FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 30, 2024

CONTACT:

Yanci Nuñez | ynunez@alianzaamericas.org (312) 866-0312

‍Chicago — Today, September 30, marks 28 years since the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), a law that advanced the criminalization of immigration and immigrant families. Alianza Americas, a network of organizations led by Latin American and Caribbean immigrants throughout the United States, marks this date with the following statement.

“Twenty-eight years ago, on September 30, 1996, former President Clinton signed into law the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). Over the years, this racist immigration law has fueled the mass detention and deportation apparatus that has ripped millions of families apart, leaving countless communities devastated. Sadly all these years later, Congress has failed to change course and to adopt immigration policies reflective of the vastly positive role immigrants have played in the U.S. Regretfully, IIRIRA institutionalized the view of immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees as a threat to the nation. The way we are treated, to this day, continues to be consistent with this outdated and inhumane legislation. As organizations committed to creating an inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of life for migrant communities living in the United States and across the Americas, we’ll continue organizing to ensure legislators once and for all leave behind the profoundly racist and xenophobic immigration laws now in place,” said Dulce Guzmán, Executive Director of Alianza Americas.

“One of the worst laws you’ve probably never heard of, IIRIRA, calcified an immigration system based on punishment, restriction, and exclusion. This draconian law has severely curtailed due process for immigrants, supercharged deportations, and has allowed local law enforcement agencies to serve as immigration agents. Laws rooted in white supremacy have no place in our nation,” said Leticia Casildo, Executive Director of Familias Unidas en Acción, Louisiana. “Immigrant communities continue to be a blessing to our country and our immigration laws should reflect our values of inclusion, freedom, and belonging. It’s past time Congress repeal IIRIRA and pass a new generation of immigration policies deeply anchored on the vastly positive economic, social, cultural, and political impact immigrant communities have had in the U.S., as well as in their countries of origin. It is our duty to protect peoples’ freedoms and human rights. And when we deny families that freedom, we’re threatening freedom itself,” concluded  Casildo.

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Alianza Americas is the premier transnational advocacy network of Latin American migrant-led organizations working in the United States, across the Americas, and globally to create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of life for communities across North, Central and South America.