Councilmembers Susan Zhuang and Farah N. Louis held a press conference criticizing the Trump administration's mass deportation policy, emphasizing its unconstitutional nature. They united City Council members with immigrant advocacy groups to raise awareness of expedited removal and due process violations. Zhuang, an immigrant herself, expressed concern over the fear immigrants face and the historical context of mass deportations, linking current policies to a legacy of exploitation and discrimination against Chinese, Mexican, and black immigrants, illustrating a repetitive cycle of marginalization throughout American history.
As an immigrant, Councilmember Zhuang knows the fear immigrants already live with daily, and points out that mass deportations, which she said are well-documented throughout American history, cause economic turmoil.
America used Chinese immigrants to build the Transcontinental Railroad and then passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, preventing them from entering America and from working.
The Bracero Program recruited Mexican immigrant workers and then deported them in masses.
The slave trade forced black immigrants into America to run our economy with slave labor, and then America created Jim Crow Laws.
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