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My full joint statement with Assembly Member-Elect Carmen De La Rosa, regarding the ignorant and dangerous comments of Senator Jeff Sessions, nominee for US Attorney General:

“It is an outrage that our current nominee for United States Attorney General has written off the hard-working people from the Dominican Republic. Dominicans-Americans have offered countless contributions to our country. From art and academics to music, sports and entertainment, to elected leaders, judges and even Pultizer Prize-winning authors. I encourage Senator Sessions to inform himself about these accomplishments, to reconsider his statements and apologize to the Dominican community in the United States and beyond.

Additionally, we call for the Democratic members of the United States Senate to question vigorously, his ability to uphold the rights of all citizens of this country. From flirtations with the Ku Klux Klan, to statements calling the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, “unamerican,” it is far from clear that Senator Sessions is able to enforce our laws equally and without prejudice.

On this day, celebrating an interfaith thanksgiving celebration in Washington Heights, we gather to lift up the contributions that immigrants of all backgrounds have made to our nation. We reinforce our responsibility to continue making America a land of opportunity, tolerance and respect of all cultures. We stand for these values—values that this country was founded on—and it is important that all those who aim to serve this country at its highest levels, believe in these values as well.”