STATEMENT (Value Our Families Coalition): VoF Coalition unite to defend family immigration and protect family unity

As June wraps up and Immigrant Heritage Month comes to a close, the Value Our Families coalition flexed a lot of organizing muscle throughout the month to fend off the Trump administration’s sustained attacks on immigrant and refugee families.

“Immigrant communities are resilient,” said the Value Our Families coalition. “American immigrant families will not back down from Trump’s attacks—no matter how many punches he throws our way. We will not let Trump, his administration, or Congress upend family-based immigration, eliminate the Diversity Visa program that has unified families in this country for decades, separate and incarcerate families at the border, or allow any legislation that fuels his mass deportation machine. Instead, we envision a brighter future that upholds family unity and dignity for all.”

The Value Our Families coalition joined forces with United We Dream, the UndocuBlack Network, and Southern Border Communities Coalition early in the month to oppose Rep. Goodlatte’s anti-immigrant, anti-refugee bill. The coalition also sponsored dozens of immigrants, families, and faith leaders from 12 states to Washington, DC to lobby their elected officials against that bill and Paul Ryan’s so-called “compromise” bill. Both bills would slash legal immigration, separate families, treat asylum seekers like criminals, and fund Trump’s wall and mass deportation machine. Along with non-stop calls into congressional offices, both bills were handily defeated.

The Value Our Families coalition—led by Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Church World Service, and the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC)—welcomed new members to its steering committee:

• Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center
• Labor Coalition for Community Action
• National Domestic Workers Alliance
• National Network for Arab American Communities
• National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
• The UndocuBlack Network

From the Trump administration’s disaster of separating children from their parents at the border, to them defending indefinite detention of families, to the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Trump’s Muslim ban, this has been a devastating month for families, yet the Value Our Families coalition stands ready to fight—and win—against these attacks.

Value Our Families is the national coalition that aims to reunite and keep families together, defend family immigration, and protect family unity.