FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2019

CONTACT
[email protected]
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Hayley Burgess, 202-805-0375

President Trump Accepts Short-Term Bill to Reopen Government Without Border Wall Funding

WASHINGTON — More than one month into a White House–driven government shutdown — by far the longest in U.S. history — President Trump announced today that he would finally agree to a bill to temporarily reopen the government and pay government workers. This temporary agreement between the White House and congressional leaders will finally reopen the government for three more weeks while Trump continues his exploitative demands for a racist border wall.

Avideh Moussavian, legislative director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“Careening from crisis to crisis is no way for our leaders to govern. We already waste tens of billions of dollars detaining and deporting immigrant families. We don’t need more money for Trump’s vanity projects or to address fictional scare tactics dreamed up by Stephen Miller.

“The major damage — to federal workers, our economy, access to essential services, and our nation’s stability — of the Trump-inflicted shutdown is temporarily over. In today’s announcement, Trump repeated his ultimatum to invoke a legally dubious ‘national emergency’ to build a wall, making it clear that Trump continues to prioritize threats over good-faith negotiations and that he does not value the well-being of federal workers or those who rely on their service. Trump hasn’t opened a negotiation process, he’s perpetuated a hostage situation.

“It has been clear from day one that Trump is committed to inflicting harm on immigrant communities, and this past month he showed the country just how far he’s willing to go to get what he wants. Elected leaders in Congress must stand up to and stop enabling these fear-mongering and dangerous tactics. Our legislative branch has the power of the purse, not Trump. We call on Congress to look at what’s in the best interest of the nation, rather than looking to appease the political whims of the White House. And we remind our members of Congress and our communities that when we remain committed to our values, we are stronger.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2019

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

Supreme Court Declines to Take Up DACA Cases This Term

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected the Trump administration’s attempts to rush a review of legal challenges to the termination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, this spring. The Court will meet again on February 15 to discuss the possibility of hearing the cases later this year.

For now, three federal district courts’ orders allowing DACA recipients to submit renewal applications remain in effect. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Batalla Vidal v. Nielsen, the first lawsuit that challenged the termination of DACA, on Friday, Jan. 25.

Batalla Vidal was brought by six New York DACA recipients and Make the Road New York. They are represented by the National Immigration Law Center, Make the Road New York, and the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School.

Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“The Supreme Court’s decision not to engage Trump’s attempt to sidestep the judicial process and use the courts to do his dirty work is welcome news for DACA recipients, their families, employers, and the country as a whole. The Court’s rejection of the Trump administration’s political games means that DACA recipients can continue to submit renewal applications as several legal challenges to President Trump’s cruel and reckless termination of DACA move forward.

“By all accounts, DACA has been hugely successful and transformative for immigrant youth who simply aspire to be recognized by the country they have called home since they were children. We at the National Immigration Law Center remain committed to vigorously defend DACA alongside the many courageous young people and organizations — including our plaintiffs Martín Batalla Vidal, Antonio Alarcon, Eliana Fernandez, Carolina Fung Feng, Mariano Mondragon, Carlos Vargas, and Make the Road New York — who are fighting back against Trump’s cruel, reckless, and race-driven attack on immigrants.

“We will continue fighting on all fronts: in the courts, Congress, and at the state and local levels so that DACA recipients can remain with their loved ones, thrive, and contribute to their adopted country.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2019

CONTACT
Email: [email protected]
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Hayley Burgess, 202-805-0375

Trump’s So-called “Deal” to End the Shutdown Is a List of Hostage Demands

WASHINGTON — In a televised speech from the White House today — a month into a partial government shutdown — President Trump proposed a one-sided “deal” to reopen the government in exchange for $5.7 billion in taxpayer dollars for a border wall, further border militarization, and decimating protections for asylum-seekers and trafficking survivors. Trump’s proposal attempts to justify these xenophobic, harmful demands by offering grossly inadequate and temporary protections for long-term residents, including DACA youth and those with temporary protected status (TPS), whose protections he took away.

Avideh Moussavian, legislative director at the National Immigration Law Center, issued the following statement:

“Trump is the chief architect of what has become the longest shutdown in modern history — which his enablers in Congress have allowed the administration to prolong. He is also similarly responsible for terminating DACA and TPS and for trampling on the rights of people coming to the U.S. in search of safety. Instead of reopening the government, he is rehashing nonstarter proposals to once again torpedo every good-faith effort to fix the very harms he created in service of his racist, xenophobic agenda. To blindly trust that this isn’t just another attempt to hurt our immigrant and border communities would be foolish.

“The Trump administration has taken immigrant youth and other immigrant communities, our government, and the financial well-being of 800,000 federal workers hostage to his demands. We should call this so-called ‘deal’ what it really is: an extortionist wishlist dressed up to look like an offer. It’s past time for Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell to stop playing games with people’s lives and reopen the government now.”

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