A chorus of top civil rights leaders condemned President Donald Trump for his comments about “shithole countries” Friday, and called on Congress to use Trump’s outburst to pass a clean Dream Act “now.”
“I am condemning in the strongest terms the President’s outburst,” Vanita Gupta, who served as the Obama Justice Department’s top civil rights official and now heads the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told reporters during a press call Friday. “His words were racist, repugnant and reprehensible and they have no place in our political discourse.”
Gupta was joined by a slew of civil and immigrant rights leaders, who called on Congress to pass a fix for DACA and TPF recipients by the Jan. 19 deadline.
Trump reportedly made the vulgar comments during a bipartisan discussion on immigration reform at the White House Thursday. He has denied making the comments, but Sen. Dick Durbin confirmed that he did.
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Jonathan Jayes-Green, the co-founder and director, Undocublack Network said Trump’s comments “reflect a deeply rotten and racist soul.”
Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project called Trump’s policy priorities, as well as his remarks, demonstrative of “a racial purge that this president is calling for.”
The outcry from national civil rights organizations follows a short chorus of condemnations from Republicans and widespread fury from Democrats in Congress who have called Trump’s remarks “vile” and “divisive.”
