Demos Responds to Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Executive Orders
New York, NY – Heather McGhee, President of Demos, a New York-based public policy organization and think tank, issued the following statement in response to Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant Executive Orders:
“Today’s actions by President Trump– to not only undermine the authority of states and cities to offer sanctuary to immigrants, but also to effectively ban Muslim refugees and force any Muslim immigrants to register – are a direct assault on our democracy, and fly in the face of our national values. Instead of isolating our country and actively discriminating against our Muslim brothers and sisters, we need to build protective circles around the communities that President Trump seeks to target for expulsion and exclusion.
Today’s blitz on immigration is not the only action by President Trump that threatens to destroy our foundation as a free society. In its first few days, this administration has decided to attack a number of America’s values including religious freedom, women's health, and climate equity. We’re also witnessing the president continue his unsubstantiated and dangerous claims of voter fraud, further threatening our democracy at a time when we must instead ensure every citizen has access to the ballot box and confidence that their vote will count.
The attacks waged during his very first week in office are the first steps in a Trump agenda that criminalizes faith, nationality, women, and people of color. Every day, this administration will create new crises for us to address. We simply cannot wait to react to the next element of President Trump’s right-wing, nationalist, racially discriminatory agenda.
Today, we must stand up and say that this – the dismantling of all of the hard-won progress our country has made over decades – will stop here and now. Today, we must band together and stand in clear, unified objection to him and his administration, or we will watch as our freedoms cease to exist. We are better than this! Today, the resistance must truly start.”
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About Demos: Demos is a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy.
Our name means “the people.” It is the root word of democracy, and it reminds us that in America, the true source of our greatness is the diversity of our people. Our nation’s highest challenge is to create a democracy that truly empowers people of all backgrounds, so that we all have a say in setting the policies that shape opportunity and provide for our common future. To help America meet that challenge, Demos is working to reduce both political and economic inequality, deploying original research, advocacy, litigation, and strategic communications to create the America the people deserve.
