(Trenton) – Responding to President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration so that he can redirect taxpayer dollars to fund a wall along the southern border, that he promised his far-right base Mexico would pay for, Assemblywoman Annette Quijano released the following statement today:

“Today, President Donald Trump declared of a state of emergency on the southern border that includes directing $8 billion to build a wall. I strongly believe this is a blatant abuse of presidential power. This ‘emergency’ is manufactured, artificial, unnecessary and obscenely expensive.

            “Gun violence is the nation’s actual emergency. Assaults by firearms kill 13,000 Americans every year. There has been roughly one mass shooting per year since the Columbine tragedy in April of 1999. In recent mass shootings, over 200 people lost their lives at Sandy Hook, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the church in Sutherland Springs, the concert at Mandalay Bay and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. It should be noted that none of the shooters in these tragedies was an undocumented immigrant. They were all American citizens born in the United States.

            “It is for the aforementioned reasons that I plan to introduce a resolution urging the president to declare gun violence a national emergency.”