Members of the Brentwood and Central Islip communities and dozens of organizations are condemning President Trump’s divisive anti-immigrant initiative in Suffolk County. The president will use the recent MS-13 killings as a backdrop to a speech he will deliver on Friday. A rally near Suffolk County Community College will take place at Noon on Friday, July 28. Here is the statement from the local organizations:
Unity Statement
“We are saddened and outraged to see President Trump seek to use local tragedies for political gain—and particularly to fuel his hateful, anti-immigrant agenda. We say, loud and clear, that, after months of vilifying our communities, he is not welcome here.
“Here on Long Island, community members are committed to working to make sure our communities and young people are safe. And we are committed to coming together to support youth and families harmed by violence, especially immigrant families who have been the majority of the victims and survivors of this violence
“As we commit to repairing and healing our communities, we know that Trump’s divisiveness and xenophobia will not make us safer, nor will it help us achieve the structural changes that long-neglected communities like Brentwood and Central Islip need.
“To genuinely address the challenges our communities face, we need elected officials to invest in our youth, rather than criminalizing, demonizing and using repressive measures against immigrant communities. Investing in our young people and their communities is our way forward for sustaining healthy and safe neighborhoods for generations to come. Community safety is providing young people with a meaningful job, internship, and training opportunities, robust after-school and summer programs, early education, access to quality healthcare, mental health support, and practices informed by the trauma our neighbors have suffered, to support their social and emotional growth. This also means investing and supporting the social integration and well-being of our immigrant neighbors, including legal services and adult education services, to empower immigrant and other low-income parents to provide for their families and better support their children’s development.
“In their response to the tragedies in our communities, Donald Trump and Peter King have not shown concern about the issues that affect our communities. Instead, they have utilized their positions to scapegoat entire segments of the population for their own political gain. This approach is entirely backward and counter-productive, and we will resist it at every turn.
“At this difficult moment, immigrant communities and allies stand together and vow to protect one another against the harmful policies and rhetoric of this administration. We stand united against hate.”
