Tim Murphy of Towleroad’s new anti-Trump platform DailyResist talks with queer immigration advocate Thanu Yakupitiyage about threats faced in the coming administration by immigrants, how The New York Immigration Coalition and other groups are fighting back, and a big immigration-rights March on Dec. 18 that every queer New Yorker should be at.
Posted by Towleroad on Friday, December 9, 2016
By appointing virulently anti-immigrant cabinet members like Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions and Michael Flynn, Donald Trump has signaled that he well may follow through on threats he floated during the campaign, such as deporting 2-3 million so-called “criminal” immigrants (for small crimes or misdemeanors such as DUIs that they committed years ago); instantly repealing DACA, which allows young undocumented immigrants to live, work and study in the U.S. legally; and reinstating a Muslim registry from the post-9/11 era that deported thousands of innocent people.
Understandably, many immigrants–documented and not–and their loved ones and allies are terrified.
As part of our new ‘Daily Resist’ platform covering all things counter-Trump, Tim Murphy talked with the New York Immigration Coalition’s Thanu Yakupitiyage about how legal and advocacy groups are bracing to fight back–and things you can do, such as donate to groups like NYIC.
“The work is going to be long and hard and we definitely need all your support,” says Yakupitiyage. New Yorkers can also join in a massive march on December 18 to show the city’s support for its immigrants. Large public protests of this nature are essential right now, says Yakupitiyage.
“If activism is only happening in offices, it seems on the forefront that people aren’t concerned,” she says. “Protest shows that we won’t stand for hatred or a president-elect trying to roll back rights.”
