Monterey protest against border wall emergency declaration

An estimted one hundred people in Monterey protested President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, Monday.

This was part of a series of protests held around the country.

The protestors were rallying against President Trump’s use of the declaration to fund his border wall. They tell KION there is no emergency on the border.

“Declaring an emergency and immediately saying it’s not an emergency and he decided to do it. I think that’s an illegality right there,” said rally organizer Michelle Raine.

Protester Demetrio Pruneda says “he (President Trump) has been talking about an emergency for the last 5-6 months, so it’s not an emergency. If there was an emergency, he would have declared that five months ago.”

KION spoke over the phone Monday with Monterey County Republican Party Chairman Jeff Gorman. He says they support the President’s concern over illegal immigration at the border and how he is handling dangerous drug cartels.

Regarding the national emergency declaration, Gorman says other Presidents have used the process in the past, and the money being discussed is not that much when you look at the federal budget.

“I look at this as truly a national security concern in the sense that our country is really not very secure from some of the matters that we are facing. We are not in control. It is very clear,” Gorman said.

California has announced they will sue the Trump administration over the emergency declaration. President Trump has said that the funding was needed to build his proposed and promised border wall, with Congress’ compromise bill setting aside less than two billion dollars. This declaration could allow for the federal government to use an estimated six billion dollars from other programs to fund the wall.