A Day After President Biden's State of the Union Address, Immigrant Youth Unveil Banner in Front of the White House Demanding He End Deportations Now

A day after President Biden's State of the Union address, immigrant youth from United We Dream hosted a rally outside of the White House calling attention to the President's failed promises to protect immigrant communities and demand he immediately end all deportations. Young people traveled to D.C. from across the country, including from Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas, and California, and unveiled a banner at the rally exposing the over 2 million people President Biden has deported and expelled since taking office.

You can access photos and videos here. All credit to United We Dream.

Cynthia Garcia, National Campaigns Manager for Community Protection of United We Dream, said:

"President Biden can praise his administration's purported achievements all he wants, but at the end of the day, young, Black, brown and immigrant people from across the country know of his failures to protect our communities. From the over 2 million people who President Biden has deported to his excuses for failing to revoke Title 42 and 'Remain in Mexico,' directly-impacted communities don't just see the impact of President Biden's betrayals, we feel it. We feel the trauma every time lives are torn apart and loved ones are deported. We feel the pain of community members languishing in detention centers. We feel the damage on our physical and mental health when the President chooses to fund profit-driven surveillance technology over our well-being. It's up to all of us, across movements, to continue taking action to protect our communities when millions of lives are left on the line."

Yazmin Valdez, DACA recipient and Member of United We Dream and Kansas/Missouri Dream Alliance, said:

"When President Biden took office he promised to protect families like mine and deliver meaningful change to advance the fight for immigrant, racial, and climate justice. More than a year into his administration, he continues to fail millions nationwide, including my family. Last year, my dad became one of over 80,000 first-time DACA applicants whose applications were stalled after a federal ruling in Texas. Every day, I live with the constant fear that my dad could be separated from our family and deported, just as over 2 million people already have been under the Biden administration. This is the state of our country's immigration system; a system that willfully puts millions of families like mine in positions where we could be broken apart at any time. I refuse to remain silent as President Biden chooses to keep my family -and millions more just like ours - at constant risk of detention, deportation and family separation."