Cortez Masto Statement on President Trump's Divisive Executive Orders on Immigration
Statement
Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump's divisive executive orders on immigration:
"If there was ever any doubt, President Trump is bringing his hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric from the campaign trail and putting it into action in the White House. Instead of trying to work with both parties to fix our broken immigration system and actually grow our economy, President Trump is choosing to demonize Latino communities and baselessly fear-monger about the phantom threat of undocumented immigrants. Instead of seeking to be a President for all Americans, President Trump is using his first week in office to try to further divide this nation and placate his most extreme supporters.
"Among the many controversial actions announced today, President Trump is directing his Administration to move forward with building an incredibly costly and ineffective border wall that will do nothing to improve our national security and that Mexico will never pay for. President Trump wants to start punishing cities that refuse to use local law enforcement as immigration agents, a move that would undermine basic community policing policies and threaten urban economic development. Instead of focusing our homeland security resources on larger priorities like terrorism and cybersecurity, Trump's first priority is ramping up his deportation force that will tear hardworking families apart.
"Make no mistake: I firmly believe in securing our border. However, I am afraid this is just the first step in what will be a pattern from the Trump Administration of putting tough talk ahead of smart, thoughtful immigration policy. Republicans have repeatedly insisted that if they controlled Washington, they would pass legislation to reform our immigration system and meaningfully tackle all aspects of this issue. So far, all they have done is sit back and let Trump dictate his flawed agenda. Enough."
Source