On his first day back in office, President Trump issued a series of executive orders resuming his administration’s weaponization of the U.S. government to attack immigrants and asylum seekers.
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy issued the following statement in response:
"Today, we should have been celebrating the legacy of one of the greatest leaders of civil and human rights in the United States, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Instead, President Trump marked his first day back into office with the familiar cruelty and dehumanization that pits communities against each other and stokes fear against marginalized groups. This tired rhetoric, now paired with the full force of the Executive Branch and Congress, will unleash profound suffering on our longtime immigrant neighbors and people who have arrived more recently to seek refuge.
"President Trump’s executive orders continue his campaign to dehumanize immigrants and punish people who have come to the United States in search of refuge. Many of the orders violate U.S. and constitutional law. Yet immigrants are not the only people in our country who the president has targeted. The administration also has rescinded protections and enacted policies that will harm people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and Indigenous identity, and issued additional orders that will aggravate the climate crisis. We must all recommit to supporting and defending each other.
"NIJC and allies across the country will be fighting back. We will continue to work to extend access to legal counsel to as many people as possible, defend rule of law and due process by challenging illegal policies in federal court and defending law that holds the federal government accountable, and never lose sight that our communities are stronger when we welcome immigrants and ensure access to justice for all."