Black Lives Matter

The last few months have been challenging. As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country, our daily lives drastically changed. It has been hard to be away from all our students and coworkers for so long, and it is especially painful to not be able to be with our community now, as protests spread across the country following the murder of George Floyd. Our hearts break at the tragic deaths of Mr. Floyd, Breonna TaylorTony McDade and the many others who have lost their lives at the hands of police. These killings are clear examples of the continued racism and persecution that Black folks face every day in this country, and we must put an end to it. 

We have witnessed the devastating effects racism has had on our clients. Black immigrants are disproportionately harmed by immigration enforcement and detention due to systemic racism and we at the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program will double-down on our efforts to respond to and change these structures. We would like to reaffirm that we believe that Black lives matter and we are committed to fighting for a more just world for all our community members, not just some of them. 

We encourage our alumni, students, and supporters to donate to some of the many organizations in Minnesota, Kentucky, and beyond that are supporting the on-the-ground work. We also encourage our community to not only express outrage at these horrible events, but also find ways to take action to promote racial justice. 

This is a grim time in our nation’s history but we remain hopeful that together we can fight to create a better world.