Powers that went largely unchallenged during the Obama administration are now in the hands of President-elect聽 鈥 and that鈥檚 a frightening prospect.
Deirdre Smith
The Sydney Refugee Action Coalition released the statement below on September 10.
***
Refugee advocates have rejected immigration minister Scott Morrison鈥檚 latest push to introduce temporary protection visas.
鈥淭he Minister is holding asylum seeker children hostage to the introduction of temporary protection visas,鈥 said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
"We are calling on all parliamentarians to reject the minister鈥檚 blackmail attempt and vote against the reintroduction of TPVs.
It鈥檚 all over the news: images of police in military gear pointing war zone weapons at unarmed Black people with their hands in the air. These scenes made my heart race in an all-too-familiar way.
I was devastated for Mike Brown 鈥 the unarmed Black teenager shot dead by police on August 9 鈥 his family and the people of Ferguson. Almost immediately, I closed my eyes and remembered the same fear for my own family that pangs many times over a given year.