by DRM Action Coalition | November 10, 2015
NEW YORK, NY – Earlier today, Hillary Clinton said “I voted, numerous times, when I was a Senator, to build a barrier to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in…” as part of a town hall meeting. In response, Dream Action Coalition has issued the following statement:
“While we understand that this statement was part of a longer one on immigration and do not want to take the former Secretary out of context, there has been an entire campaign with notable members of the press like Jose Antonio Vargas and Jorge Ramos to ‘ban the I word,” said Carlos Vargas, Co-Director of Dream Action Coalition.
“Immigrants have been fighting for their identity and dignity for generations,” said Hina Naveed, Co-Director of Dream Action Coalition. “Not only is Hillary’s casual use of the word “illegal” offensive and dismissive, it shows us that she is out-of-touch with the community she claims to be advocating for by reducing them to a derogatory term. There is no room to uplift a community when the conversation begins by taking away their identity. We hope the former Secretary will apologize, understand the argument and protect the dignity of the immigrant community.”