The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Ishraq Ali, ishraq@mpowerchange.org

MPower Change Executive Director and Co-Founder Linda Sarsour Releases Statement on Biden Breaking His Promise to End Trump's Openly Xenophobic Refugee Cap

WASHINGTON

In the wake of President Biden's decision to break his promise to end Trump's historically low refugee cap, Linda Sarsour, the Executive Director and Co-Founder of MPower Change, released the following statement:

"This decision is not just a huge broken promise. It is a betrayal. If those who spent 2020 working tirelessly to end Trump-era immigration policies feel massive disappointment right now, they are right to. This is a moral disaster. It is hard to imagine a worse way to end Biden's first 100 days.

But it is also a political disaster for this administration: continuing Trump-era policies is the surest way possible to tell people their political activism and participation do not matter, they can't change anything anyway. I reject that kind of cynicism. We have a sacred duty to advocate for the most marginalized communities regardless of who is President, to not let ourselves be bystanders. We will keep taking action and organizing until the U.S. is a place that explicitly welcomes immigrants and refugees, where policies like the Muslim and African ban are unthinkable."

MPower Change is a grassroots organizing movement rooted in diverse Muslim communities throughout the United States who are working together to build social, spiritual, racial, and economic justice for all people.