press briefing call today, advocates for immigrants’ rights shared deep concerns about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.
“Brett Kavanaugh’s record on immigrants’ rights is already well known, because he has ruled against equal protections for immigrants as a judge on the D.C. Circuit,” said Nan Aron, President of Alliance for Justice. “We have no doubt that if he were confirmed to the Supreme Court, this country, where immigration has been such a rich part of our heritage, would become a very different place. It would become a place where immigrants and their families fear every day for their future, for their jobs, their health, and their very lives.” Alliance for Justice is a national association of 130 organizations, representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society.
“American Muslims–and all religious minority communities–should be deeply concerned about what Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment could mean to their most basic rights. As a lawyer and a judge, Kavanaugh has shown deep seated hostility toward immigrant and minority communities; he should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court,” said Johnathan Smith, Legal Director of Muslim Advocates. Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization that works on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.
“On the bench, Brett Kavanaugh has departed from precedent to argue that federal laws, as well as fundamental Constitutional rights, do not protect undocumented immigrants,” said Joshua Rosenthal, Staff Attorney for the National Immigration Law Center. “With questions of immigrant detention, family separation, the future of DACA, and the survival of the Affordable Care Act poised to reach the Supreme Court in the near future, we need a Supreme Court Justice who will uphold the rights and values that we cherish as a nation.” Established in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is one of the leading organizations in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of immigrants with low income.
“The rush to incarcerate Japanese Americans at the beginning of World War II was a failure in the vetting process of Congress and the Supreme Court, and resulted in one of the worst civil rights violations in the history of this country. We cannot allow a similarly rushed confirmation process to potentially result in a mistaken lifetime appointment to the highest court in this country,” said JACL Executive Director David Inoue. “The Senate must perform its due diligence and hold thorough and transparent hearings to ensure that we have a court that supports the rights of individuals, and does not seek to remove rights as we have seen done all too often in the past. A rushed hearing process will lead to mistakes, with potentially monumental repercussions. We need to stop repeating history and the Supreme Court must be the bulwark against repeating the mistakes of our past.” The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. For more information, go to www.jacl.org.
“Kavanaugh’s record shows clearly that he is willing to ignore the law completely in order to write undocumented immigrants out of the legal protections to which they are entitled. But it also reveals a deeper skepticism about the value that immigrants bring to our country. Kavanaugh was the top choice of Breitbart and anti-immigrant activists precisely because they see in him someone who is willing to put the animating principles behind the America First mindset into law. At a time when the independence of the judiciary and the balance of the Supreme Court are our only meaningful checks on the abuses of the Trump administration, Kavanaugh is a uniquely dangerous choice,” said Tom Jawetz, Vice President of Immigration Policy at the Center for American Progress. The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans, through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action.
“We are very concerned that the Supreme Court will become just another arm of extremists: just another opportunity to harm our communities,” said Ben Monterrosso, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota. Mi Familia Vota is a national 501(c)(4) civic engagement organization that unites Latino, immigrant, and allied communities to promote social and economic justice through citizenship workshops, voter registration, and voter participation. Mi Familia Vota has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Texas.
“I am a Muslim woman of color and I am the Advocacy Director for United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth led network in the country,” said Sanaa Abrar, Advocacy Director of United We Dream. “I am sounding the alarm bells because Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions are coming after me and my loved ones right now and we know that they are only just getting started. A vote for Kavanaugh is a vote for another Trump yes man who will rubber stamp his twisted worldview. For the sake of the civil rights and liberties of all people, Senators must vote NO on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.” United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country. With over 400000 members, we fight for justice and dignity for all immigrants.