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Immigrant RightsPress Release

“It’s Time to Deliver: 100 Days To Pass Citizenship For All”

By January 20, 2021January 31st, 2021No Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2021

 

“It’s Time to Deliver: 100 Days To Pass Citizenship For All”

 

Chicago, IL – On Inauguration Day, a day that signifies a new Administration, a new Congress, and a new beginning for this country, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and its network partners, NAKASEC VA of northern Virginia, HANA Center of greater Chicago, Korean Resource Center of Southern California, Woori Center of greater Philadelphia, and the MinKwon Center for Community Action of New York, has launched our 100 Days Campaign to pressure the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to commit to their campaign promise of passing citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants within their first 100 days in office.

Our demands are clear. In the first 100 days, the Biden-Harris administration and Congress must legislate:

1. A pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, regardless of age, country of origin, or criminal background;
2. A pathway to citizenship for all intercountry adoptees, including those who have been deported; and
3. A moratorium on deportations with the goal of abolishing ICE and CBP.

Towards achieving this end, the 100 Day Campaign will include a multi-faceted strategy of story sharing of undocumented immigrants, 100 days of phone calls to Congress (“phonedogging”) demanding citizenship for all, and in-person mobilizations in D.C.

Esther Jeon, DACA recipient and community organizer with NAKASEC, expressed:

“I will never forget when President Obama had a Democrat-majority House and Senate in 2008, and still failed to deliver on his promise to provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. Millions of families and communities were torn apart because of his failure to act. Now, 13 years later, we have the same opportunity, and we will not let history repeat itself. No more deportations, and no more broken promises. President-elect Biden must be held accountable to his promise to legislate citizenship for all within the first 100 days of his administration.”

Justin, an undocumented community member who shared his story for our 100 days campaign, stated:

“My father passed away while I was in prison, so my mother is all I have and I am all that she has, so I want to be able to build my life here, build something that I can give back.

I believe I’ll be more of a value here than in Korea… But without status… I feel like, in a sense… I’m still in prison.”

You can read his story in full by clicking here.

Glo Choi, Community Organizer and undocumented community member with HANA Center, expressed:

“The three strategies of our 100 Days Campaign are designed to build on each other. Through stories, we are able to touch and inspire people to act, and the daily phone calls give people a way to take meaningful action from anywhere in the country. With our physical presence in D.C., we hope to add even more pressure on President Biden to pass citizenship for all within their first 100 days in office.”

To learn more about the 100 Days Campaign to pass Citizenship for All, please visit our campaign website at: citizenship4all.live. Stories will be released on NAKASEC Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram every Thursday starting on January 28, 2021 at 1pm ET. Daily calls will be happening to Congress everyday starting on Inauguration Day until the end of Biden’s first 100 days on April 29, 2021. We will urge the new President and Congress to not waste this moment the immigrant community helped create to pass meaningful immigration legislation.

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For NAKASEC photos and video, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@nakasec)

Founded in 1994, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)’s mission is to organize Korean and Asian Americans to achieve social, economic, and racial justice. NAKASEC maintains offices in Annandale, Virginia, Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. NAKASEC has affiliates in Chicago (HANA Center), Los Angeles and Orange County (Korean Resource Center), Philadelphia (Woori Center), and Virginia (NAKASEC VA).

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