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Stop Trump's fake emergency

This is from CREDO - Tim

Trump's national emergency is completely manufactured. The only crisis on our southern border is the one that he has spent the last two years creating. But that doesn't make it any less dangerous. Declaring a state of emergency gives Trump access to more than 100 special powers that allow him to override the laws that protect our civil rights and civil liberties and unleash a range of nightmarish scenarios at the border and in communities across the country.1
Under a state of emergency, Trump can:2
  • order the military to round up immigrants or stop protests in American cities.
  • order the killing or indefinite detention of people he designates as enemies.
  • freeze assets and block financial transactions of people who hire, house, or provide paid legal representation to asylum seekers.
  • block access to websites and social media tools or disrupt email communication.
The idea that emergency powers invite abuse against communities of color is not hypothetical. Franklin Roosevelt used these powers to round up U.S. citizens and residents of Japanese descent in internment camps.3 George W. Bush used them to engage in warrantless wiretapping and deportation that particularly targeted Muslim communities after the 9/11 attacks.4 Under Trump, we can be sure that emergency powers will again disproportionately target communities already most at risk of surveillance, law enforcement abuse, incarceration, deportation and racist scapegoating – in particular, immigrants, Muslims, and Black and Brown people.
Congress has the power to revoke Trump's declaration of emergency, but it will only happen if Democrats in the House of Representatives lead the way. If the House acts, then the Senate will have to vote as well. That means Republicans will have to go on record with a vote to defend the Constitution and our communities or endorse Trump's illegal power grab.
Please call our representatives in Congress and ask this of them:

I ask that (name) publicly oppose Donald Trump’s fake emergency. I also ask that she/he support a resolution to immediately terminate the state of emergency. In particular you can ask your Representative to support Representative Castro's pending legislation to halt the emergency.

Thanks

Tim
Central Minnesota Political

 PS. The Atlantic has a long article on what this could mean.  It expands upon the points above: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/

Collin Peterson  202-224-5641
Tina Smith 202-225-2165
Amy Klobuchar 202-224-3244 or 888-224-9043

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