01.26.2019 / Press Release

A Temporary Fix is Not Good Enough

Washington, D.C. – Families USA executive director Frederick Isasi released the following statement about the temporary reopening of the federal government:

“Now that America is again open for business, government employees can return to the jobs that allow them to provide basic staples of health, food, and shelter for their families. Unfortunately, the impact of the shutdown is not over. Already financially-strained health care agencies such as Indian Health Services were devastated by the shutdown. In addition to federal employee families, more than 2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives bore the brunt of President Trump’s choler as did the well-being of migrant families and children who continued to seek asylum in America.

Because Families USA stands on a foundation of bipartisanship, we are glad part of the reopening deal is to form a bipartisan committee. However, the administration’s manufactured crisis about border security caused true crises and played vulnerable populations as pawns.

And on the heels of the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history, we are cautiously guarded about President Trump’s imposed three-week deadline on Congress to resolve this issue. A temporary fix is not good enough. For the sake of America’s families, the administration must be amendable to a permanent, common-sense solution to border security that does not make a game of political seesaw out of the livelihoods and well-being of federal employees and all families in our nation. The Feb. 15th deadline for a resolution is not far off — we will be watching — America will be watching.”

–30–