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To Regain Support, Groups Say Biden Must Embrace 'Finish the Job' Youth Agenda
"In 2024, you cannot win higher office without the youth vote, and you cannot win the youth vote without the Youth Agenda."
Mar 06, 2024
On the heels of Super Tuesday and ahead of the annual State of the Union address, a quartet of U.S. advocacy groups on Wednesday unveiled the "Finish the Job" Youth Agenda, inspired by the reelection campaign of Democratic President Joe Biden—who is expected to again face former Republican President Donald Trump.
"In 2020, young people sent Biden to the White House. In 2024, how many young people turn out for Biden will determine if we stave off a second Trump presidency," said Sunrise Movement political director Michele Weindling in a statement. "Right now, young people are shouting for what we need from Biden to mobilize our generation this November."
"President Biden must do everything in his power to fight the climate crisis, to end gun violence, to not cater to the right at the cost of immigrants' lives, and he must call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza," she asserted.
In addition to the climate-focused Sunrise Movement, the coalition is made up of Gen-Z for Change, which works on a variety of issues; March for Our Lives, a gun violence prevention group; and United We Dream Action, a national immigrant network.
Their "bold, progressive" agenda features demands on climate change, criminal justice reform, democracy, economic justice, education, gender and LGBTQ+ equality, gun violence prevention, housing, immigration, and reproductive justice.
"Our Finish the Job Youth Agenda is a clear reiteration of the issues that matter most to young constituents and a roadmap for President Biden and his administration to follow if they want to earn our support," said Michelle Ming, political director of United We Dream Action. "With the Youth Agenda, we're giving Biden our winning playbook."
Members of the organizations announced the agenda at a press conference on Capitol Hill, where they were joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Greg Casar (Texas), Ro Khanna (Calif.), and Summer Lee (Pa.).
"Young people across the country are boldly demanding a cease-fire, affordable housing, Medicare for All, and for our leaders to tackle the climate crisis. It's time we listen to them," declared Khanna, thanking the groups for their "vision and advocacy."
Shoutout to the young people and organizations, like @genzforchange, @sunrisemvmt, @UWDaction, @AMarch4OurLives, and so many more that are doing the work to make change in our communities. We're with you! pic.twitter.com/NBs2iyye53
— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@RepBowman) March 6, 2024
The coalition also sent a letter to Biden, explaining that "we have reached out to you before to urge you to listen to our generation, and today we are asking you once again to work with us to fight for better."
"We are a generation that grew up through crisis, but we have big dreams," they wrote. "We dream of a country where we all have access to healthcare no matter what, where we don't have to hide under our desks during school shooter drills, where families aren't broken apart at the border, where we're not crushed by student loan debt, where we have clean air, clean water, and a livable future, and where our leaders can expansively hold safety for all of us and vigorously fight for a lasting cease-fire and against Islamophobia and antisemitism, rather than write blank checks for genocide."
The letter continues:
Going into 2024, you must run on a bold and progressive agenda that invests in our generation and recognizes the need for immediate action to combat the issues of our time. We need you to prove to our generation that you are fighting for us every step of the way.
We want to acknowledge the leadership your presidency has provided—from the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to the announcement of the American Climate Corps, to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the establishment of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, your administration's attempt to cancel student loan debt, and your solidarity with United Auto Workers on strike and the halting of Liquified Natural Gas projects—we appreciate these efforts.
At the same time, we hope you can understand this is not enough. We need far more.
After stressing the important role that younger voters have played in recent elections—a trend expected to continue—the coalition concluded that "if you commit to prioritizing these actions, young people will turn out and make 'finishing the job' a reality."
Coalition leaders echoed that point. Gen-Z for Change executive director Elise Joshi pointed out that her group "launched a tool last week that enabled people across the country to send over 4 million emails to members of Congress urging for a cease-fire."
"On top of that, millions are marching, divesting, donating, learning, and amplifying," she continued. "So to the Biden administration and our representatives, youth are awake and unwavering."
March for Our Lives executive director Natalie Fall similarly said that "however you square it, young people are inheriting a broken and imperfect world. But as young people step into their political power, we are not accepting things as they are. Young people have organized and stood up for ourselves and our future. It's time for our leaders to do the same for us."
"So we are saying to any candidate who wants our vote: Listen to us, govern with our needs and our future in mind, and we will deliver you our votes," she added. "We know that our vote is a precious and powerful thing. In 2024, you cannot win higher office without the youth vote, and you cannot win the youth vote without the Youth Agenda. If President Biden really wants to 'finish the job,' this is the roadmap he must follow."
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Biden Accused of 'Stabbing Student Debtors in the Back' With Response to SCOTUS Ruling
Biden's so-called Plan B "buys time for more baseless, bad faith, billionaire-backed lawsuits to get lined up with rogue judges eager to block anything that helps working people," fumed the Debt Collective.
Jun 30, 2023
Proponents of student debt cancellation reacted angrily Friday to what the leading activist group Debt Collective called President Joe Biden's "horseshit" response to the U.S. Supreme Court's invalidation of his proposal to forgive $400 billion worth of educational loan debt for tens of millions of borrowers.
In a Friday afternoon White House address, Biden vowed he was "not going to stop fighting to deliver borrowers what they need, particularly those at the bottom end of the economic scale," and that his administration would create a "ramp repayment program" to help struggling debtors make their monthly loan payments when they resume in the autumn.
"I believe that the court's decision to strike down our student debt relief plan is wrong," Biden said. "But I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families."
That, the president said, includes invoking the Higher Education Act (HEA) in order to empower the Department of Education to deliver loan relief.
Biden urged patience, saying action is "gonna take more time" and tweeting that "we're moving as fast as we can."
"Not fast enough," Debt Collective co-founder Astra Taylor shot back.
"The problem is speed," Taylor wrote on Twitter. "This plan buys time for more baseless, bad faith, billionaire-backed lawsuits to get lined up with rogue judges eager to block anything that helps working people. Under HEA you can cancel debt immediately. That's what fighting looks like."
"Time is of the essence," Taylor stressed.
Debt Collective called Biden's so-called Plan B "worse than this morning's Supreme Court ruling."
"He is stabbing student debtors in the back. This is a deeply cynical approach they know will fail," the group said. "It is designed to make sure future administrations cannot cancel debt under the HEA."
"Today Biden joined the six conservatives on SCOTUS to make sure no student debt is coming," Debt Collective added.
Even before Biden's Friday speech, activists warned what inaction or inadequate action by Biden could mean.
“Democrats desperately need young people to turn out in 2024 and future elections," the youth-led progressive groups Debt Collective, Sunrise Movement, Gen Z for Change, Path to Progress, March for Our Lives, and United We Dream Action said in a joint statement published just before Biden's speech.
"Young people believed President Biden would deliver student debt abolition—not a costly return to repayment without a penny of the promised relief. Meanwhile, our skies are choked orange with wildfire smoke, and the average monthly student debt payment is north of $400 a month," the groups continued. "And from approving the Willow Project and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, to their cruel asylum policies, President Biden cannot afford another disappointment with young people—a vital voting bloc for Democrats."
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Progressive Young Voters to Biden: Energize Us and Win or Ignore Us and Lose
"We need you to deliver the bold ideas that our generation cannot live without—stop the climate crisis, fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants, impose real gun control—and run on a bold platform that will get our generation out to vote."
Apr 25, 2023
In response to U.S. President Joe Biden's Tuesday announcement that he is seeking reelection in 2024, four youth-led advocacy groups urged the incumbent to push for progressive priorities during the remainder of his first term and campaign on policies that motivate young voters to cast ballots for him.
In a letter addressed to Biden, March for Our Lives, Gen Z for Change, Sunrise Movement, and United We Dream Action wrote: "If we're going to excite one of the leading voting blocs for Democrats, we need you to deliver the bold ideas that our generation cannot live without—stop the climate crisis, fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants, impose real gun control—and run on a bold platform that will get our generation out to vote."
"As the organizers of millions of young people across the country, we know that in order to secure wins against fascism in the 2024 presidential election, Millennials and Gen Z will have to turn out to vote in full force," the groups argued, sounding the alarm about the dire consequences likely to ensue if the increasingly authoritarian Republican Party takes control of the White House.
"Young people are not just a necessary part of a winning Democratic coalition, but the keystone precondition for Democratic victory... When Democrats energize and mobilize our generations, they win elections. When they don't, they lose."
"Following the results of 2018, 2020, 2022, and most recently the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in 2023, it is clear that young people are not just a necessary part of a winning Democratic coalition, but the keystone precondition for Democratic victory," says the letter. "The equation is simple. When Democrats energize and mobilize our generations, they win elections. When they don't, they lose."
"Going into 2024, our youth coalition is deeply committed to defeating fascist, right-wing extremism and the eventual Republican presidential nominee," the letter continues. "Young people are clear that the runaway extremism of abortion bans, threats to trans students, criminalization of immigrants, and the all-out assault on our climate are existential threats to our generation and generations to come."
However, when the Biden administration makes "bad decisions"—such as approving the Willow oil drilling venture and other fossil fuel projects, entertaining the revival of migrant family detentions, or otherwise "settling for the status quo"—it becomes "harder for us to get young people to the polls," the groups lamented. "That's why we need you to listen and co-govern with us if we're going to be able to mobilize the young voters we need to win."
The organizations implored Biden "to lead with our generation's values and policies at the forefront of your campaign and your next year in office," contending that his 2020 platform was essential to defeating former President Donald Trump—who is seeking the Republican nomination for 2024 despite facing various legal issues—and that progressive policymaking, particularly last summer, inspired the young voters who ultimately minimized the Democratic Party's losses in the 2022 midterms.
In the spring of 2022, "young voters were largely disillusioned with politics and were not excited to vote," states the letter. "That changed once you passed a historic climate bill, passed overdue gun safety legislation, and sought to cancel student loan debt—resulting in the second-highest youth midterm turnout in the past 30 years. Now, more than ever, we cannot abandon this two-part strategy—run on bold ideas young people can rally behind and have significant legislative victories to back them up."
"We urge you to not leave our generation behind as you build your new campaign. Do not take our generation for granted."
"Going into the 2024 presidential election, it is clear that our opponents are getting even more ruthless and extreme," the groups warned. "Across the country we've seen abortion bans, transgender bathroom bans, [and] book bans in schools imposed by Republican extremists. We've seen Republican electeds say they will do nothing to stop gun violence, expel those who disagree with them from office, and attempt to ban educational opportunities and threaten the livelihood of immigrants in our communities. They must be stopped."
"We urge you to not leave our generation behind as you build your new campaign," says the letter. "Do not take our generation for granted."
"We are a generation that grew up through crisis—from watching storms decimate our communities to practicing school shooter drills to living through a global pandemic," the letter adds. "Throughout all of these crises, young people have shown up to demand the transformational change the country needs. We are fighters for a better world. That will not change in 2024."
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Ahead of SOTU, Youth Groups Say Lack of Bold Action Puts Biden Reelection at Risk
"We made the difference in electing President Biden in 2020, saved Democrats again in 2022," said young organizers, "and if President Biden wants to hold Democratic power long-term, he must listen to us and deliver."
Feb 06, 2023
Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union address scheduled for Tuesday evening, four national youth-led advocacy groups on Monday warned the president that a continued failure to deliver on his promises to young voters could jeopardize his chances of a second term in the White House.
The Sunrise Movement, March for Our Lives, United We Dream Action, and Gen Z for Change reminded Biden in a statement that they helped convince young Americans "to defend our democracy in record numbers in 2020 and in 2022"—and those voters are expecting the president to work in their best interest and enact policies they have long championed.
"We are a vital voting bloc, and in the next two years, President Biden must listen to us and deliver," tweeted the Sunrise Movement, which has been credited with pushing more than 100 Democratic lawmakers to co-sponsor the Green New Deal.
“We need to see more from President Biden," said the organizations. "Without a Democratic majority in Congress, President Biden must step up and use the full extent of his power to invest in the top issues facing our generation. Young people demand bold action on climate change and gun violence, and we need solutions for our country's immigration system that respect people's rights and keep families together."
"In the last two years, young people, especially young people of color, organized to push the Biden administration to cancel student loan debt, make record investments to combat the climate crisis, and to undo some of the most heinous Trump-era policies."
Polls showed after the midterm elections in November that voters between the ages of 18 and 29 supported Democrats by a 28-point margin, and that turnout among young voters was the second-highest for a midterm election in three decades. Young voters of color particularly helped Biden's party to avoid the "red wave" that political observers predicted, with 87% of Black youth and 67% of Latino young voting for Democratic House candidates, compared to 57% of young white voters.
Young voters nationwide also helped "lead Biden to victory" in 2020, reported the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University. Just over half of white young voters supported Biden, while 73% and 87% of Latino and Black young voters, respectively, backed him.
Groups including the Sunrise Movement and Gen Z for Change have been instrumental not just in get-out-the-vote efforts, but also pushing the president to secure broadly popular reforms, including student loan debt cancellation.
"In the last two years, young people, especially young people of color, organized to push the Biden administration to cancel student loan debt, make record investments to combat the climate crisis, and to undo some of the most heinous Trump-era policies," said the groups.
They demanded that he end the anti-immigration policy Title 42, which he expanded last month, and declare a climate emergency and "invoke the Defense Production Act to expedite the U.S. transition to renewable energy."
Although Biden approved major renewable energy investments last year when he signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, the package also allowed for the expansion of fossil fuel use. Last week, his Bureau of Land Management gave partial approval for a major drilling project, a day after his Environmental Protection Agency blocked the Pebble Mine project.
In addition to pushing the president to deliver climate action and justice for asylum-seekers, the groups called on him to:
- Acknowledge the work of youth groups and activists when speaking to the achievements of the administration during the State of the Union;
- Declare a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented people;
- Defend the DACA policy in the courts and ensure the protection of immigrant youth from deportation;
- Declare the gun violence epidemic a national emergency;
- Establish an office of gun violence prevention to coordinate the federal response to the gun violence crisis; and
- Leverage the presidential bully pulpit and real power of the presidency to address gun violence through executive action.
The joint statement came as the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released poll results showing just 37% of Democrats want Biden to run for a second term, down from 52% just before the midterms. The president has not officially stated whether he will seek reelection.
"Young people are the largest voting bloc in this country," said the groups. "We made the difference in electing President Biden in 2020, saved Democrats again in 2022, and if President Biden wants to hold Democratic power long-term, he must listen to us and deliver."
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'It Is a Revolution': Ocasio-Cortez and Markey Reintroduce Green New Deal Resolution
"We are in a civilization-altering moment in our history and it's time for America's political leaders to muster the courage and moral clarity to pass the Green New Deal," said the Sunrise Movement's executive director.
Apr 20, 2021
As part of what they are calling "Green New Deal Week," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey on Tuesday led the reintroduction of their landmark resolution envisioning a 10-year mobilization that would employ millions of people with well-paying, union jobs repairing U.S. infrastructure, while reducing pollution and tackling the country's intersecting climate, economic, health, and racial justice crises.
"On the eve of Biden's climate summit, this is the bold, transformative climate action we need."
--Natalie Mebane, 350.org
"The Green New Deal isn't just a resolution, it is a revolution," said Markey (D-Mass.), who first unveiled the measure with Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in February 2019. "In the past two years, the Green New Deal has become the DNA of climate action, and the principles of jobs, justice, and climate action are now widely represented in legislation and state and local actions across the country."
"We can transform our economy and our democracy for all Americans by addressing the generational challenge of climate change," Markey said. "We have the technology to do it. We have the economic imperative. We have the moral obligation. We just need the political will."
The Green New Deal Resolution of 2021 (pdf), partly inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt's 20th century New Deal programs, declares that "it is the duty of the federal government... to achieve the greenhouse gas and toxic emissions reductions needed to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers," referencing the more ambitious target of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
The resolution calls for building resiliency against climate-related disasters; repairing and upgrading U.S. infrastructure; shifting to 100% renewable energy; prioritizing energy efficiency for new and existing buildings; spurring growth in clean manufacturing; promoting sustainable agriculture practices; and overhauling the country's transportation systems.
It also emphasizes the necessity of mitigating and managing the long-term adverse health, economic, and other effects of pollution and the climate emergency; restoring natural ecosystems; cleaning up hazardous waste sites; and "promoting the international exchange of technology, expertise, products, funding, and services, with the aim of making the United States the international leader on climate action."
The lead sponsors held an event on Capitol Hill to unveil the resolution, which has gained over a dozen new co-sponsors and is endorsed by over two dozen advocacy groups, including 350.org, Climate Justice Alliance, Future Coalition, Green New Deal Network, Greenpeace USA, Indivisible, Justice Democrats, National Domestic Workers Alliance, NDN Collective, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, United We Dream, and Working Families Party.
Two years after the first resolution, "we are still facing the ticking time bomb of the climate crisis, but now alongside the highest levels of joblessness since the Great Depression," noted Sunrise Movement executive director Varshini Prakash. "We are in a civilization-altering moment in our history and it's time for America's political leaders to muster the courage and moral clarity to pass the Green New Deal, launching America's biggest job creation program in a century while combating climate change."
"At a crucial moment like this," she added, "politicians have a choice to make: they can heed the call demanded by science and justice to build back better through a Green New Deal, or they can cower to the fossil fuel industry and force us down a path of destruction, towards the fires that burned our homes to rubble and the floods that took our family and friends with them."
350.org policy director Natalie Mebane pointed out the reintroduction comes just before President Joe Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate, which kicks off Thursday.
"Today, our movement presented a vision for our future: one that staves off the worst of the climate crisis and centers communities in a just transition to a regenerative, people-centered economy," Mebane said. "On the eve of Biden's climate summit, this is the bold, transformative climate action we need. We are calling on Congress and the Biden administration to implement the Green New Deal, ensure a just recovery from the racial, health, climate, and economic crises, and #BuildBackFossilFree."
Applauding the resolution "for its vision, intention, and scope," the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) said in a statement that "as Indigenous peoples and tribal nations living on the frontline of climate chaos, our communities already experience the direct impacts of climate change--and the various policies that legislate our sovereignty, our lands, and our bodies."
"We know we need bold solutions that meet the scale of our intersecting problems," IEN said. "While it is true their resolution helps shift the national conversation around addressing the climate crisis, they are also helping to shift the national conversation away from the notion that consultation equals consent and toward the codified practice of free, prior, and informed consent with tribal nations and communities. We are encouraged to see congressional leaders take charge to help Indigenous communities and tribal nations protect their homelands, rights, sacred sites, waters, air, and bodies from further destruction."
As Ocasio-Cortez detailed in a statement, "The Green New Deal has three core components: jobs, justice, and climate." She continued:
The dozens of bills that have sprung from this resolution since we introduced it two years ago all contain: 1) a commitment to creating good-paying union jobs; 2) prioritizing frontline and vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by climate change--including communities of color, Indigenous land, deindustrialized communities, and fossil fuel hubs; and 3) reducing greenhouse gas emissions from human sources by 40 to 60% within 10 years and net-zero global emissions by 2050, in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's finding that global temperatures must not increase more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrialized levels in order to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.
In a tweet, the congresswoman highlighted the other measures that have been or will be put forth this week--including the Green New Deal for Cities Act of 2021, which she introduced with Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) on Monday. As Common Dreams reported, that bill is a $1 trillion plan to "tackle the environmental injustices that are making us and our children sick, costing us our homes, and destroying our planet."
Along with reintroducing the original resolution on Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez and Markey joined with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others to introduce the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act.
The bill would establish a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service within AmeriCorps. Markey's office framed the proposal as a modern version of a New Deal-era program also known as CCC. The updates include "ensuring that all Americans who want to participate may do so, regardless of race, age, or gender; broadening the range of eligible projects; providing 21st century health and education benefits; deepening partnerships with unions; and preserving tribal sovereignty."
Sanders, who's also a co-sponsor of the initial resolution and the Green New Deal for Public Housing, said in a statement that "the existential threat of climate change is our greatest challenge, but also our greatest opportunity to protect our natural heritage and build a just future for the generations to come."
"In the tradition of FDR's New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps--one of the most successful programs of the era that ensured jobs for millions of working people in maintaining our precious interior and conserving our wilderness--the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act will create more than a million good-paying jobs, help us protect our natural resources, and move us forward in the fight against climate change," he added. "I am proud to work with my colleagues to see the CCC of our time renewed for the challenges ahead."
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#CountOnUs: Youth Organizers Have a Plan to Mobilize If Trump Tries to Steal the Election
"Together, we're going to vote and organize like our communities and planet are at stake, because they are."
Oct 02, 2020
Leaders of Dream Defenders, March for Our Lives, Sunrise Movement, and United We Dream PAC announced Thursday that their youth-led advocacy groups have come together with a new mobilization effort to defeat President Donald Trump in November, "protect the ballot box from corruption, and lead a massive youth strike if Trump tries to steal the election."
"What we're building together will be crucial towards plugging young people into action who are feeling anxious about the state of our democracy, society, and planet."
--Zina Precht-Rodriguez, Sunrise Movement
Launched in the midst of early voting and just hours before Trump tested positive for Covid-19, the new collaborative effort called "Count On Us" comes as a response to growing concerns about the president's potential reelection and any unlawful attempt to hold onto power.
"We have reached our most defining moment in electoral politics where our collective ability to push forward the flagship agendas of our generation will be determined not just by how we vote going into November, but how we mobilize the morning after Election Day," said Sunrise deputy creative director Zina Precht-Rodriguez.
"This joint organizing platform will be the universal youth organizing tool of the foreseeable future through the election," Precht-Rodriguez added. "What we're building together will be crucial towards plugging young people into action who are feeling anxious about the state of our democracy, society, and planet."
The launch came on the heels of Trump's first debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden--during which the president continued to baselessly attack the security of mail-in ballots, which are expected to be widely used this year because of the pandemic that has now reached the Oval Office.
In the months leading up to Election Day, Trump has spread lies about voter fraud, refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if he loses, and--along with other Republicans and right-wing groups--tried to make it harder for Americans to cast ballots in this cycle during a public health crisis.
"When we see things that need to change, we make it happen and we count on each other to stand up for what's right."
--Marie Rattigan, Dream Defenders
Such rhetoric and actions from the president and others have led progressive organizers to urge voters to cast ballots early--and in person, if possible--and to form response plans in case Trump refuses to leave office. Over 100 advocacy groups have joined the Protect the Results coalition.
The organizations behind the new youth-led platform have previously garnered international attention for their efforts to advance racial, climate, and immigrant justice and take on gun violence. They plan to hold their first joint mass call on Monday, October 5 at 8:00 pm ET.
"Our generation is at the forefront of the fight for democracy," declared Marie Rattigan, a lead organizer with Dream Defenders. "When we see injustice, we fight it. When we see things that need to change, we make it happen and we count on each other to stand up for what's right."
"So I'm excited to link arms with these other powerful organizations of young people ahead of the election, because this one will determine so much about our future," she added. "Together, we're going to vote and organize like our communities and planet are at stake, because they are."
The youth organizers' Count On Us website lays out their "Organize. Vote. Strike." plan for the ongoing election, explaining:
This fall, our generation has the power to defeat Trump and begin to transform this country forever.
We are the Dreamers who won protections for immigrants. We are the kids who took on the NRA. Our generation made Black Lives Matter a national rallying cry and the Green New Deal a political priority. Donald Trump and his billionaire friends know they're losing, so they are deliberately trying to tear us apart and convince us our voices don't matter, distracting us as they try to steal the election. We are coming together to stop them.
"For me and many others at March for Our Lives, our advocacy to end gun violence is not separate from how we navigate the world and the lived experience we bring to this work," said Daud Mumin, a student board member of the group that grew out of the youth organizing that immediately followed the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
"The future that we want and deserve is on the line this election and that's why young people are coming together in partnership."
--Gabriel Madison, United We Dream Action PAC"We're Black, we're Brown, we're immigrants and first-generation Americans--and all of these issues are deeply interconnected for us," Daud continued. "This election cycle, we're facing extreme indifference from the political establishment to the issues that impact young people the most. We are coming together to fight for our future, because we can't count on anyone else to do that for us."
Gabriel Madison, a United We Dream Action PAC member and first-time voter, echoed that message, saying that "the future that we want and deserve is on the line this election and that's why young people are coming together in partnership."
"Trump and his Republicans enablers have attacked everything that we care about, including deporting members of my undocumented immigrant community," Madison said. "I will be voting for the first time this election because my community is counting on me, and I know that the only way for all of us to thrive is if young people count on each other to vote Trump out and protect our democracy."
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Ahead of Primetime Annoucement, Voices Urge Obama to 'Go Big' on Immigration
'We expect the president to do what is in his power as we've already done everything in ours,' activist says
Nov 20, 2014
Just hours before President Barack Obama's scheduled announcement on immigration reform, progressive advocacy groups representing millions of Americans delivered more than 260,000 petitions to the White House, urging Obama to take bold action by expanding deferred action to immigrants who would have qualified for legalization under a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
" Republicans had their chance to pass immigration reform, and they squandered it," declared Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, which works for full labor, civil and political rights for immigrants and their families. "Now, it's time for the President to follow through on his promise and deliver bold executive action that lets millions of immigrants who have established deep ties to America live freely, work legally, and make a bigger contribution to our tax base and economy. It's not only smart from a policy perspective, but it's the right thing to do from a moral perspective. And the President would be wise to take it up quickly."
Labor groups also took part in Thursday's action. "Workers need relief," said Kelly Fay Rodriguez of the AFL-CIO. "The President can improve the lives of all working people by granting work authorization to all those who should be on a pathway to citizenship now and ensuring that no worker faces the threat of deportation for exercising her rights on the job."
Republicans on Thursday vowed a swift and forceful response to the anticipated executive action, accusing the president of exceeding the power of his office and promising a legislative fight when they take full control of Congress next year.
"It's time for the President to follow through on his promise and deliver bold executive action that lets millions of immigrants who have established deep ties to America live freely, work legally, and make a bigger contribution to our tax base and economy."
--Frank Sharry, America's Voice
"If President Obama acts in defiance of the people and imposes his will on the country, Congress will act," Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will become majority leader in January, said in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday morning. "We're considering a variety of options. But make no mistake. Make no mistake. When the newly elected representatives of the people take their seats, they will act."
But immigration activists remained undeterred by political machinations.
"We have given this country the sweat of our brow and the strength of our labor--the least it can do is remove the fear that we'll be taken from the communities we've built," said Carlos Castillo, president of Washington, D.C.'s Trabajadores Unidos and a member of National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "The distance the president must address is not between Republican[s] and Democrat[s], it's between the courage undocumented immigrants have shown to put this issue in the national agenda and the cowardice of politicians who continue to squander it. We expect the president to do what is in his power as we've already done everything in ours."
In fact, some said the president's plan--uncorroborated details of which have been leaked to the press--doesn't go far enough.
"The President needs to be bold and courageous and offer a solution that can stop the separation of our families in a real way," said Arturo Carmona, executive director of Presente, a national Latino online organization. "Unfortunately rumors of an order for 5 million would not even deal with half of the problem. Republicans will not show any mercy if it's a full or half-a-loaf solution. The President has a historic opportunity to issue a broad and inclusive executive order that begins to protect the 11 million undocumented immigrants and heal the relationship with Latinos."
Labor and immigration rights activist David Bacon, author of several books on immigration including The Right to Stay Home and Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants cautioned against placing too much value on whatever relief Obama proposes.
"The administration is imposing increasing enforcement and labor programs as a price for deportation relief," he pointed out. "The U.S. already spends more money on immigration enforcement than all other federal law enforcement programs combined. Giving Silicon Valley more work visas and tying labor programs to deportation relief is a step towards lower wages, undermining the rights of all workers. At the same time, the administration has announced support for more free trade deals, like the Trans Pacific Partnership, which will lead to more displacement and migration, while eliminating jobs here at home. Instead of a stopgap measure, we must change U.S. immigration law and trade policy to deal with the basic causes of migration, and to guarantee the human, civil and labor rights of migrants and all working people."
In advance of the president's announcement, United We Dream--the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation--released this video, vowing to continue applying pressure until "all of our community is protected":
PRESIDENT OBAMA IS ANNOUNCING HIS ACTION ON IMMIGRATIONwww.youtube.com
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Youth Immigration Activists Target Hillary Clinton: 'Put Families Over Politics'
Disappointed with weak position of prominent Democrat, organizers on the trail of Hillary Clinton say they "will continue to organize, build, and escalate" their message for deportation relief and national immigration reform
Oct 31, 2014
Approximately twenty youth immigration activists interrupted a speech by Hillary Clinton in Maryland on Thursday demanding that she take a more aggressive stance on national immigration reform. Shouting over her speech in a series of coordinated statements, individuals were escorted out of the event one after the other by police officers.
As the Guardian reports, the protest took place during "a rally for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Anthony Brown" and "involved about two dozen students dotted around the audience who intermittently shouted at Clinton and held aloft placards that read 'Put Families Over Politics'."
The young activists--who call themselves "Dreamers" are either undocumented themselves or have parents who are undocumented--were demanding that Clinton stand with those facing the unnecessary threat of deportation that divide families. They say Clinton should use her influence within the Democratic Party and urge President Obama to use his executive authority to provide deportation relief for their family members and the millions of other immigrants who live in constant threat of arbitrary expulsion.
"My mother lives in fear of deportation every single day," yelled one protester from the crowd as Clinton was speaking.
DREAMERS ASK HILLARY CLINTON FOR HER STANCE ON EXECUTIVE ACTION!DREAMERS ASK HILLARY CLINTON FOR HER STANCE ON EXECUTIVE ACTION!
"We are very clear on the fact that [Clinton] has not take a clear stance for our families," said twenty-year-old Carlos, who participated in the action, in a video statement after being ejected from the rally. He said he was not impressed with Clinton's reaction on stage and said he and other "[Dreamers] will continue to organize, build, and escalate" their efforts to put pressure on President Obama, Hillary Clinton and any other politician who refuses to make a firm commitment to address the crisis immigrant families are facing.
Thursday's protest in Maryland was organized by members of United We Dream, which has been holding similar protests at Clinton events over recent months.
Following one in North Carolina earlier this week, Oliver Merino, a Dreamer from Charlotte, explained why. "Our message was clear: If Hillary Clinton hopes to be President, she should know that we will not allow her to use our parents as pawns in a political game. Instead, she must do everything within her power to protect them. My mother sacrificed everything for me, and she shouldn't have to continue living in perpetual fear of being torn from her family."
On Thursday's protest, the Guardian adds:
Political analysts expect immigration reform to be one of the key political issues that will shape the 2016 election cycle. It is likely to be most problematic for Republicans, who are sharply divided over what to do with America's estimated 11 million undocumented migrants.
In Maryland, the former secretary of state was interrupted six consecutive times during her 17 minute speech; mostly the hecklers were inaudible, and on each occasion the protesters refused to move until they were escorted out of the gymnasium, at the University of Maryland.
The first interruption of Clinton's speech - roughly five minutes in - was the most disruptive. Eleven students near the front of the audience began shouting at Clinton before marching out of the room.
She initially engaged with the activists, telling them: "You know, immigration is an important issue." As they were ushered out of the auditorium, she added: "You know, if they had just waited a little while I was getting to the Dream Act."
"As I senator I was proud to co-sponsor the national Dream Act and to vote for it. I am a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform. And I believe that we have to fix our broken immigration system." She added she was in favour of "bringing millions of hardworking people out of the shadows".
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