Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) demanded on the House floor on Wednesday evening that President Donald Trump re-open the federal government and end his quest “for a racist and cynical big wall” at the border.
Omar blasted Trump for creating a “manufactured crisis designed to distract us from the instability and dysfunction that rules the Trump White House.”
“I demand that the president end his temper tantrums and quest for a racist and cynical big wall,” Omar said. “And I demand that he work with us to reopen the government before any more damage is done.”
She accused Trump of orchestrating the “shutdown because he’s looking for someone else to blame for the ineffectiveness of his administration.”
Omar added that even if the “debilitating shutdown” ends, “our federal government will still be operating at less than full capacity so long as we have an ineffective, ego-driven president at the helm.”
As a Somali refugee, Omar said she understood the violence the migrants in the caravan are fleeing and called on Trump to enact immigration policies that “extend humanity and compassion” to migrants and refugees.
“If the president wants to have a real conversation about border security, we are ready to have it,” she said, adding that “we don’t need a government shutdown to do it.”