In denouncing President Donald J. Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean released the following statement:
“On behalf of our hundreds of staff, thousands of volunteers and supporters, and tens of thousands of clients, the Los Angeles LGBT Center condemns today’s presidential order eliminating the DACA program and calls upon U.S. Congress to take immediate action to reverse this policy change.
“On the heels of the national disgrace in Charlottesville, the millions of people in Texas and Louisiana who are still suffering in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and the thousands of transgender members of the U.S. military who are reeling after their patriotism was rebuked by their Commander in Chief, the President has chosen this moment to end DACA and deliberately cause irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of young people.
“Again this President has targeted some of the best, and most vulnerable, among us: young people who came to America as children and are as deserving of the same rights and responsibilities of all Americans. When this administration tells these young people to ‘go home,’ they are choosing to cruelly ignore the fact that they are already home. And, with an estimated 36,000 LGBT DACA participants, it is a clear message to the LGBT community that we are not part of Trump’s America.
“Today, Trump again told our nation and the world that he would rather be a bully than a leader. Whether this is the result of his personal beliefs, a heartless attempt to score political points with his uncompassionate base of supporters, or thoughtless pandering to the kind of hate groups he supported in Charlottesville is irrelevant. Eliminating DACA will cause great pain to individuals, families, and communities across the country with ripple effects that will devastate this nation. It is irresponsible. It is reprehensible. It is un-American.”
