For Immediate Release // Please Excuse Cross Posting
February 8, 2016
Contact: Armando Carmona, 323-250-3018 armando@ndlon.org
Trump Issues “Call to Action” Asking Local Police to Report Undocumented Immigrants
“They are taking away our weapons, one by one… We have to give you the weapons you need.”
Los Angeles, CA — On Wednesday, in a speech to Law enforcement officials President Donald Trump said that local law enforcement now has the power to report “illegals” to Secretary of Homeland Security Kelley. In the speech, President Trump issued a “call to action” to form a “new beginning” between the relationship between law enforcement and communities across the US. Only a day before, Senator Jeff Sessions, current nominee for Attorney General met with Sheriffs from some of the largest counties of California to discuss ways to expand law enforcement authority in detaining and transferring immigrants to ICE.
In response, Chris Newman, Legal Director at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) issued the following statement:
“Today’s speech lays bare that Mr. Trump’s strategy is to terrorize the American public as a political response to his own plunging popularity. However, Mr. Trump’s effort to sow fear as a means of asserting executive authority will be met by resistance from protesters, from local lawmakers, and from the courts. Underneath Mr. Trump’s racist rhetoric and his weaponization of fear lies a more sinister agenda to have the federal government take over local policing. Ironically, Mr. Trump’s policy will balkanize immigration policy and undermine national unity, and it will erode public safety by widening distrust of law enforcement agencies. Invariably though, some sheriffs will accept Mr. Trump’s invitation to join his mass deportation force, and they will likely suffer the same fate as Joe Arpaio in Arizona. But the ultimate effect of today’s speech will likely be to strengthen the resolve of local lawmakers seeking to defend their communities from Mr. Trump’s reign of terror. In California, for example, today’s speech will only further propel an emerging statewide consensus in favor of sanctuary state legislation that will separate criminal and immigration law enforcement.”
###
For more information see:
CA Values Act Clears State Senate Public Safety Committee
The Human Rights Consequences of Sheriff & ICE Collaboration in Los Angeles
In Face of Trump’s Threats, California is Doubling Down- Not Backing Down- on Sanctuary protections