The president of the Illinois NAACP is apologizing for remarks she made about migrants.
Teresa Haley released a statement saying, "First and foremost, I express my sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or offended by my comments. I love and value all members of our communities — including immigrants."
This apology comes two days after Haley had made the comments during a Tuesday Zoom conference call of NAACP leaders. Haley was criticizing the government's haste to provide housing and services to migrants while disregarding unhoused Black people.
"These immigrants have come over here. They've raping people. They've been breaking into homes. They're like savages as well. They don't speak the language and they look at us like we were crazy because we were the only people in America who were brought over here against our wheels and were slaves," Haley said during the meeting.
Initially, Haley denied making the remarks and suggested the video fake, possibly created using AI technology. The president of the DuPage County NAACP, Patrick Watson, shared the video and resigned in protest. Watson and others have called on Haley to resign.
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