In response to the news of the president’s intention to declare a national emergency, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the following:
“The president’s plan to declare a national emergency is gratuitous, legally dubious and reflective of his soft grasp of the facts of governance. In this country, leaders are free to win over public opinion by championing good ideas. The president has done nothing of the sort, first forcing an unnecessary and harmful federal shutdown and now bypassing Congress to make this declaration, all in service of his futile pursuit of a wall that would do little to substantively address the legitimate humanitarian and public safety concerns at our border.
“As I’ve said before, there exists no national security crisis on the southwestern border, and the president’s continued fixation on it represents nothing more than his obsession with an unpopular campaign promise that Republicans and Democrats alike recognize as impractical and unworkable.
“This latest action is a flagrant abuse of power, and his continued flailing over the wall is worse than an exhausting charade at this point; his willingness to stoke fear in our border communities as a show for his political base is actively detrimental to our collective well-being.”