WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected to be the next President and Vice President of the United States of America. FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement:

“We want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their historic victory and celebrate the opportunity for progress it provides our nation.”

“As we saw with years of public backlash throughout President Trump’s entire term, voters from all walks of life repudiated Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda, demagoguery, and xenophobia. President Trump made his assault on the immigration system and immigrant families a signature issue for his presidency, and the public voted him out. By rejecting these policies and electing Joe Biden, voters have shown a bold mandate for a new path starting on day one of his presidency. To finally create a new humane, working immigration system, centered on a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented, which has overwhelming bipartisan support from the American people.

“This election saw the public reject the old ‘tough on crime, lock ‘em up and throw away the key’ fearmongering we’ve seen dominate our politics and drive mass incarceration for decades. Nearly 2.3 million people will wake up today in a jail or prison; tens of millions will walk around today with the harmful, often lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction. Racial disparities—most harmful to Black people—exist within every aspect of the criminal justice system and in every jurisdiction in America. Transforming the criminal justice system by ending mass incarceration requires rejecting these tired politics and embracing better policies too.

“The vote count must be completed, as it must be in every election, but it is clear they will receive enough electoral votes to win this race. It is important for everyone, especially elected officials, to be clear that they have won.

“We say thank you each and every person who fought in countless ways for years to ensure that xenophobia and racial demagoguery did not win—people who took time away from family and friends, during a time of deep trauma including a pandemic, to work to build a better America.”