September 15, 2017 - Coalition of 45 National Latino Organizations Launches Latino Heritage Month of Action and Mobilization with Members of Allied Communities

September 15, 2017

COALITION OF 45 NATIONAL LATINO ORGANIZATIONS LAUNCHES LATINO HERITAGE MONTH OF ACTION AND MOBILIZATION WITH MEMBERS OF ALLIED COMMUNITIES

WASHINGTON—On Thursday, September 14, 2017, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of the nation’s 45 preeminent Latino advocacy organizations, rallied in front of the White House to commence the Latino Heritage Month of Action with the goal of defending Latino and immigrant communities across the country. As the nation celebrates Latino culture this month, NHLA leaders and allies are taking action to fight the ongoing attacks against Latinos and other communities.

National Latino leaders spoke about their plans to boost Latino civic participation and an aggressive push for congressional passage of a clean Dream Act that includes a path to citizenship, and called for the dismantling of the White House’s “Voter Integrity” commission. Leaders and members of other communities who have been under attack by this administration joined the rally in solidarity, including women, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, African Americans and representatives of the LGBTQ, labor, and environmental movements.

"Today we came together as the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda to say enough is enough. We are mobilizing as 45 national Latino organizations to take direct action not only in Washington DC and on Capitol Hill, but also at the grassroots level. We need the collective and strategic power of all of our organizations to energize our democracy through our community’s activism. This administration’s hateful rhetoric and draconian policies are being directed at more than just the Latino community, which is why we stand arm in arm with women, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, African Americans and the LGBTQ, labor, and environmental movements. In unity, we mobilize, organize and activate in this Latino Heritage Month of Action and in the months to come,” said Hector Sanchez Barba, Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.”

"A primary distinguishing attribute -- one of very many shocking characteristics -- of the Trump presidency in its 200-plus days has been the near-total exclusion of the Latino community. Lack of appointments to key posts in the judiciary and administration, inattention to the interests of the Latino community, and the pardoning of a notorious anti-Latino discriminator all evidence this attribute. On the eve of the first Hispanic Heritage Month in this presidency, NHLA commits to use this month to call upon leaders in Congress and nationwide to fill the vacuum and to incorporate the Latino community and its policy concerns -- including most immediately the passage of the Dream Act -- in the nation's governance and policy agenda. We commit to work to naturalize all eligible Latinos, to register all eligible Latinos to vote, and to demand our community's inclusion in governance and policy as a critical element of creating a thriving and better future America," said Thomas A. Saenz, Vice-Chair of NHLA and President and General Counsel of MALDEF.

“We are proud to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of NHLA in sending the administration a loud and clear message: We are fired up. We are determined. We are united. For us, immigration is a personal, not a political issue, and we will not stop fighting until all of our families, including Dreamers, are respected as integral members of our society. Finding a permanent, humane solution to the immigration issue should be a priority of the administration, just as it is a priority for our community.” said Jessica González-Rojas, Co-Chair of NHLA’s Latina Task Force and Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH).

“We are at an urgent crossroads in our political history, and it is of utmost importance that we continue to powerfully organize our communities at the grassroots level. There’s time left on the shot clock, but no time to spare. It is a true honor to join forces with so many of our esteemed colleagues, in contributing to the work that will move our fellow brothers and sisters to actively take a stand and demonstrate their political power at the voting booth.” said Ben Monterroso, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota.

“As our community comes together to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we must use this time to raise a united voice in opposition to President Trump’s recent decision to rescind DACA. Dreamers are seamlessly woven into the fabric of American society. They are our neighbors, colleagues, service members, and classmates. They’re pursuing careers as teachers, soldiers, and entrepreneurs. Sending these 800,000 upstanding young people to nations they’ve never known is inhumane and un-American. Folks across the country must mobilize and tell Congress to pass legislation that protects Dreamers,” said Congressman Joaquin Castro.

"LGBTQ people are as diverse as the fabric of this nation, and it is estimated that approximately 75,000 Dreamers are LGBTQ. Trump's attacks on Dreamers and the Latinx and immigrant communities are attacks on the LGBTQ community. HRC was proud to stand alongside our allies at the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and call out the Trump Administration for ending DACA and putting innocent young people at risk. We stand united behind the hundreds of thousands of young people impacted by Trump's decision to end DACA and call on Congress to have a clean vote on the Dream Act," said David Stacy, Government Affairs Director, Human Rights Campaign.

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL HISPANIC LEADERSHIP AGENDA
The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda is composed of 45 of the leading national and regional Latino civil rights and public policy organizations and other elected officials, and prominent Latinos Americans. NHLA coalition members represent the diversity of the Latino community – Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and other Latino Americans. NHLA’s mission calls for unity among Latinos around the country to provide the Latino community with greater visibility and a clearer, stronger influence in our country’s affairs. NHLA brings together Latino leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of, the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit: www.nationalhispanicleadership.org.