Statement of Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director, National Immigrant Justice Center

The government shutdown is hurting families and communities and must end, but the proposal Trump announced today offers no new relief for immigrants or refugees and would funnel tax dollars to expand detention and deportation systems. The National Immigrant Justice Center calls on Congress to reject Trump's repeated efforts to hold government workers hostage and use people whose Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) he took away as bargaining chips. We stand with United We Dream, Undocublack Network, and the thousands of other DACA and TPS holders who continue to lead the movement to hold the U.S. government accountable to respect human rights, and who have rejected today's proposal.