From United We Dream
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Congress Fuels Trump’s Mass Deportation Force With Spending Bill

SHERIDAN AGUIRRE MARCH 22, 2018 PRESS RELEASES



“Republicans and Democrats should resist Trump’s political hit men, not give them billions.”

For Immediate Release

Media Contacts:
Bruna Bouhid | bruna@unitedwedream.org | 202.850.0812
Sheridan Aguirre | sheridan@unitedwedream.org | 202.793.2267
Texas: Chris Valdez | chris@unitedwedream.org | 713.352.8197

Washington, DC – Today, the House of Representatives voted for a massive federal spending bill for the 2018 fiscal year.

The bill includes dangerous increases in funding to deport more people, house more human beings in detention camps and further militarize our border communities. It also fails to solve the humanitarian crisis that Trump created when he killed the DACA and TPS programs.

Greisa Martinez Rosas, Deputy Executive Director at United We Dream and potential Dream Act beneficiary, said:

“Republicans and Democrats should resist Trump’s political hit men, not give them billions. This spending bill fuels Trump’s mass deportation force and all Members of Congress should have voted it down.

“Republicans have prevented legislation from passing which would create a pathway to citizenship for me and millions of others. This spending bill pumps billions more to agents who board busses to ask citizens and non-citizens alike for their papers, who mock and retaliate against local elected officials who are trying to protect their residents and who patrol border communities with guns and a political mission.

“Many of our families fled countries where political hit men like Trump’s deportation force ran wild over people declared enemies of the state. Trump made more people vulnerable to his agents by killing DACA and TPS and this bill did nothing to protect us.

“While some elected officials stood strong in opposing this spending bill, too many voted to build up the deportation force.

“Immigrant youth are organizing in cities all across the country to protect our people and we call on elected officials at the state and local levels to take immediate action in your localities to resist Trump’s political hit men before it is too late.”

Betsy Garcia, a leader with the San Diego Dream Team, a local affiliate group of United We Dream, said:

“Giving Trump and his anti-immigrant administration $1.6 billion dollars for additional fencing in the southern border will not make our communities safer. Our border cities are already highly militarized and have thousands of deportation agents who are able to stop, frisk and interrogate us on a whim.

“Immigrant youth across the country won’t forget those who vote against us and we will continue to mobilize our community and allies to ensure defunding these deportation agencies is a top priority for elected officials everywhere.

“Over a hundred immigrant youth leaders from the western states are gathering right now to train our young leaders how to best protect our people back home. We won’t stop fighting until all immigrants can live and thrive without the fear of deportation.”

###United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation, a powerful network made up of over 400,000 members and 48 affiliate organizations across 26 states. UWD’s vision is to build a multi-racial, multi-ethnic movement of young people who organize and advocate at the local and national levels for the dignity and justice of immigrants and communities of color in the United States.

https://unitedwedream.org/2018/03/co...spending-bill/