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Statement

Moms Leader: Defeat of House Immigration Bill a Victory for Refugees, Immigrants, Our Country

June 27, 2018
Immigration

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director and CEO of MomsRising, a national online and on-the-ground organization of more than 1 million mothers and their families, on the defeat of Speaker Ryan’s immigration bill in the House of Representatives:

“The defeat of Speaker Paul Ryan's Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018 in the House of Representatives is a welcome bit of good news at this time when the Trump administration and Congress are taking appalling actions that harm immigrants and asylum-seeking families. This vote is a victory for refugees and immigrants and for the fundamental values that have made our country strong.

“It was laughable for Republicans to try to position this bill as moderate. It was anti-immigrant and anti-family. It would have resulted in children being detained indefinitely in worse conditions than they are being held in now, followed by their near-immediate return to the life-threatening conditions they fled. It would have gutted our country’s asylum laws and damaged our immigration system. In fact, it would have enhanced the danger for at-risk children by jailing them for longer periods of time.

“The moms of America are horrified by what this administration is doing to families who come to the United States to escape violence and natural disaster, and we intend to march on Saturday, in Washington, D.C. and across the country, to protest the cruel, dangerous and immoral actions of our government. We will not allow human rights abuses in the name of immigration enforcement to continue – or turn our backs on one another now.”

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.