Alert: Illegal national emergency declaration
Dear MoveOn member,
Donald Trump just announced that he is declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress and divert billions of dollars to his racist, wasteful border wall.1 We cannot let Trump get away with this dangerous, unconstitutional power grab.
That's why MoveOn is launching rapid-response actions all across the country this coming Monday, February 18. Together, we'll fight back, protesting Trump's emergency declaration, demanding that Congress overturn it, showing solidarity with immigrant communities, and making it clear that this kind of behavior is unacceptable for any American president.
We urgently need to raise $200,000 in the next 72 hours to organize protests across the country this coming Monday. Will you chip in and help us fight back against Trump's undemocratic emergency power grab and his attacks on immigrants?
When Republicans controlled Congress, Trump couldn't get his wall. And when Democrats took back control of the House of Representatives, he shut down the government for 35 days. But he still didn't get his wall.
Now, Trump's taking a page directly out of the classic dictator's playbook and is circumventing Congress and the will of the people by declaring a state of emergency under phony pretenses in order to pursue his aggressive anti-immigrant agenda. If Trump can get away with this, then there are no checks and balances left. He could declare a national emergency to push through any policy he can't get through Congress. We've got to take a stand.
But to pull off this first massive wave of protests across the country, we need to raise $200,000 in the next 72 hours to rent stages and audio equipment, print and ship posters, set up livestreams, and coordinate with MoveOn members and scores of allies all around the country who will lead events in their own cities and towns.
This is a critical moment; our democracy is on the line. Will you chip in $3?
Trump's justifications for declaring a state of emergency to fund his border wall are filled with lie after lie, but they also serve as a convenient cover for yet another one of his desperate lurches toward authoritarianism—and the potential consequences could not be more dire.
The truth is, Trump has used every tool at his disposal to continue his cruel attacks on immigrants and asylum-seekers—from separating families, to tear-gassing asylum-seekers, to detaining children in cages. And now, he's taking his attacks even further and subverting our democracy to do it.
Depending on what kind of state of emergency he declares, Trump could have just opened the door to a set of broad legal powers that have the potential to irrevocably harm our nation. He could use this power to take over internet traffic, block any website he deems unacceptable, stop emails, and even alter search results to only show flattering articles about him and his policies.2 He could even deploy the military within the United States to suppress political protesters.
Congress has the power to overturn Trump's executive order. Democrats, and even some Republicans, have previously spoken out.3 But to get Congress to act, we need a massive outcry. Together, we must demand that Congress reassert control over the budget and take back this illegal authority from a power-mad White House.
MoveOn is ready to do everything in its power to protest this baseless, dictatorial move and demand that Congress and the courts overturn it. But to turn out thousands and thousands of people to protest on Monday, we need your help. Will you chip in $3?
Thanks for all you do.
–Emma, Michael, Elsie, Ilya, and the rest of the team
P.S. Last time MoveOn moved this quickly to launch national actions, we turned out more than 100,000 people at 200 events on two days notice. But putting together events of this magnitude isn't easy, and it isn't cheap. Will you chip in $3?
Sources:
1. "Trump Declares National Emergency to Build Border Wall," The New York Times, February 15, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63552?t=6&akid=227154%2E38417624%2EUTOIME
https://act.moveon.org/go/63552?t=6&akid=227154%2E38417624%2EUTOIME
2. "What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency," The Atlantic, January/February 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/61911?t=8&akid=227154%2E38417624%2EUTOIME
https://act.moveon.org/go/61911?t=8&akid=227154%2E38417624%2EUTOIME
3. "'Dangerous.' 'Abuse.' 'Lawless': Bipartisan attack on Trump national emergency declaration," NBC News, February 14, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63547?t=10&akid=227154%2E38417624%2EUTOIME
https://act.moveon.org/go/63547?t=10&akid=227154%2E38417624%2EUTOIME
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. This email was sent to Alfred Johnson on February 15th, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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