The only crisis at the border is the humanitarian crisis fueled by the Trump administration's attacks on immigrants, separation of families, and criminalization of asylum-seekers. Yet, Trump—in his crusade for a racist, wasteful, unpopular wall—is now planning to declare a fake "national emergency" to seize broad executive power to circumvent Congress and grab funds from other agencies for his wall. The American public does not want this wall and Congress doesn't want to fund it. So Trump, who has been attacking immigrants as a core part of his governing agenda, is now taking extraordinary action to disregard Congress and the Constitutional balance of power. Even Republicans have said this would be vast overreach. Fortunately, there is a Congressional remedy—under the National Emergencies Act, Congress can vote to cancel the state of emergency. Congress can, and must, act now.

As Utahns, we all know at least someone who has been affected by the increased border protections. No one should have to live in fear of their livelihood or LIVES. We must come together to make our voices heard!

In a stunning revelation, the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says that not only were "thousands" more migrant children separated by the Trump administration than previously known, but that they don't even know how many children were taken away from their families because of failures to track families as they were being separated! To date, no one has been held accountable for this ethical and humanitarian disaster. Instead President Trump continues to demand more funding for the very agencies that separate children as a condition for reopening the government, including demanding funding that would pay for 52,000 detention beds to jail immigrant families, money to hire more agents for separating kids, and even seeking to eliminate protections for asylum seeking kids arriving at the border without a parent! The Trump administration’s policy of purposeful child separation is a moral failure for our nation, inflicting deep trauma on already vulnerable children. Moreover, the anxiety and distrust children suffer when they are institutionalized away from loved ones can cause long-lasting mental and physical health problems, particularly for small children who need personal attention in their formative years. Children who experience extended separation from their parents as a result of incarceration or detention are at increased risk of facing a variety of physical, mental, and behavioral health issues throughout the rest of their lives. In fact, this type of child-parent separation is classified as a specific type of trauma: an adverse childhood experience (ACE). Family detention is not only cruel, but also more expensive than alternatives to family detention, such as the Family Case Management Program (FCMP) that the Trump administration terminated it in 2017. Under the Family Case Management Program, children and their parents were placed into a program that provided individualized family service plans and had a proven 99% success rate ensuring the family attended their hearings. The Family Case Management Program cost only $36 per family per day, in comparison to family detention, which costs on average $798 for a family (2.5 individuals). Take action! Say NO to family separation!

The Trump Administration is purposely choosing to inflict harm on children in a misguided attempt to deter refugees from coming to America. Arresting family members who seek to sponsor the kids. Jailing them indefinitely in violation of current court orders. It was all part of their plan. Senator Jeff Merkley just released a previously-undisclosed memo showing that the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department had outlined the horrific family separation policy back in 2017—despite claims from Secretary Nielsen that there was no plan. This is unacceptable. These are not our American values. Sign the petition and tell Trump: Fire Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

The U.S. government is being threatened with a complete shut down by the Trump administration in order to strong-arm funding for the US-Mexico Border Wall. There is no end in sight for what is essentially a manufactured crisis. If Mr. Trump wants HIS wall SO BADLY that he is willing to hurt his constituents over it; then he should provide all the funding for it.

To stand up for the American people

Because this Seven-Year Old, should have not died in hands of: U. S. Border Patrol Agents. She came to this Country, to make a living!

The Trump administration opened the prison in the Texas desert as a model for a string of prisons it wants to build along our border to house asylum seekers and other immigrants. It has manufactured a crisis by slowing the process of reuniting families, causing thousands of children to be incarcerated for long periods of time. In addition to the threat of deportation for relatives in the U.S., the threat that children will be imprisoned is intended to frighten people from coming to this country in the first place. This prison is a disgrace and is contrary to everything our country is supposed to stand for. If allowed to continue, it would set a dangerous precedent and could lead us in a direction that history teaches us we must not go.

Chicago Public Schools is rushing to set up a new student data platform using Aspen Student Information System by Follett. This includes data about student's citizenship and immigration status which could be misused and pose a threat to students and families, especially since CPS has suffered repeated data breaches. We want the implementation of Aspen halted until these fields are removed and the parties commit to protecting our children, their families, and their communities.

The cruelty is breathtaking. Our country has the capacity and policies in place to process asylum seeking families in a humane manner. Instead, the Trump administration is asking Congress for more money so that they can implement increasingly cruel practices to target immigrants both inside the U.S. and at our border. Nearly 45,000 people per day are held in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - an unprecedented high that is resulting in spending levels above what Congress appropriated in FY18. Additionally, the wall is not just a hateful symbol of exclusion, it would kill wildlife by interfering with migration patterns and with their access to food and water; cause dangerous flooding; cause millions of dollars in damages to the environment and local businesses; endanger the lives of border residents; and stomp on the rights of private landowners resulting in a large government land grab that strips private landowners of their lands. America's families do not want our tax dollars, that could be used to improve our schools, childcare, and health care, being used to carry out the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration. Congress must reduce immigration detention funding, exert oversight over detention practices, and direct the administration to restore less costly, more efficient, and humane community-based alternatives to detention. Tell the U.S. Congress to stand up against these cruel practices and to hold the Trump administration accountable by not financing the administration’s cruelty to immigrant families!

Wayzaro Walton came to Hartford, CT with her family in 1987, when she was 3 years old. Hartford is her home. She doesn’t remember any other place. She went to school at Rawson, at Dr. Martin Luther King, at Quirk Middle, at New Britain High School and Weaver High School. She went to Camp Courant every summer, starting when she was 5 until she was too old. She now works as a chef at a hotel, making breakfast for guests. Wayzaro lives here with her wife Tamika and 15-year-old daughter Azaiyah. They are the reasons she must not leave. In 2011, ICE agents arrested Wayzaro during community service at Hartford Community Court on Washington Street. If her suspended sentence had been one day shorter (364 days instead of 365) none of what followed would have happened. She would not have worn a monitor from 2011 to 2015. An ICE agent would not have confiscated her permanent residency card and her other ID papers. She would not have been required to check in regularly, and endure regular house visits. She would not have been referred to ICE during her check-in last month, when, with no explanation and despite no change in her situation, she got another ankle monitor and was ordered to get a one-way plane ticket to London for December 14. That’s next week. Wayzaro qualifies for a “victim" Visa, and for a petition for permanent residency, because of her marriage to Tamika. Those processes take time. She needs to stay. Her family needs her here. Her community needs her here. We need her here. Stand with Wayzaro and her family and stop this cruel family separation at the hands of the Department of Homeland Security. Tell ICE- STOP SEPARATING FAMILIES! Enough is enough! Hartford Deportation Defense Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance - CIRA New Sanctuary CT Unidad Latina en Acción

We are a family that has been directly affected by the bans put in place under the IRAIIRA of 1996. We need to bring awareness to the government and citizens alike how we are being affected and having to leave our country in order to keep our family together. We have had to give up our lives and our future to exile to Mexico.