FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 21, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) issued the following statement on the numerous executive orders issued by President Trump on his first day in office, including his decree to end birthright citizenship:

“Months ago, Donald Trump promised us he would be a dictator on ‘Day One.’ Having reached ‘Day One,’ and having seen our new president sign numerous executive orders that either override Congress, overrule the courts, or undo the Constitution altogether, it is entirely clear that Mr. Trump has kept his word. With a power no president has ever known before, he has precisely spelled out how he plans to govern in the years to come – and that is by decree. 

“Through his signature alone, Donald Trump has taken executive action that will worsen American lives and worsen America’s standing in our world. Among his many despicable commands, he has resurrected old, failed policies like the Muslim Ban and Remain in Mexico, furthered current anti-DEI and anti-fairness practices, withdrew our nation from the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization, and introduced disturbing new policies like his decree to end birthright citizenship as a constitutionally enshrined protection. 

“I was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn 60 years ago to two Jamaican immigrants. My citizenship is my birthright. If Donald Trump wants to tell me, my family, my neighbors in Brooklyn and across New York and around the United States that our citizenship is illegitimate and we are not proper Americans, then he should expect to hear from the tens of millions of Americans he just disgraced. We are witnessing a shameless abuse of power, and I can say with certainty the immigrant community will not stand by as it progresses further. We will not yield to Mr. Trump’s impropriety, illegality, and cruelty. He will not intimidate us.”

###