Activist dedicates her life to advocacy for undocumented women
Mon, Jul 16 4:51 PM
Mallika Dutt knew she had to become a part of the We Belong Together campaign, which was implemented with the hope of ending human rights abuses against women, children and families caused by federal immigration enforcement and by Alabama’s HB56; after she heard the story of a young undocumented mother that had killed herself and her 11-year-old daughter after being confronted by ICE agents.
Dutt, the President and CEO of global human rights organization Breakthrough, has dedicated years of her life in support of women and individuals across the globe, and is urging President Obama to not only protect youth without U.S. citizenship, but their mothers as well.
"Now that police officers can inquire about immigration status based solely on how a person looks, thousands of women – many the primary breadwinners for their families – have stopped leaving their homes entirely," Dutt wrote in an open letter to the president to Women's eNews. "They’ve stopped going to work. They’ve stopped visiting their doctors. They’ve stopped taking their kids to the doctor. They’ve stopped living their lives."
Whether or not anything is done immediately, Dutt will continue to try to protect the lives of immigrant women in the coming years.
