Today, President Obama, the Department of Homeland Security’s Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder and members of Congress will receive a letter signed by representatives from 578 civil rights, labor, criminal justice, immigration, and faith organizations from around the country demanding that the Obama administration stop the devolution of federal immigration responsibilities to state and local law enforcement. VivirLatino is one of those.

“The Obama administration’s overreliance on local law enforcement agencies to arrest, detain and deport immigrants legitimizes the racial discrimination that persists in the criminal justice system,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. “For all our communities, this marriage of convenience between the immigration system and the criminal justice system will only serve to further deter immigrants from cooperating with the police, and sever the already tenuous ties between law enforcement and vulnerable community members.”

VivirLatino, as a new media organization that is made up immigrants and the children of immigrants, Latinas and active community members in different areas, our signing on to this letter is a continuation of our commitment to justice and truth for our communities and our very familias.