Press Release
Published on March 14, 2019
Washington, D.C.—In response to today’s Senate vote terminating President Trump’s national emergency declaration to pay for a wall at the U.S. southern border, Human Rights First’s Jennifer Quigley issued the following statement:
The Senate stood up to the president today, not because of party politics, but because of common sense. There is no national emergency at the border, there are only men, women, and children seeking our help, fleeing violence and persecution. The United States needs a robust asylum system, not hundreds of miles of steel and concrete.
This administration has worked for two years to systemically dismantle our nation’s refugee and asylum systems. One can hope that decency and logic have finally turned the tide again political grandstanding, and Congress will continue to hold President Trump accountable for his abuses.
Earlier this week, Human Rights First board member Matt Olsen, and retired General Michael Hayden, wrote in Politico that the president’s false emergency at the southern border distracts the American people from real national security threats.
