Clarke town hall to focus on Trump immigration policy

April 14, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke says she is hosting the town hall to give her constituents the chance to speak out on immigration and other issues. Photo courtesy of Clarke’s office

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Charging that President Donald Trump’s immigration policy “presents an unprecedented threat to the families of Central Brooklyn,” U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke said she will host a town hall for her constituents to discuss how to fight back.

Clarke (D-Central Brooklyn) announced that she will hold a Community Town Hall in East Flatbush on Wednesday, April 19.

The town hall will take place at the New Life Tabernacle, 4905 Avenue D, starting at 6 p.m. The doors will open at 5 p.m.

“Donald Trump presents an unprecedented threat to the families of Central Brooklyn, many of whom are at risk of forced separation as a result of mass deportations, the loss of affordable health care provided by the Affordable Care Act, and the violence that occurs as a result of the trafficking of illegal guns into our communities,” Clarke said in a statement.

Clarke has invited experts in immigration, health care and other areas to speak at the town hall. The main focus, however, is to give constituents the chance to voice their concerns on immigration, health care, gun violence and other issues, according to Clarke’s office.

The discussion is also expected to center on how residents can organize to resist Trump’s policies.

“None of Donald Trump’s policies on these issues has been a surprise. Through the campaign, he pledged again and again to attack our very right to exist in the United States,” said Clarke, who is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants. “Now, in defense of ourselves and our families, we must organize, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to demand our rights. Just as our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers assumed the mantle of leadership in the civil rights movement, today this community must mobilize itself in resistance to Donald Trump.”

The seriousness of Trump’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes came into stark view when immigration agents deported Arizona resident Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a mother of two who had been living in the U.S. for 22 years.

Garcia de Rayos, who was deported back to her native Mexico in February, had allegedly broken the law by using a fake Social Security number to apply for a job.

Residents are urged to register in advance to attend Clarke’s town hall by emailing [email protected].

For more information, call Clarke’s Brooklyn district office at 718-287-1142.