Councilmember M. Lorena González (Citywide, Pos. 9), Chair of the City Council’s Gender Equity, Safe Communities, New Americans and Education Committee, issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement about President Trump’s proposed Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship:
“In this Washington, the rule of law is still respected. This President’s intent to unilaterally run afoul of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which grants U.S. citizenship as a birthright for all who are born in the country and its states, is designed to incite his white nationalist base and cannot be tolerated by the people of Seattle.
“The double-speak from Trump is predictable: The President vowed on January 20th, 2017 to preserve, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution yet he actively works to undermine it. This President willfully misuses his office to promote hate, xenophobia, and nationalism over the values that helped guide the birth of this country: self-determination, equality, and justice. This is a ‘dog whistle’ of coded, racist language intended to incite his base while threatening millions of natural-born Americans with having their citizenship taken away upon birth. This Executive Order cannot go unchecked.
“The motto of our country is e pluribus unum; out of many: one. It is pluralism that helped us create a system of checks and balances, grow freedom as a universal value, and ensure there is a space for all of us and our pursuit of happiness. I call upon the great people of Seattle and Washington State to contact your Congressional leaders and call upon each of them to protect our U.S. Constitution to the fullest extent possible under the law.”