Atlanta, Georgia, June 22, 2018 — In a purely symbolic, political act, House leaders forced a floor vote on Rep. Goodlatte’s “Securing America’s Future Act” to appease the extremists in their caucus. Although the Senate says they won’t take up either the Goodlatte or the Ryan-Trump immigration bills, supporters in the House have scheduled the Ryan-Trump bill for a vote.

Goodlatte’s bill would create a permanent underclass of immigrant young people, stop millions of families from reuniting with their loved ones, eliminate the Diversity Visa program, which would disproportionately harm Black immigrants, hire 10,000 more border agents to militarize our communities, further exploit farmworkers, strip due process and protections from children and asylum seekers and most of all, build Trump’s wall and fund his mass deportation machine.

Today, the House will vote for another similar bill, the Ryan-Trump bill.

Below is a statement by Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta, a member of the Value Our Families coalition:

“Even though Senate leadership said they won’t take up the Goodlatte bill, Representative Woodall and Representative Handel made sure everyone knows they aligned with Donald Trump and his mass deportation force. This political stunt was just to give politicians like Representative Woodall and Representative Handel any chance to escalate attacks on immigrants and advance their anti-immigrant agenda.”

Asian Americans Advancing Justice is a national affiliation of five leading organizations advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities to promote a fair and equitable society for all. The affiliation's members are: Advancing Justice | AAJC (Washington, DC), Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco), Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, Advancing Justice - Atlanta, and Advancing Justice - Chicago.

Value Our Families is the national coalition working to reunite and keep families together, defend family immigration, and protect family unity. The campaign co-conveners are Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Church World Service, and the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC).