On March 9, President Biden will release his budget — a direct reflection of his administration’s priorities.
We’re calling on him to cut funding from punitive, racist, enforcement-focused systems and invest in programs that create the conditions where every member of our communities are safe and can thrive — add your name now.
You can check out Bend the Arc’s full letter to President Biden here.
President Biden,
As American Jews and allies, we urge you to release a budget for Fiscal Year 2024 that moves our country closer to becoming a just and equitable United States free from white supremacy, where Black liberation is realized, and all people are thriving.
Every year, billions more dollars are spent on policing, immigrant detention and deportation, border militarization, and other policies that make our communities less safe. And every day, nowhere near enough money is being invested in what communities actually need to be safe, like meeting our basic human needs, public health-centered, community-led crisis response, and programs to welcome immigrants into our communities. These harmful policies and this funding imbalance are a direct result of systemic racism, white supremacy, and the devaluation of Black and Brown lives.
For too many years, our country’s budgets, proposed by both Democratic and Republican presidents and passed by Congresses controlled by both parties, have shown how unwilling we still are to chart a new path away from the white supremacy and systemic racism that has shaped our society and government since white colonists first set foot on this continent.
We urge the Biden administration to cut funding from punitive, enforcement-focused systems that have disproportionately harmed Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color for centuries. Your administration can invest in equitable programs and policies that will ensure all members of our communities are safe and able to flourish, leading toward a society where Black liberation is realized.