An influential South-Asian group has urged US President-elect Donald Trump to immediately renounce the “steady narrative of hate and fear used during his campaign”, saying he should partner with the community to protect its civil liberties.
“The President-elect must acknowledge the steady narrative of hate and fear used during his campaign has served as a rallying cry for violence and oppression against our communities,” said Suman Raghunathan, executive director of South-Asian Americans leading Together (SAAlT).
“At this early and urgent hour, the President-elect must immediately reverse course and partner with South-Asian groups nationwide to protect our community’s civil liberties to achieve immigration reform and to understand that the only way to Make America Great is by ensuring the fundamental freedoms of everyone under the law,” Raghunathan said yesterday.
SAAlT said the “upcoming new administration must also abandon the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric that were hallmarks of the campaign”.
Statements about “building a wall”, using a “deportation force”, and “extreme vetting” must be categorically renounced, it said.