Washington— Barely had President Donald Trump finished his nine-minute Jan. 8 speech, his first such prime-time televised event from the Oval Office, on what he called a “crisis” on the border. , that Catholic groups and others began to tear apart his arguments.
In statements by e-mail, via Twitter, in Facebook posts that followed one another overnight, they denounced his words as inflammatory and untruthful and called on him and Congress to find different solutions to the problems country’s immigration policies, especially those that don’t involve building a wall and instead include more compassion.
Trump said the wall, whose lack of funding triggered the ongoing partial government shutdown that began at midnight Dec. 22, was needed to keep drugs and violent immigrants out of the country, which he called it a “humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border”. .”
“Over the years, thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who entered our country illegally and thousands more lives will be lost if we don’t act now,” he said.
About drugs, he said: “Our southern border is a pipeline for large quantities of illegal drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90% of which flood our southern border.”
Fact-checkers from various news organizations were quick to point to research, including a study in the journal Criminology, which showed ‘undocumented immigration does not increase violence’, most drugs come to states -United by existing border crossings, so no more walls or barriers. building would not stop their transport. The Center for Migration Studies, a think tank in New York linked to the Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles, popularly known as the Scalabrinians, released information from one of its studies in 2016 that showed the number of “without papers in the country”. fell to 10.8 million, a new low.”
On Twitter, the Sisters of Mercy quickly responded, “President Trump’s speech tonight was another, in a long list of speeches, rooted in untruths, fear and division.”
They noted that the speech comes as the Catholic Church in the United States celebrates National Migration Week, Jan. 6-12, to support and pray for immigrants, refugees, victims and survivors of trafficking. human being.
“It is especially disturbing that a speech of this nature comes as the church recognizes #NationalMigrationWeek, a time to reflect on the desperate and heartbreaking circumstances faced by migrants, immigrants and refugees,” the Mercy Sisters tweeted. after the speech.
“Neither continued government shutdown nor a declaration of national emergency to fund a wall will fix years of failed US immigration policy or improve America’s role in the root causes of migration. “, wrote the Mercy Sisters in a response published shortly after the speech. . “Make no mistake, there is a humanitarian crisis at the border, but that is one of the causes of the Trump administration. A crisis where asylum seekers are forced to wait in dangerous and unsanitary for weeks while their asylum claims are assessed and decided.”
The next morning, without referring to the speech, a Texas border bishop, Daniel Flores of Brownsville – who is facing a dispute with government officials seeking to inspect church property to build a wall there – tweeted that “mothers and children are fleeing from very criminal elements who we ourselves recognize pose a mortal danger. Aren’t we able to support a response that both protects the vulnerable and holds back the threat?”
More directly, Donald Kerwin, executive director of the Center for Migration Studies, urged the president and lawmakers to examine the conditions of persecution and violence in the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. . That, he said, is where this administration and Congress should focus and instead address the causes that drive people up.
“A series of measures aimed at deterring these vulnerable populations from fleeing their country, including family separation, mandatory detention, zero tolerance and denial of entry at the border, undermine their legal and human rights, guaranteed by domestic and international law,” Kerwin said. said.
“They give themselves up to Border Patrol agents seeking protection, they are not trying to enter the country illegally,” he said. “The administration and Congress should act to end these inhumane policies and provide protection for vulnerable women and children.”
Instead of shutting down government above a wall, Kerwin continued, Trump and Congress should enact a legislative package granting permanent status to those benefiting from Deferred Action for Childhood and Newborn programs. temporary protected status, “immigrant populations who have built stock in our nation.”
But neither the wall nor any other proposals to curb immigration put forward by pro-immigration supporters appeared to gain traction after the speech. As the president and lawmakers met Jan. 9 to try to find common ground, reports surfaced of what went wrong.
Democrats said Trump slammed his hands on a table and walked out during the talks. Late in the afternoon of Jan. 9, the president tweeted his account of meeting top Democrats, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
“I just walked out of a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a complete waste of time,” Trump tweeted. “I asked what will happen in 30 days if I open things up quickly, are you going to approve border security that includes a wall or a steel barrier? Nancy said, NO. I told the goodbye, nothing else works!”
