The International Institute of New England condemns the recent and horrific mass shootings in Buffalo, New York by a white teenager who intentionally targeted a Black neighborhood, and in Uvalde, Texas where 21 fourth graders and teachers were massacred. In these unspeakable acts, innocent children and adults lost their lives to unstable men—one motivated by racist ideology—able to secure deadly weapons and turn them against their communities. Those they slaughtered were performing the peaceful daily routines of grocery shopping and school learning.
IINE has worked for over a century to embrace and support refugees and other persecuted immigrants fleeing life-threatening experiences all over the world. Refugees leave everything they know to come to the U.S. for a chance at peace, opportunity, and safety.
IINE urges action to institute effective gun violence prevention laws here and to uphold the human right to safety here and around the world. Last year, over 45,000 people in the United States died from gun-related injuries—a human rights crisis.
