Opposing trump
Delmar protesters take part in nationwide rally against emergency order
Delmar protesters take part in nationwide rally against border emergency order.
“Trump is the real emergency,” three dozen protesters chanted during a President’s Day protest against Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration for border wall funding.
“There’s no national emergency in terms of the wall. We have many other national emergencies — gun violence, student loan debt, climate change. The wall is not. It’s a racist agenda he’s promoting,” said Trudy Quaif, a retired state worker. She’s been protesting at Delmar’s Four Corners every Monday evening since the Iraq War started as part of the Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace group.
This Monday, the group joined thousands of other protesters across the country to stand up against what they call Trump’s “fake emergency.” More than 300 events, in places as far away as Alaska and Hawaii, were registered on the Crisis Response
website. Three took place in the Capital Region, with groups gathering outside U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik’s office in Glens Falls, in Schenectady, and in Delmar.
A stalemate over Trump’s request for $5.7 billion in border wall funding caused the longest government shutdown in U.S. history — 35 days — from December 2018 into January. On Friday, Trump signed a spending plan to keep the government open that included $1.4 billion to bolster a barrier along the U.s.-mexico border. At the same time, he used his presidential power to declare a national emergency, which, along with other diverted funds, will give him nearly $8 billion to build a wall.
Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, who leads the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, plans to introduce a resolution co-sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez of New York to terminate the executive order.
Late Monday, 16 states including New York launched the first major legal challenge to the president’s attempt to use emergency powers to fund construction of his border wall.
“Actions are happening all over the country today to put pressure on Congress and elected officials so they can stand up to Trump in a strong way. The power to do so is in the courts and the legislature,” said Joe Lombardo, a retired state worker and one of the founders of
It’s just the idea that the President is able to try to circumvent power to himself through the government, which isn’t something the Constitution stands for.” Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace.
In Delmar, on a frosty February evening, three dozen citizens ranging from students to retirees gathered at the busy intersection. They waved Veterans for Peace flags, held up rainbow-colored placards declaring Love Trumps Hate and raised notes handwritten on cardboard that declared The power of the purse belongs to the people. Some passing drivers honked with a wave or a fist pump in encouragement.
Fifteen-year-old Rosalea Claeys, a high school sophomore from Mechanicville, came to the protest with her older sister and her aunt. It wasn’t her first protest: she and her aunt wore matching pink “pussyhats,” iconic emblems of the 2017 women’s march.
Claeys said she was worried about how Trump’s action would impact her future.
“It’s just the idea that the president is able to try to circumvent power to himself through the government, which isn’t something the Constitution stands for,” she said.
Earlier in the day, at least 40 protesters gathered in the snow outside the Glens Falls office of U.S. Rep Elise Stefanik, a Republican, according to Joe Seeman, an activist from Saratoga Springs.
“Trump has lied thousands of times. His latest lie is the notion that there is an emergency,” Seeman said. “There is just an attack on the Constitution. It’s clear that Congress holds the power of the purse. Trump is trying to circumvent the Constitution.”
Their goal, he said, was to get Stefanik to co-sponsor a resolution with House Democrats to stop the executive order. Seeman said he reached out to Stefanik over social media to meet protesters, but neither she nor her staff showed up Monday.
“Why is she silent about attacking the Constitution? Why is she silent about Trump’s racist scapegoating?” Seeman said.
Stefanik’s spokeswoman responded to the Times Union’s request for comment Monday.
“I remain committed to securing our border and funding our government, and I voted for the bipartisan appropriations package in the House last week that was signed into law by President Trump,” Stefanik said in the emailed statement. “However, I believe that declaring a national emergency will be challenged in the courts. The House needs to work together on a bipartisan legislative solution to fund comprehensive border security.”