FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lauren Gray, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
lgray@nclrights.org / (215) 983-3099 

Government Shuts Down as Trump and Senate GOP Reject Bipartisan Solution to Protect Dreamers
NCLR’s Tyrone Hanley calls the shutdown “completely avoidable” and calls for an end to the “cruel uncertainty facing Dreamers”

(WASHINGTON, DC, January 20, 2018)—President Trump and the Senate GOP rejected solutions to protect Dreamers, resulting in a federal government shut down at midnight. Despite broad bipartisan support for Dreamers, the Trump shutdown leaves the lives of 800,000 Dreamers—including 36,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people—hanging in the balance.

National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Policy Counsel Tyrone Hanley issued the following statement in response:

“Trump’s government shutdown was completely avoidable. President Trump and GOP leaders rejected workable solutions to bring the wheels of government to a grinding halt to pursue a cruel, racist agenda.

For months, NCLR has stood alongside LGBTQ and allied organizations, calling on Congress to protect Dreamers from detention and deportation. Just this week, together with 130 other organizations, we sent a letter to Senate and House leaders urgently calling for an end to the cruel uncertainty facing Dreamers.

With President Trump at the helm, there’s a leadership vacuum for which hundreds of thousands of young people are paying the price. And we will continue fighting for them.”

###

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. www.NCLRights.org