Statement of NIJC Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy

The new executive order to block immigration to the United States is the president’s latest xenophobic policy, intended to distract from this administration’s failure to address a global pandemic that has cost more than 44,000 lives in the U.S. and ravaged communities across the country.

The president already has weaponized the COVID-19 pandemic to close the border to asylum seekers. He now continues his anti-immigrant assault by blocking Americans from reuniting with family members. This latest political move will do nothing to stabilize our country’s economy or reach the public health benchmarks experts have stated are necessary to overcome this global health crisis. But it will disrupt and destabilize American families and communities that already are in survival mode — particularly working class families and communities of color who are bearing the brunt of this crisis due to the United States’ long history of systemic racism, which this administration has championed since taking office.

As our country endures so much sadness and pain, we are devastated for our clients and their loved ones who are now confronted with indefinite separation from their family members. We stand with them and against this administration’s assault on civil rights and compassion.