01.19.2018

NEW YORK - In response to tonight's vote to block a funding bill that failed to include critical protections for Dreamers and children, the Center for Popular Democracy released the following statement from Co-Executive Director Ana Maria Archila:

"Today, Republicans have failed in their most basic responsibility to the American people: to keep the government open and ensure that it serves all Americans. 

The Trump shutdown is racism and bigotry at its worst. Make no mistake: this shutdown falls squarely on the shoulders of the GOP. Donald Trump created this crisis by choosing to upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers. Congressional Republicans followed suit by refusing to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program, a program that has been renewed every year without controversy since the 1990s. 

These are unprecedented and cruel moves that our communities will resist with every ounce we have. Countless advocates and organizers, including many of CPD's state partner groups, should be applauded for holding Democrats to the line and standing up for the principles that we hold dear. We will continue to demand a bipartisan deal and resist any legislation that includes any items from Trump's white supremacist wish list - including funding for a racist border wall. 

And while we fight for a solution, we must ensure the shutdown does not throw even more lives into jeopardy - particularly the lives of Puerto Ricans, who are now going more than 100 days without access to electricity, food, water, and housing, thanks to Trump's negligence and cruelty. Congress has completely failed to respond to the largest humanitarian crisis in recent US history with woefully inadequate hurricane relief. Every day that passes is a day that people die from government neglect. The Trump shutdown cannot prolong their pain and FEMA's work must continue uninterrupted.

Every day that goes by without a clean Dream Act and a fully funded CHIP program is a day that puts more than 120 Dreamers in danger and scores of children at risk. Children's health and the lives of young people should never be used as a bargaining chip. We will not bow to the GOP's racist agenda and will accept nothing less than a deal that includes both CHIP and a clean Dream Act. No CHIP, no Dream, no deal."

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Media Contact:
Asya Pikovsky, apikovsky@populardemocracy.org, 207-522-2442