PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Immigrants’ rights groups throughout the commonwealth have been banding together, reaffirming their commitment to immigrant communities in the face of threats from the new administration.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders, among them a promise to quickly begin deporting millions of people.
“Trump will try to undo all the progress that we've made, and in our opinion, we think that he will not succeed,” said Tammy Murphy, manager of public policy and advocacy for Make the Road Pennsylvania, one of the largest immigrant rights organizations in the state.
Murphy says what the president is doing is a form of fascism.
“There’s nothing that he won't do to stir up fear. And I think that that's really the point of what he's trying to do is to act cruelly in ways that creates fear, and then he plays on that fear.”
Murphy says immigrants are the backbone of the economy and an essential part of our communities across the country. She says it’s important to speak up for immigrants and what they bring to their communities.
“There are ways to get involved to be there when there are threats of mass deportation and threats of raids, and become a buffer between forces that are trying to remove people from our community and those of us that are trying to help people stay.”
If the president carries out mass deportations, everyone will pay a price, she said.
“Our communities are resilient, and we have stood up to oppression before. We know that fascism feeds on and requires despair, and we refuse to give in. We are doing the work to protect our freedoms, our families and our communities.”
The group maintains that defending immigrant communities in this country has never been reliant on who is in the White House.
Murphy says it's the responsibility of the federal government to enforce federal immigration law, and it should not be done on a local level. She says they are working with local and federal partners on policy that protects communities and celebrates immigrants as part of the economy.