FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2018

CONTACT
Email: [email protected]
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Hayley Burgess, 202-384-1279

Statement on Trump’s Border Militarization Proposal

WASHINGTON — President Trump today issued new demands to further militarize the U.S.-Mexico border, calling for $18 billion for an additional 700 miles of fencing, thousands of new Border Patrol agents, and increased immigration enforcement in the interior. Although the request for funding was made today, Senator Durbin (D-IL) pointed out that the proposal was, in fact, an old anti-immigrant wish list written by Stephen Miller, the architect of Muslim Ban 1.0 and a known crusader against DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center:

“Is President Trump serious about making a deal to fix the DACA crisis he created? This proposal, written months ago by anti-immigrant zealot Stephen Miller (whom Steve Bannon reportedly described as “my typist”), is more of an effort to foil an immigration deal than to make one. It is more than a waste of money; it is a thinly veiled attack upon the 15 million residents of this thriving part of our country.

“Our nation’s border communities — like all communities — need strong investments in infrastructure, public health, and education, not more extremist, expensive, ineffective, and offensive border wall proposals. If it wasn’t already clear, this proposal should show everyone that Stephen Miller and his cronies aren’t interested in moving our nation forward on enacting sensible policies; they’re simply using every opportunity they get to advance their extremist white nationalist agenda.”

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