January 08, 2019

Chairman Castro Statement on the Presidential Address on Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, released the following response to the President’s address tonight on the government shutdown:

“The President’s address tonight offered no solutions to reopen the government and just continued to stoke fear about immigrant communities in this nation. Trump’s border wall will not prevent drugs entering through the ports of entry, nor does it adequately address the dire situation at the border. Democrats support smart, effective border security, and the President bears sole responsibility for holding hundreds of thousands of federal workers’ pay hostage in pursuit of his political promises. Instead of spreading lies about uncontrolled ‘illegal migration,’ the President should focus on the humanitarian crisis at the border—with two children dead while in CBP custody—and work to immediately reopen the government. That’s the smart thing to do for U.S. national security and the right thing to do for this nation.”

Background: Tonight, the Congressman sat down with his staff to discuss the President’s address and debunk a lot of the false claims made. You can watch it here.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.