Demonstrators slam ‘power grab’ on border
Protests are held around the country over Trump’s emergency declaration
NEW YORK — Protesters around the country Monday decried President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to fund his planned U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Organized by the liberal group MoveOn and others, demonstrations took the occasion of Presidents Day to assail Trump’s proclamation as undemocratic and anti-immigrant.
“Trump is the national emergency!” chanted hundreds at the White House fence, where some held up large letters spelling out “stop power grab.” In Fort Worth, Texas, a small group carried signs with messages including “no wall! #FakeTrumpEmergency.”
In Newark, N.J., Kelly Quirk told a gathering that “democracy demands” saying “no more” to Trump.
“There are plenty of real emergencies to invest our tax dollars in,” said Quirk, part of a local progressive group called Soma Action.
There were some counterprotests, including in Washington, where there was a brief scuffle in the crowd.
Trump’s declaration Friday shifts billions of dollars from military construction to the border. The move came after Congress didn’t approve as much as Trump wanted for the wall, which the Republican considers a national security necessity.
His emergency proclamation calls the border “a major entry point for criminals, gang members, and illicit narcotics.”
Illegal border crossings have declined from 1.6 million in 2000. But 50,000 families are now entering illegally each month, straining the U.S. asylum system and border facilities.
Trump’s declaration is facing legal challenges, and critics have argued he undercut his own rationale for it by saying he “didn’t need to do this,” but wanted to get the wall built faster than he otherwise could.
“President Trump declared a national emergency in order to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on his border wall obsession,” Manar Waheed of the American Civil Liberties Union told protesters in a Washington park before they headed to the White House fence. The ACLU has announced its intention to sue Trump over the issue.
Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the left-leaning Center for Popular Democracy, said the president had undertaken to “steal money that we desperately need to build a country of our dreams so that he can build a monument to racism along the border.”
At one point during the rally, a counterprotester walked through the crowd toting a sign saying “finish the wall” on one side and “protect the poor” on the other. Another man snatched his sign from him, sparking a short scuffle.
Trump, meanwhile, was in Florida.