Washington, DC — On a press call held this afternoon, defenders of democracy and progressive activists joined immigration advocates to discuss how threats made by Donald Trump and his close allies about what they would like to accomplish in a second term would impact the country well beyond immigrant communities. The recording is here and below are some quotes from the speakers.
Lorella Praeli, Co-President, Community Change Action said: “The strategy to can’t be the lesser of two evils. The most important thing that President Biden can do to draw a clear contrast is to provide relief to people here today and to take those steps that are right and popular with the American public. We must come together to build a country that includes us all, and articulate and embrace a vision for the future that is welcoming and ambitiously inclusive.”
Maurice Mitchell, National Director, Working Families Party said: “Donald Trump’s increasingly extreme rhetoric and past behavior make clear that a second Trump presidency could end democracy as we know it. His recent remarks about rooting out vermin and his threats to weaponize federal agencies against political rivals echo fascist and authoritarian regimes. After surviving all the harms of his first term, we should take his current statements seriously and literally.”
Rahna Epting, Executive Director, MoveOn said: “Trump and MAGA extremists are trying to permanently imprint their brand of authoritarianism, anti-freedom and anti-democratic governance onto our country. They are on the wrong side of history and we must remain unified to ensure that Trump and his allies can never again get anywhere near the White House. We defeated MAGA extremism in 2018, 2020, 2022 and again in Virginia and Ohio this month. We can and we must do it again.”
Omar Jadwat, Director, Immigrants’ Rights Project, ACLU said: “Trump’s policy proposals are not only an assault on our families, friends, neighbors, and communities, but also a direct assault on free speech, due process, the guarantee of equal citizenship, and the integrity of our laws. These policies would harm all of us. Just as we did in the last Trump administration, if these proposals move forward, the ACLU and other organizations will fight these heinous policies with every tool at our disposal, including litigation.”
Tom Jawetz, Senior Fellow, Immigration Policy, Center for American Progress Action Fund said: “Trump has made clear that if he gets a second term he will try to reshape the courts with radical, unqualified judges; pack the political ranks with extreme loyalists; and undermine civil service protections. A second Trump term will involve greater threats than the first with fewer institutional checks to curb abuses.”
Todd Schulte, President, FWD.us said: “Two things can be true: one goal is xenophobic demagoguery to lie about immigrants to distract voters who loathed President Trump’s policies of separating children from their parents at the border and trying to end DACA and force Dreamers out of their jobs and the country. Also, Americans should understand this policy architecture as nothing but an authoritarian, often illegal, agenda that would rip apart nearly every aspect of American life–tanking the economy, and violating the basic civil rights of millions of immigrants and native-born Americans alike. Unless you believe the central project of our democracy should be mass cruelty to immigrants, Trump’s plan will make your life much worse.”
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director, America’s Voice said: “What Donald Trump and Stephen Miller are laying out has crossed a line that should set off alerts for every American. Calling his political opponents ‘vermin,’ saying that ‘the blood of America’ is being poisoned, and the continued calls to violence, election denialism, and white nationalism cannot be normalized or go unchallenged. What Trump is describing is not just about immigration policies, he is not just firing up his voters in a primary season, he is openly talking about changing who we are as a nation, who is considered American, who belongs to this country. We collectively cannot become desensitized to his rhetoric because we already know the dangerous consequences of his words and actions.”
