‘Shooting Immigrants in the Legs’ is Appalling and Horrific Statement from an American President
The Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) issued this response to a news story that claims President Donald Trump suggested immigrants who cross the border should be shot in the legs. The alleged statement from the president was published in a new book called Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration, by reporters Michael Shear and Julie Davis, based on interviews with a dozen unnamed sources.
Fernando
Garcia, BNHR’s Executive Director:
“To suggest that someone who is trying to cross the border should be shot in the legs is such an appalling and disgusting statement in itself, but to have it come from the man who sits in the highest office of this country is mind-blowing and shows us how far from normal we’ve veered.
People who come to this
country are only looking to feed their families and flee violence and
situations beyond their control. To suggest that attempting such a
life-affirming step deserves this kind of punishment is horrific.
Just a few weeks back, a white supremacist
espousing Trump’s rhetoric opened fire and killed 22 people at a local Walmart.
The president incites violence among his followers and has no regard for human
life. This is the sort of language he traffics in. We pray that immigrants and
everyone who lives along the border remains safe from rogue vigilantes stirred
up by Trump’s words.
We also hope border enforcement officials, and those who deal with immigrants day-in and day-out, will continue to exercise professionalism in their duties and follow the law, not the unhinged words of the president.”
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The Border Network for Human Rights, founded in 1998, is one of the leading human rights advocacy and immigration reform organizations in the U.S. BNHR has over 7,000 members in West Texas and Southern New Mexico.
