San Diego activist groups met at the San Diego County Administration Center Monday to protest President Trump's national emergency declaration.
More than 100 people attended the rally calling the declaration a "fake crisis" to fund Trump's border wall. Protesters brought attention to other crises they said are real, such as gun violence and climate change.
Stephanie Cauchon is a bilingual special education teacher in San Diego who says the real emergency is the way that the Trump administration is treating people of color.
“I’m tired of watching my children, my students, cry because they think our government hates them,” she said.
Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee said there is a humanitarian crisis at the border, but that Trump’s emergency declaration hinges on the idea that people are invading the United States. He said that’s an unfair characterization because the increase in apprehensions involves families.
“Governments should be attending to the needs of migrants, especially those who are seeking asylum and not try to prevent them from their legal right especially when they’re presenting themselves at ports of entry," he said.
Rios said families are more likely to be seeking asylum than single adults. Last month, nearly 60 percent of all border apprehensions were migrants traveling in family units rather than as individuals, according to official government data.
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