SAALT Participates in September 7th Rally Supporting Immigrant Rights
Washington, DC – On September 7, 2006, staff members and volunteers of South
Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow (SAALT) attended a rally in support of
immigrant rights before the U.S. Capitol. Carrying signs with messages stating
“South Asians support immigrant rights” and “Asian Americans support equal
rights”, SAALT stood in solidarity with tens of thousands of African, Asian and
Latino immigrants and immigrant rights advocates calling for Congress to ensure
fair and just comprehensive immigration reform.
Priya Murthy, a SAALT member from Baltimore, said, “I
participated to show Congress and America that, along with other immigrant
groups, South Asians have a stake in the current immigration debate. Many
within our community are impacted daily by unfair immigration laws and we must
stand up and raise our voices for justice.”
As part of the rally, Deepa Iyer,
Executive Director of SAALT, stood with fellow members of the Detention Watch
Network (DWN), who spoke about the devastating effects that detention and
deportation has had on immigrant families here in the United States. Since 9/11, South Asians have been
increasingly impacted by the government’s harsh detention and deportation
measures
Advocating for fair and just comprehensive immigration
reform has been a vital component of SAALT’s work
over the past year. Many of SAALT’s community
education materials, as well as a joint statement from South Asian
organizations on immigration reform, are now available on our website at
www.saalt.org.
“Most people, both within and outside of our community, assume that
comprehensive immigration reform is not an important issue to South Asians.
That is simply not true. There are many working-class South Asians who are
being exploited and should be guaranteed worker protections. Undocumented South
Asians, including between 280,000 to 400,000 Indians, who have been forced to
live in the shadows out of fear of detention and deportation
need to be given the opportunity to legalize. And all South Asians with family
abroad would benefit from reducing the visa backlog. With this new community
education piece, the community and public can understand why we need
comprehensive reform,” said Deepa Iyer.
SAALT, along with many other immigrant rights groups, continues to demand that
Congress fix the broken and unjust immigration system by ensuring civil
liberties and human rights, repealing inhumane deportation laws, and
recognizing the invaluable contributions that immigrants make to American
society.
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