Cissna’s USCIS Replacement, Ken Cuccinelli, Signals Escalation of Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Agenda
The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) and Mi Familia Vota (MFV) are deeply alarmed that the replacement of the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services signals a new round of attacks on access to citizenship and other forms of immigration relief. In response, NPNA and MFV released the following statements. “Cuccinelli’s appointment makes clear that President Trump plans to harden his immigration stances, despite massive public outcry against his policies. The President and his supporters are callously ignoring migrant deaths and quickly cutting off means to get legal status, or even to become U.S. citizens, to immigrants on both sides of the border. Elevating an individual who infamously compared immigrants to rats is an insult to everyone in this nation. This country was built by immigrants and our values rest on being an immigrant-welcoming nation. MFV and NPNA will continue to educate our communities on the changes being implemented by this administration and promote citizenship with even more urgency; our voices will be critical in the 2020 elections,” said Karina Martínez, Director of Communications for Mi Familia Vota.
“Apparently, the only qualifications a new Director of USCIS needs are to hate immigrants and love Trump,” said Susan Collins, Director of Policy and Advocacy with NPNA “By choosing Ken Cuccinelli, a radical, right-wing activist with a lot of hate in his heart for most Americans (women, immigrants, LGBTQ individuals and others not like him) and with no experience with the legal immigration system, adjudications or running a multi-billion dollar federal agency of 19,000 employees, Trump is effectively declaring war on all immigrants, legal or not.”
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Mi Familia Vota (MFV) is a national 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.
The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a national, multiethnic, multiracial partnership of immigrants and refugee rights organizations across 31 states who work to promote citizenship and integration among our diverse immigrant and refugee communities for the benefit of all Americans.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, May 24, 2019
CONTACT:
Susana Flores (915) 525 2434 susana@communicationsshop.us
Karina Martínez karinam@mifamiliavota.org