Coalitions create success. It’s as simple as that. Given the scope of the challenges facing our communities, we can’t simply limit ourselves to focusing on one issue, in one place, at one time. Throughout 2018, Hispanic Federation strengthened its strategic partnerships to address critical needs.
That’s why in 2018 we strengthened strategic partnerships to address critical needs.
To protect and stand up for our immigrant families, we partnered with Alianza Americas to educate and mobilize communities around the crisis we’re facing with child and family separations. Together, we hosted forums in New York, Chicago and Washington DC to discuss what we must do to advance family unity, and extended our partnership down south to Mexico, where we are now actively working to support shelters housing Central American migrants.
To help the people of Puerto Rico heal and recover from Hurricane Maria, we partnered with the American Federation of Teachers, MoveOn.org, Oxfam America, UNICEF, the Clinton Foundation, World Central Kitchen and many others to scale relief and recovery projects. We also joined forces with the Power4PuertoRico coalition and created the Take Action for Puerto Rico campaign to help hundreds of diverse organizations speak out about the needs on the island and press our federal government to do right by Puerto Rico.
To fight back against environmental protection rollbacks, we partnered with EarthJustice, GreenLatinos, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund. Together, we filed lawsuits, delivered testimony in Congress and organized community opposition to harmful environmental actions by the Trump Administration.
And we didn’t just fight for environmental protections or for a fair recovery for Puerto Rico. Along with other civil rights organizations, we publicly opposed three Trump administration regulatory changes that would hurt our communities: Overturning the Flores settlement that would allow indefinite detention of children in immigration facilities; adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 Census that would discourage undocumented and documented immigrants from census participation; and expanding the definition of “public charge” to disqualify low-income immigrants seeking to enter the country or to adjust their status to legal permanent resident.
In 2018 Hispanic Federation continued to raise its national profile by becoming an active member in numerous national coalitions, including: National Hispanic Leadership Agenda; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; GreenLatinos; Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition; Puerto Rico Task Force; Next 100 Coalition; Immigration Hub; Climate Action Campaign; and National Hispanic Education Coalition.
In 2019, we will build on these coalitions because we know that when we work together with allies and supporters, we are stronger!
