NYCLU Says President’s Dehumanizing Rhetoric Not Welcome in NY

NEW YORK – As President Trump prepares to visit Long Island Wednesday for a roundtable on immigration, the New York Civil Liberties Union released the following statement from Executive Director Donna Lieberman:

 

“President Trump is shamelessly exploiting legitimate community concern about gang violence in order to sell Americans on his cruel immigration dragnet. New Yorkers aren’t buying it and we reject his racist, fearmongering, and dehumanizing rhetoric. 

 

“On Long Island we have seen the administration leverage fear, overzealous policing and flimsy evidence to indefinitely detain teenagers for supposed gang involvement. This dragnet has ripped children away from their families, and forced many in the community to fear school officials and local police. Across New York we have seen the administration choke off institutions that serve the public like courthouses and commercial bus lines by making them into deportation hotspots.

 

“It is well past time that elected officials and law enforcement reject Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda and stand up for all residents in their communities. Hate is not welcome in New York.”