FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 25, 2019
CONTACT: Elliot Levy, [email protected], 202-800-7409
New York – Following President Trump’s announcement that he would allow the government to reopen for three weeks while Congress continues to debate his demand for a racist border wall, Ginna Green, Chief Strategy Officer of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, released the following statement:
“We are relieved that Trump’s shameful government shutdown appears to be ending and that immigrant communities and federal workers will be spared further harm – for now. The president’s concession – after inflicting 35 days of entirely unnecessary pain and uncertainty on the nation – is a direct result of public pressure from working families, immigrants, and allies who made their presence felt and their voices heard.
“Let’s be clear: this shutdown occurred because Trump and the GOP were willing to hold federal workers and contractors hostage, and put public safety at risk, all in a failed attempt to build a monument to white nationalism on the southern border. It should have never happened, and it must not happen again.
“Now, the president is temporarily accepting defeat while threatening to immediately shut down the government again, or to make an authoritarian power grab by declaring a state of emergency if he doesn’t get what he wants in three weeks. This is the latest in a years-long pattern of incessant attacks and demonization of immigrant communities by Trump and the GOP, and we must continue to fight their unconscionable behavior.
“Democrats in Congress must hold the line as they go forward: Not one penny more for detentions, ICE or CBP agents, or a racist border wall. They must also go further by cutting funds for the out-of-control and oppressive ICE and CBP enforcement regime, and should restrict their ability to unilaterally shift money around in order to continue harming immigrants. Lawmakers must not negotiate what is morally non-negotiable: the unnecessary and cruel immigration enforcement arms race must come to an end, once and for all.”
