Tonight, President Trump stated that the government shutdown will continue. This decision is detrimental to families and communities across the country. Instead of reversing the Administration’s cruel policies towards children and families – tearing apart kids from their parents, jailing children in cages, and tear-gassing families fleeing violence – the president wants to move forward with an unproductive, wasteful plan for a wall.
Darcy Tromanhauser, Nebraska Appleseed Immigrants & Communities Program Director, issued the following statement in response:
“The focus on funding for a border wall is an expensive and dangerous distraction from the serious conversation lawmakers should be having about positive immigration policies that support united communities, strong families, and true security.
“The recent deaths of children in Customs and Border Protection custody only underscore how the Administration’s actions have endangered families and children. The Administration’s immigration policies continue to cause unnecessary tragedies by turning away asylum seekers at ports of entry thereby forcing them into danger, separating parents and children, holding families in prison-like settings, and devastating communities nationwide with large-scale immigration raids.
“It is also deeply concerning to see the president attempt to lay the groundwork to achieve through authoritarian means what he cannot through Congress and the democratic process.
“What Nebraskans want are positive policies to create a legislative solution for Dreamers and their families – long-overdue and common-sense immigration policies that provide a path forward for long-time residents who contribute so much to local communities.”
Contact:
Darcy Tromanhauser
Immigrants & Communities Program Director, Nebraska Appleseed
402-438-8853 x112
dtromanhauser@neappleseed.org