SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Demonstrators gather in Lafayette Square during a demonstration organized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) protesting President Donald Trump's declaration of emergency powers on February 18, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
Nationwide Rallies Denounce #FakeTrumpEmergency and President's Anti-Immigrant Agenda
Rapid-response mobilizations refute Trump's assertion of an emergency at the southern border and denounce administration's xenophobic agenda
Feb 17, 2019
Hundreds of rallies are underway in communities across the nation on Monday to show widespread rejection of President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration--an "illegal power grab," say critics--to fund his proposed racist border wall.
As of this writing, there are over 260 events planned in 47 states, with most actions kicking off at noon local time. Organized by a large coalition of groups--including MoveOn, CREDO, Win Without War, United We Dream, Indivisible, the Working Families Party, Greenpeace, and others--the rolling actions are a rapid-fire response to the president's Friday declaration, and are meant "to fight Trump's fake crisis and racist deportation force."
Click here to find a President's Day protest near you.
"The protestors," say organizers, "will share their vision of an America that welcomes people seeking asylum and stands with immigrant, Muslim, and Black and brown communities. People are ready to demand an end to the fake emergency, the racist wall, and Trump's harmful deportation force."
The nationwide events come as a wave of lawsuits challenges the emergency declaration.
The ACLU was swift in its announcement of intent to sue, doing so on Friday. "Let's get something straight upfront," wrote the organization's deputy legal director, Cecillia Wang. "There is no emergency. Members of Congress from both parties, security experts, and Americans who live at the border have all said so. What the president is doing is yet another illegal and dangerous power grab in service of his anti-immigrant agenda."
In addition to the rights group, environmental advocacy organizations as well as a number of states have vowed legal challenges to the emergency declaration.
"The only emergency here is Trump's assault on the Constitution," said Brian Segee, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. His organization along with Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit on Saturday, calling (pdf) the proclamation "unlawful on its face."
"Separation of powers is at the heart of our democracy and the power of the purse is a critical check on the president. Trump's authoritarian attempt to build his destructive border wall is a flagrant abuse of that constitutional structure," Segee continued. "If he gets his way, it'll be a disaster for communities and wildlife along the border, including some of our country's most endangered species."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Hundreds of rallies are underway in communities across the nation on Monday to show widespread rejection of President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration--an "illegal power grab," say critics--to fund his proposed racist border wall.
As of this writing, there are over 260 events planned in 47 states, with most actions kicking off at noon local time. Organized by a large coalition of groups--including MoveOn, CREDO, Win Without War, United We Dream, Indivisible, the Working Families Party, Greenpeace, and others--the rolling actions are a rapid-fire response to the president's Friday declaration, and are meant "to fight Trump's fake crisis and racist deportation force."
Click here to find a President's Day protest near you.
"The protestors," say organizers, "will share their vision of an America that welcomes people seeking asylum and stands with immigrant, Muslim, and Black and brown communities. People are ready to demand an end to the fake emergency, the racist wall, and Trump's harmful deportation force."
The nationwide events come as a wave of lawsuits challenges the emergency declaration.
The ACLU was swift in its announcement of intent to sue, doing so on Friday. "Let's get something straight upfront," wrote the organization's deputy legal director, Cecillia Wang. "There is no emergency. Members of Congress from both parties, security experts, and Americans who live at the border have all said so. What the president is doing is yet another illegal and dangerous power grab in service of his anti-immigrant agenda."
In addition to the rights group, environmental advocacy organizations as well as a number of states have vowed legal challenges to the emergency declaration.
"The only emergency here is Trump's assault on the Constitution," said Brian Segee, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. His organization along with Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit on Saturday, calling (pdf) the proclamation "unlawful on its face."
"Separation of powers is at the heart of our democracy and the power of the purse is a critical check on the president. Trump's authoritarian attempt to build his destructive border wall is a flagrant abuse of that constitutional structure," Segee continued. "If he gets his way, it'll be a disaster for communities and wildlife along the border, including some of our country's most endangered species."
Hundreds of rallies are underway in communities across the nation on Monday to show widespread rejection of President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration--an "illegal power grab," say critics--to fund his proposed racist border wall.
As of this writing, there are over 260 events planned in 47 states, with most actions kicking off at noon local time. Organized by a large coalition of groups--including MoveOn, CREDO, Win Without War, United We Dream, Indivisible, the Working Families Party, Greenpeace, and others--the rolling actions are a rapid-fire response to the president's Friday declaration, and are meant "to fight Trump's fake crisis and racist deportation force."
Click here to find a President's Day protest near you.
"The protestors," say organizers, "will share their vision of an America that welcomes people seeking asylum and stands with immigrant, Muslim, and Black and brown communities. People are ready to demand an end to the fake emergency, the racist wall, and Trump's harmful deportation force."
The nationwide events come as a wave of lawsuits challenges the emergency declaration.
The ACLU was swift in its announcement of intent to sue, doing so on Friday. "Let's get something straight upfront," wrote the organization's deputy legal director, Cecillia Wang. "There is no emergency. Members of Congress from both parties, security experts, and Americans who live at the border have all said so. What the president is doing is yet another illegal and dangerous power grab in service of his anti-immigrant agenda."
In addition to the rights group, environmental advocacy organizations as well as a number of states have vowed legal challenges to the emergency declaration.
"The only emergency here is Trump's assault on the Constitution," said Brian Segee, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. His organization along with Defenders of Wildlife and Animal Legal Defense Fund filed suit on Saturday, calling (pdf) the proclamation "unlawful on its face."
"Separation of powers is at the heart of our democracy and the power of the purse is a critical check on the president. Trump's authoritarian attempt to build his destructive border wall is a flagrant abuse of that constitutional structure," Segee continued. "If he gets his way, it'll be a disaster for communities and wildlife along the border, including some of our country's most endangered species."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.