We cannot allow Trump to undermine our democracy with powers that will send his white supremacist agenda into overdrive.
Tell Congress : Revoke Trump's national emergency and rein in presidential emergency powers.
15/02/2019
Dear friend,
Donald Trump just declared an unconstitutional national emergency based on his own racist and xenophobic lies, threatening the safety of Black communities across the country.
Trump’s declaration of national emergency could cause damage that goes well beyond building the border wall; Trump now has a path to enact his most authoritarian desires and carry out the anti-Black policies he's longed to implement. From following through on his threats to send armed troops to cities like Chicago, to detaining Black activists and journalists, to freezing his political opponents’ bank accounts, Trump can turn our worst fears into reality. Under this national emergency, he could even take control of state voter databases to engage in a massive purge of Black voters.1 2
Trump's latest actions cannot be understated and require an immediate response from lawmakers. Fortunately, Democrats have a powerful legislative tool to stop Trump.3 Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership must move to immediately terminate Trump's declaration.
Trump’s national emergency is an illegal and unconstitutional attempt to seize power from our elected representatives in Congress. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t contain any provision that allows Trump to spend money for purposes not allocated by Congress. Even under the broad powers of a declaration of a national emergency, Trump cannot spend money if Congress hasn’t authorized him to do so, and Congress has expressly refused to fund Trump’s wall. But by declaring a state of emergency, Trump now has access to more than 100 special powers that allow him to override critical civil rights laws - including detaining individuals without a warrant or a trial.
We know that past administrations between the 1950s and 1970s had plans to use national emergency declarations to detain more than 10,000 so called “subversives” — most likely Black, immigrant, Muslim, and leftist leaders. As recently as 2008, the FBI still ran a program that claimed to identify “security threats” to be detained in a national emergency.4 As we’ve seen all to often from historical and modern evidence, “security threat” is code for Black and other marginalized people who organize against injustice.5
However, Congress has the power to revoke Trump's declaration of emergency. But it will only happen if Democrats in the House of Representatives lead the way. If the House acts, then the Senate will be forced to vote as well. That means Republicans will have to go on record with a vote to defend the Constitution and our communities, or will have to endorse Trump's illegal power grab. We must go all in to make sure Congress asserts its authority and immediately votes revokes Trump's emergency declaration.
The stakes for our communities in this moment are high. Every day that Democrats do not push to revoke Trump’s national emergency declaration leaves the door open for him to carry out horrific actions against us.
Until justice is real,
Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Johnny, Future, Mary, Saréya, Samantha, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References :
- "What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency," The Atlantic, January/February 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/121951?t=9&akid=23280%2E1942551%2EImCDMh
- "National Emergencies : Constitutional and Statutory Restrictions on Presidential Powers," Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 14th, 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/121952?t=11&akid=23280%2E1942551%2EImCDMh
- "If Trump Declares An Emergency To Build The Wall, Congress Can Block Him," NPR, February 11th, 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/121953?t=13&akid=23280%2E1942551%2EImCDMh
- "What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency," The Atlantic, January/February 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/121951?t=15&akid=23280%2E1942551%2EImCDMh
- "The Federal Government's Secret War on Black Activists," The American Prospect, April 4th, 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/121954?t=17&akid=23280%2E1942551%2EImCDMh
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.
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