New York City, NY — In the next few weeks, the Obama administration will have deported 2 million people. On April 5, Immigration Equality will stand in solidarity with NDLON (the National Day Laborer Organizing Network) and organizations across the country to raise our collective voice in a National Day of Action for Deportation Relief.
“The threat of deportation for LGBT people is terrifying. We represent clients who have been robbed, stoned, beaten, set on fire and left for dead in their country of origin simply for being gay or transgender,” said Trina Olson, Immigration Equality’s Interim Executive Director. “They can’t go back. For LGBT immigrants, deportation can truly be a death sentence. It’s time for a new approach.”
“We need immediate and urgent relief for families like mine,” said Marco Quiroga, Immigration Equality’s National Field Officer. “My family has been torn apart. My little brother is gay and he was deported to a country where it is not safe to be gay. Every single day my mother and I worry about my brother’s safety. For lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigrants, deportation can have life threatening consequences.”
In solidarity with the National Day of Action, Immigration Equality has created a new graphic with a message that highlights the all-too-real impact of deportation for LGBT people. Immigration Equality has also joined the #2million2many Twitter hashtag campaign and is promoting its own LGBT-specific Twitter hashtag, #Deported2Death.
For more information on Immigration Equality’s work and accomplishments, visit www.ImmigrationEquality.org.