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Statement

Trump’s New Asylum Restrictions ‘Grounded In Bias and Hostility,’ Moms Leader Says

November 13, 2018
Immigration

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Statement from Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, CEO and executive director of MomsRising, an online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on President Trump’s effort to suspend the rights of asylum-seekers:

“President Trump’s post-election announcement – that his administration will effectively deny the moms, children and families who come here from Central America the chance to apply for asylum – is cruel, heartless and a violation of U.S. law and treaty obligations. It puts refugees with well-founded fears of persecution at risk of a return to persecution. The President does not have the authority to criminalize families that simply want the chance to live in peace.

“The way President Trump lied to stoke division and hate about migrants during the election was utterly shameful. Now he is basing policy on his fact-free, paranoid interpretation of what is happening. If he is allowed to implement the policies described in his proclamation, some of the most vulnerable people in the world will be at grave risk.

“Our country has a process for considering asylum for those who seek it. Just as a federal court ruled, yet again, that President Trump does not have the authority to end the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, we expect courts to rule that he does not have the authority to deny people the chance to seek asylum. Nor do the American people want him to.

“The actions President Trump wants to take are grounded in bias and hostility and they are reprehensible. Immigrant and asylum-seeking families have rights and deserve to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect.”

 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.