January 19th, 2018
For Immediate Release
Contact: nekessa@undocublack.org; 612-460-0656
Washington, DC - President Donald Trump is offering an immoral and shady deal to Congress. In exchange for his pet project, the wall, Trump is proposing that the Democrats give him $5.7 billion.
As part of this deal, Trump proposed that Congress eviscerate asylum and due process policies; increase border agents and immigration judges; and institute unspecified border technology. As a distraction, he has also proposed to temporarily extend protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders.
Immigrants continue to face uncertainty, and federal workers have not been paid for almost a month because this administration refuses to do its job. Instead of quickly re-opening the government, they continue to keep the country hostage.
UndocuBlack Network’s National Policy Director Patrice Lawrence says, “This phantom deal is a non-starter because it still includes a wall on the southern border. Secondly, the proposal suggests long-term, dangerous changes to asylum provisions, immigration court, due process and the immigration system at large. Additionally, “humanitarian assistance” is likely code for more detention centers, exasperating harmful family separation policies. Finally, the three-year extension for DACA and TPS is a slap in the face for our communities whose protections the Trump administration stole in the first place.”
Trump’s “deal” shows that his power is being threatened. Trump and his administration continue to create chaos: DACA, TPS, government shutdown, the Muslim Ban, asylum restrictions and this #TrumpShutdown are all his manufactured crises.
###
UndocuBlack Network (UBN) is a multigenerational network of formerly and currently undocumented Black people that fosters kinships, facilitates access to resources and contributes to transforming the realities of our people, so we are thriving and living our fullest lives.
