Thursday, November 1, 2018

Tell Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis: Stop deploying U.S. troops to the border to threaten asylum seekers

Donald Trump is using the military to promote his racism and threaten migrant families.
The petition to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis reads:
"Cancel the deployment of troops heading to the United States-Mexico border."
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
President Trump wants to manufacture a crisis out of a caravan of vulnerable asylum seekers 1,000 miles from the border.1 His goal is to incite right-wing fear and hatred before next week's midterm elections. By sending thousands of troops armed with lethal ammunition to the border, Secretary Mattis is putting migrant families and other vulnerable communities at risk for Trump's political gain.2
Asylum seekers are not a threat to the United States. Trump’s hatred and rising authoritarianism are the real emergency. We must call on Secretary Mattis to end his complicity with Trump's racist agenda now.
Let’s be clear: The United States is not under attack. The families walking from Central America are survivors of deadly state and domestic violence, climate devastation and poverty.3 They are coming to exercise their right under U.S. law to petition for asylum.
But instead of fulfilling his legal obligation to evaluate their asylum claims,4 Trump plans to terrorize migrants with military force. His dangerous ploy is part of a white supremacist agenda that includes banning Muslims, restricting legal immigration, separating children from their families and denying citizenship to children of immigrants born in the United States.5
Escalating the war on migrants is beyond dangerous – especially after a tragic week of white supremacist violence and hate. Jewish elders murdered at synagogue. Black elders murdered at a supermarket. Bombs mailed to Trump's political opponents. It is deplorable that instead of denouncing the white supremacy that fuels these hateful acts, Trump is stoking more fear and violence against migrants.
Further militarizing the border will do nothing to keep our country safe. But it will terrorize and harm vulnerable migrant families and add fuel to the fires of racism and xenophobia.
That's why we are joining with our friends at Win Without War to speak up and prevent Secretary Mattis from enabling Trump’s desperate, dangerous fear-mongering now.
Tell Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis: Cancel the deployment of troops to the border. Click the link below to sign the petition:
- Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action
Add your name:
Sign the petition ►
References:
  1. John Cassidy, "Donald Trump Launches Operation Midterms Diversion," The New Yorker, Oct. 30, 2018.
  2. Ted Hesson and Wesley Morgan, "Trump’s troop deployment to the border comes under fire," POLITICO, Oct. 29, 2018.
  3. Washington Office on Latin America, "9 Questions (and Answers) About the Central American Migrant Caravan," Oct. 22, 2018.
  4. Maya Rhodan, "President Trump Threatened to Turn Back Caravan Migrants If They Don't Claim Asylum in Mexico. That's Not Legal," TIME, Oct. 23, 2018.
  5. William Cummings and David Jackson, "President Trump says he plans to end birthright citizenship with an executive order," USA Today, Oct. 30, 2018.

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