Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration are an Attack on American Values

It’s only day five of the Trump administration, but the president has already put the wheels in motion for immigration policies that further seek to divide us and demonize immigrants. The president signed two executive orders today that established his plan to move forward with building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, ramp up deportations, and go after cities that refuse to transform their local law enforcement into immigration agents.

“Rather than provide real solutions, President Trump has decided to trigger greater chaos and fear, set in motion a mass deportation force, bully cities that refuse to indiscriminately persecute immigrant communities, and waste billions on a wall,” said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía. “None of these actions will fix anything, but will devastate our economy and the social fabric of our country.”

Building a border wall and ramping up deportations were both signature elements of the president’s campaign over the last year and a half. He launched his candidacy by calling Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals” and called for erecting a “big and beautiful” wall on our southern border. Now that he is in the White House, the president is seeking to make good on those promises, which will do nothing to address the problems with our immigration system.

“Candidate Trump slandered Mexican immigrants as criminals, questioned the fairness of a distinguished U.S.-born judge based solely on his Mexican heritage, and constantly repeated debunked falsehoods about immigration. Unfortunately, President Trump’s announcement today shows his intention to stay on this path,” Murguía continued. “While the president said that there is no room for prejudice in patriotism, his actions today are all about building a wall of intolerance.”

NCLR will unite with its allies to protect and defend vulnerable communities that are under attack, and will remain vigilant about who joins our cause.

“…We will ensure that Latino voters are aware of who contributed to unleashing these extreme measures, as well as who sat idly by while our community’s rights were trampled,” said Murguía.

The extreme proposals the president campaigned on are no less extreme now that he is president. Today’s executive orders are inconsistent with our American values and we will fight back hard against them.

“No one wants to protect anyone who is a real threat to others or our country, but this is not the way to fix our immigration system,” said Murguía. “As of today, the administration owns the problem; the American people will see in four years that today’s actions were nothing but empty promises that undermined the country’s commitment to equal treatment under the law.”