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SCREEN CAPTURE
Donald Trump:' I didn't need to do this.' |
After signing a bipartisan bill that contained $1.36 billion for border security, not the $5.7 billion Trump wanted for a physical wall, the current White House occupant declared a national emergency along the southern border so that he can draw money from other parts of the government to pay for the wall.
After saying, the "current situation at the southern border presents a border security and humanitarian crisis that threatens core national security interests and constitutes a national emergency."
Later, he seemed to contradict the urgency of the declaration when he said, "I didn't need to do this." After his Rose Garden announcement, Trump flew to Mar-a-lago to spend the Presidents Day weekend at the Florida golf resort that he favors.
As he predicted in a sing-song delivery, lawsuits have been filed to prevent what critics say is an unconstitutional action. Within hours after his announcement, the ACLU and public watchdogs Public Citizen and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed separate legal actions against Trump's declaration. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his intention to also join the legal fray.
Public Citizen's suit, urges the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to "bar Trump and the U.S. Department of Defense from using the declaration and funds appropriated for other purposes to build a border wall." The suit also includes three Texas landowners who own land along the border with Mexico, who were told their property would be seized for a border wall if money was allocated to the project this year.
The CREW lawsuit targets the Justice Department and revolves around a Freedom of Information Act request regarding the emergency order.
The watchdog group claims that Trump's administration failed to show the legal authority for his declaration by refusing to turn over public documents that includes communications, including legal opinions, from the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense over whether Trump had the authority to declare an emergency to build a wall.
"Americans deserve to know the true basis for President Trump’s unprecedented decision to enact emergency powers to pay for a border wall," CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement. "We’re suing because the government has so far failed to produce the requested documents or provide an explanation for their delay."
ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said the civil rights group plans to file suit next week in the following statement:
“By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero in a statement. "(Trump) just grew impatient and frustrated with Congress, and decided to move along his promise for a border wall ‘faster.’
"This is a patently illegal power grab that hurts American communities and flouts the checks and balances that are hallmarks of our democracy," continued the statement. "We will be filing a lawsuit early next week. As the country’s premier defender of civil liberties and civil rights, the ACLU will always fight to ensure a robust system of checks and balances on the power of the executive, which is critical to safeguarding our democracy and defending rights.”
“By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero in a statement. "(Trump) just grew impatient and frustrated with Congress, and decided to move along his promise for a border wall ‘faster.’
"This is a patently illegal power grab that hurts American communities and flouts the checks and balances that are hallmarks of our democracy," continued the statement. "We will be filing a lawsuit early next week. As the country’s premier defender of civil liberties and civil rights, the ACLU will always fight to ensure a robust system of checks and balances on the power of the executive, which is critical to safeguarding our democracy and defending rights.”
California's Gov. Newsom said his state plans to join several other states in a lawsuit to challenge Trump's national emergency declaration. California has already filed at least 45 lawsuits against the Trump administration on a variety of issues and secured 26 wins, although some cases are still ongoing, according to the office of state Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
“If the president tries to use a made-up emergency to pay for his border wall, then California will see him in court,” Newsom and Becerra said in a joint statement.
“If the president tries to use a made-up emergency to pay for his border wall, then California will see him in court,” Newsom and Becerra said in a joint statement.
Concurrently, the AAPI communities and leaders did not remain silent on Trump's national emergency declaration:
Senator Mazie Hirono, D-HI: “At today’s announcement, Donald Trump lied about walls, borders, crime, and legal immigration to justify his declaration of a fake emergency at our southern border. With this desperate action, Donald Trump is putting his vanity wall above the Constitution and the American people. As usual, his announcement was long on lies and short on justification. Let’s call today’s action what it is: a blatant, illegal power grab that steals money from our military to advance Donald Trump's personal agenda. Diverting billions of dollars from planned investments in critical military projects across the world doesn’t make us safer. The President has demonstrated time and again that he doesn’t care that the chaos he creates results in wasted time and resources being expended to clean up his mess – including those spent on court challenges. Republicans need to say enough is enough and join us in acting like a separate branch of government by terminating this so-called emergency declaration as soon as possible, and focusing instead on the real needs of all Americans.”
Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill: "This #FakeTrumpEmergency is a reckless & unprecedented abuse of presidential power, not to mention a waste of billions of taxpayer dollars. It would steal money from our military & critical drug apprehension efforts to construct a needless, medieval wall. This is terrible policy."
Senator Kamala Harris, D-CA:"Declaring a national emergency over this President's vanity project is ridiculous. We don't need a wall. Instead, we should address the actual emergencies facing our country — everything from gun violence to the opioid crisis. The President’s national emergency declaration is completely unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer resources. This is a crisis of his own making."
Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, chair of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus: "I am troubled by the President’s declaration of a national emergency. This declaration blatantly circumvents the will of Congress and is an obvious overreach that flies in the face of the Constitution and other existing laws. National emergencies should be saved for actual emergencies, not failing to get what you want out of Congress. And he can only justify it through a completely false narrative that a wall will have any impact on curbing crime or drug trafficking. This declaration will certainly be challenged in the courts but I fear the precedent that is being set by Republicans ceding constitutional authority to a dangerous executive.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI: "Every time a president declares a 'national emergency' in order to get his way on a particular issue, the closer we are to a dictatorship. Who needs Congress or the people if the president can make the decision on issues by himself? Very dangerous precedent."
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-CA: “Trump's proposed Declaration of a National Emergency is an authoritarian power grab that will be struck down in the courts. The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the ‘Power of the Purse’, and Trump cannot override the Constitution with a fake declaration. There is no national emergency. Based on the Trump Administration's own data, border apprehensions are down 75% from 2000 to 2018; both violent and property crime are down across the US; and 80% to 90% of illegal drugs come through legal checkpoints."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA: "A national emergency declaration for a non-emergency is not legal. @realDonaldTrump is trying to get around our constitutional and thinks we’re stupid enough not to notice. Not today. We won’t stand for this. The only crisis at our border is the one Trump manufactured through his inhumane immigration policies. This #FakeNationalEmergency is a gross abuse of power. @HouseJudiciary will hold the administration accountable and determine the "supposed" legal basis for these actions."
Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY: “President Trump is a petulant man-child who has decided to plunge our nation into yet another national crisis by declaring a ‘national emergency’ over a supposed immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Meng. “Let me be crystal clear: there is no emergency. Illegal immigration is at record lows. The only emergency is the one in the president’s head. President Trump misled the American people when he said that Mexico would pay for the wall—which was never going to happen. Now he wants to weaken our national security by stealing defense funds to build his medieval border wall. President Trump should be ashamed of his actions today.”
Rep. T.J. Cox, D-CA: “President Trump’s emergency declaration to sidestep the Constitution is short-sighted, irresponsible, and lawless. Our Founding Fathers constructed a system of checks and balances to protect the people from executive overreach," the Filipino American lawmaker said in a statement. "The President overstepped his constitutional authority to declare he will divert scarce taxpayer dollars to a project we all know is unnecessary and ineffective.”
Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-FL: "It is wrong for President Trump to bypass Congress just so he can advance his own political agenda. I agree that we need to do more to secure our ports and protect our borders, but the President needs to work with us to do this, not take unilateral action."
Rep. Ami Bera, D-CA: "The president has overstepped his authority by taking money away from the military and counternarcotics efforts. Congress must reassert its authority. This is unacceptable. In his announcement, the president said, 'I didn’t need do this.' I agree."Asian Americans Advancing Justice: “President Trump’s shameful declaration is a clear-cut abuse of presidential power and a threat to our democracy. The President manufactured a crisis at the border to drum up support for his failed and unpopular campaign promise. The President is only trying to circumvent the Constitution. After Congress refused to give him all the money that he asked for, the President is now trying to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars into an anti-immigrant, xenophobic border wall project that a majority of Americans continue to oppose. Asian Americans Advancing Justice is in solidarity with communities at the border who live under oppressive conditions, facing separation and danger every day. That is why we urge Congress to stand firm for our immigrant communities by revoking Trump's illegal emergency declaration.”
Margaret Fung, Executive Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: “The President has shown that he will go to any lengths to fund his border wall and mass deportation agenda. AALDEF believes that this unilateral action is an unconstitutional abuse of authority and will not survive the legal challenges that are certain to follow.”
Suman Raghunathan, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT): “In just the last 10 days we’ve been hearing firsthand about the cruel treatment towards nine South Asian men currently on hunger strike in a detention facility in El Paso. Despite their asylum requests, they’ve been subject to violent force-feeding, solitary confinement, and constant threats of deportation. What’s particularly devastating is that we’ve seen similar treatment occur previously in this same facility and we have received accounts of abuse of detainees in several facilities across the country. This bill does nothing to address the systemic issues with our detention system, and only serves to perpetuate abusive situations like the ones we are witnessing now.”
Monica Thammarath, National President, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance: "We denounce the fabricated state of emergency the President has declared when our communities are facing real crises. Our Southeast Asian refugee siblings along with other immigrant communities are increasingly threatened to be ripped apart from their families and communities, workers in growing cities are struggling to keep their homes because of corporate greed, and students and educators across the nation are faced with under resourced classrooms - these and more are the people's priorities and our state of emergency. We will continue to push and fight for our communities’ real needs, especially in the face of fabricated emergencies from this Administration’s White Supremacist agenda.”
Rep. T.J. Cox, D-CA: “President Trump’s emergency declaration to sidestep the Constitution is short-sighted, irresponsible, and lawless. Our Founding Fathers constructed a system of checks and balances to protect the people from executive overreach," the Filipino American lawmaker said in a statement. "The President overstepped his constitutional authority to declare he will divert scarce taxpayer dollars to a project we all know is unnecessary and ineffective.”
Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-FL: "It is wrong for President Trump to bypass Congress just so he can advance his own political agenda. I agree that we need to do more to secure our ports and protect our borders, but the President needs to work with us to do this, not take unilateral action."
Rep. Ami Bera, D-CA: "The president has overstepped his authority by taking money away from the military and counternarcotics efforts. Congress must reassert its authority. This is unacceptable. In his announcement, the president said, 'I didn’t need do this.' I agree."Asian Americans Advancing Justice: “President Trump’s shameful declaration is a clear-cut abuse of presidential power and a threat to our democracy. The President manufactured a crisis at the border to drum up support for his failed and unpopular campaign promise. The President is only trying to circumvent the Constitution. After Congress refused to give him all the money that he asked for, the President is now trying to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars into an anti-immigrant, xenophobic border wall project that a majority of Americans continue to oppose. Asian Americans Advancing Justice is in solidarity with communities at the border who live under oppressive conditions, facing separation and danger every day. That is why we urge Congress to stand firm for our immigrant communities by revoking Trump's illegal emergency declaration.”
Margaret Fung, Executive Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund: “The President has shown that he will go to any lengths to fund his border wall and mass deportation agenda. AALDEF believes that this unilateral action is an unconstitutional abuse of authority and will not survive the legal challenges that are certain to follow.”
Suman Raghunathan, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT): “In just the last 10 days we’ve been hearing firsthand about the cruel treatment towards nine South Asian men currently on hunger strike in a detention facility in El Paso. Despite their asylum requests, they’ve been subject to violent force-feeding, solitary confinement, and constant threats of deportation. What’s particularly devastating is that we’ve seen similar treatment occur previously in this same facility and we have received accounts of abuse of detainees in several facilities across the country. This bill does nothing to address the systemic issues with our detention system, and only serves to perpetuate abusive situations like the ones we are witnessing now.”
Monica Thammarath, National President, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance: "We denounce the fabricated state of emergency the President has declared when our communities are facing real crises. Our Southeast Asian refugee siblings along with other immigrant communities are increasingly threatened to be ripped apart from their families and communities, workers in growing cities are struggling to keep their homes because of corporate greed, and students and educators across the nation are faced with under resourced classrooms - these and more are the people's priorities and our state of emergency. We will continue to push and fight for our communities’ real needs, especially in the face of fabricated emergencies from this Administration’s White Supremacist agenda.”
Greg Orton, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) National Director: “The President’s national emergency declaration sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the integrity of our democracy-- all for an ineffective solution to a manufactured problem. Congress’ newly passed border security bill will provide over a billion dollars in funding towards border security and reflects a compromise from Congress. Bypassing the Constitution, which is clear about which branch of our government is responsible for determining appropriations, reflect a President who is more committed to keeping a foolish campaign promise, than upholding our democratic principles. President Trump is right that there is a national emergency upon us. But it is not a caravan of people we should fear that spurs us to action-- it is the naked power grab by the Executive Branch, coupled with complicity of those in Congress who choose to stand by and do nothing out of political gain. Members on both sides of the aisle must do more than simply speak in opposition. They must act.”
Value Our Families: Trump’s remarks and action declaring a national emergency is an astounding display of xenophobia and racism. It is a reckless stunt to rile up his base and endanger our democracy and countless communities along the border. There is no national security emergency at the border, and yet Trump is fear-mongering to justify wasting billions of dollars on an immoral border wall. The real crisis is Trump’s self-made humanitarian crisis that separated and jailed thousands of immigrant families. ... We cannot allow our nation’s immigration policies to be hijacked by false nations of security and nationalism. We urge Congress to protect our border and immigrant communities and to end this so-called “national emergency.”
Jonathan Paik, director of the Korean Resource Center: “This is a reckless move and endangers the future of our country. Our democracy is in incredible danger- this is the true national emergency. We call on all our fellow Americans to resist these abuses of power and reclaim our democracy!”
Quyen Dinh, executive director of SEARAC: “The Southeast Asian American refugee community has been devastated by the expansion of our detention and deportation system, and our families continue to be torn apart at unprecedented rates. Our organizations understand that this is a difficult position for our policymakers to be in, and none of them should be forced to make this choice. But our communities elected our policymakers to represent our interests, and Asian Americans have declared in no uncertain terms that we oppose the passage of this bill and the president’s unconstitutional and falsely justified national emergency. We remain vigilant and committed to working with our Congressional partners to protect the rights of our refugees and immigrants.”
Council of American-Islamic Relations: “CAIR condemns President Trump’s declaration of emergency powers to construct a border wall that is primarily motivated by an anti-immigrant ideology designed to ‘make America white again.’ Such a declaration is an abuse of executive authority and will immediately be challenged by in the courts and in Congress. Refugee asylum seekers, unaccompanied children or undocumented immigrants seeking work or to reunite with their families do not constitute a ‘national emergency.’ There is no invasion, only the manufactured rhetoric of a racist President who failed to get what he wanted.”
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