February 18, 2019

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LATINO LEADERS REBUKE TRUMP'S MANUFACTURED "EMERGENCY"

(WASHINGTON, DC) — Friday’s declaration of a national emergency by Donald Trump evokes the dangerous nationalist rhetoric of an “invasion” in order to justify a sweeping overreach of his authority that threatens the basic core principles of our country.  

The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), a coalition of 45 of the nation’s most preeminent Latino advocacy organizations condemns this breach of his constitutional authority in the strongest terms possible.  Further, NHLA condemns Trump’s latest invocation of racist, white supremacist language to manufacture a crisis as a pretext for delivering on a campaign promise at taxpayers’ expense.  The wall, should it ever get built, will not only divert necessary dollars from services that Americans rely on every day, but it will symbolize the failure of our country’s leadership to stand up and protect one of the founding principles of our democracy -- that there are three co-equal branches of the federal government as stated in our Constitution.  NHLA calls on Congress to act immediately to terminate this fraudulent state of emergency.

“Donald Trump imagines a border crisis in order to support his assertion of despotic authority to waste billions on a pathetic monument to his own failures as a leader," said Thomas A. Saenz, NHLA chair and MALDEF president and general counsel.  "Fortunately, our Constitution prevents such usurpation, and Trump's monument of delusion at our southern border should never go forward.”

“The national security crisis claimed by this administration is nothing more than a fantasy of Trump’s creation. It is clear that this administration will stop at nothing to move a white supremacist agenda of mass deportation and mass detention,” said Jessica González-Rojas, Vice-Chair of NHLA and Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. “The reality is that communities at the border are resilient and deserves more than a hateful and immoral wall.  Today, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health stands alongside our allies at NHLA in being just as unapologetic about our vision for the health, dignity, and justice of our communities.”

“President Trump’s disregard for the truth is not only crude but destructive. By consistently equating immigrants, undocumented people and those who are migrating to our nation as bad people to be feared and loathed, the President is legitimizing hate, acts of cruelty, and even violence towards a vulnerable class of people," said Jose Calderón, President of Hispanic Federation, and co-chair of the NHLA Immigration Committee. "We refuse to be silent. In the face of hateful and immoral actions, we have no choice but to resist. Our coalition of Latino organizations will continue to work with allies across the nation, and do everything within our power to fight funding for this wall that the vast majority of Americans don’t want and know we don’t need.”

“This cynical declaration is yet another one of this administration’s tactics to rally its political base while building on the narrative that criminalizes Latinxs,” said Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF.  “We cannot let the president’s promotion of fear, hate, and division distract us from talking about what really matters and demanding actions that address the needs of our community. There is a real humanitarian crisis happening at the border, and immigration policies should prioritize keeping families together. We all need policies that uphold our values and move us forward together, not further apart.”

“This decision will impact the civil liberties and economies of our own communities in places like San Diego and El Paso who depend on transnational commerce," said Ana Marie Argilagos, President and CEO of Hispanics in Philanthropy. "This will also deeply impact immigrant communities as they will be further targeted for unfair treatment and scrutiny. This dangerous declaration will continue to separate families, lead to racial profiling of immigrants, and will have a financial impact on our local and national economy.”   

“President Trump's Action would cause much stress leading to physical and mental distress to thousands of people by diverting important government funds to a crisis that does not exist,” said Dr. Elena Rios, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association.

"President Trump's Emergency Declaration is a complete overreach in his misguided, and most likely illegal, effort to fund an unpopular border wall that both Congress and the American people have rejected. In an attempt to placate his xenophobic supporters, which constitutes a significant portion of his base, President Trump prefers to displace border families, destroy wildlife habitat and refuge, and broadly disregard environmental protection laws in border communities. Through these actions, it is evident that the priority of this Administration is clearly not the welfare of the American people," said Mark Magaña, President and CEO of GreenLatinos

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Sandra Hernandez at (213) 629-2512, ext. 129, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.