Rarely does the Council wade into matters beyond its immediate concern for the human rights of LGBTI people around the world. But we cannot be silent when President Trump’s fixation on a wall of questionable value is having such pernicious impacts – on government employees and their families, to be sure, but also on the performance of critical government roles and functions, including with respect to advocating for and protecting the human rights of people around the world.
Others have spoken of vital domestic government functions for the American people that have suffered during this shutdown, and indeed of the long-term economic and security impacts to our country that mount up every day. We will not repeat those concerns, which we share.
But the State Department’s ability to stand against human rights injustices, and to promote the kind of fair and open societies that are critical to the success of American policies abroad, also are casualties of this shutdown. So is USAID’s ability to implement sound and inclusive development policies. So, too, are international programs of the Departments of Justice, and of Health and Human Services, and of Commerce, all vital to the mission of this Council and to the values of our country. And surely any appeal to common sense would also reveal that these programs are equally vital to our country’s long-term effort to redress the political, social and economic instability that is driving the migration crisis in Central America today.
The President prides himself as an artful dealer. But this shutdown – with his ham-fisted insistence on forcing a policy change that fails to enjoy either public or political support – shows him to be a clumsy blackmailer, and a blunt-edge abuser of constitutional powers. He has given the world a compelling and troublesome image of American self-absorption. And his statements and actions only underscore the absence of American leadership in world affairs, including with regard to the protection of human rights, at the core of American values.
We are open to a reasoned conversation about whether a wall has any place in meeting American security. But we are unwilling to see America, and broader American values and strategic interests, held hostage. We call on those on Capitol Hill who are enabling the President’s shutdown to end their support and put American leadership back to work.
Global Equality Today 