UPDATED: Feb. 19, 2019 at 11:41 p.m.

Local politicians and activists gathered Monday outside the federal courthouse in downtown Syracuse to protest President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency.

About 40 people attended the protest, which was organized by the CNY Solidarity Coalition, Workers’ Center of Central New York, the Syracuse Peace Council and the Syracuse Immigrant Refugee Network. Protesters called the national emergency “manufactured” and criticized Trump for diverting resources from other programs to pay for a United States-Mexico border wall.

Dana Balter, a former congressional candidate, spoke at the rally. Balter said building a border wall is not part of a “serious conversation” about border and national security. She unsuccessfully ran against Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) for New York’s 24th Congressional District seat last year.

“Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis, created one where none existed, using propaganda to stoke fear,” she said.

Balter said Trump’s border wall is an “unconstitutional power grab.” Congress has the power to determine government spending, but Trump went around Congress by declaring a national emergency, she said.

Congress passed a spending bill on Thursday to keep the government open until Sept. 30 — without allocating the $5.7 billion Trump requested for a border wall. About $1.4 billion was allotted for 55 miles of fencing, according to CNBC.

The Trump administration is pulling a total of $8 billion from previously allocated funds to pay for barriers along the border, The New York Times reported.

Roger Misso, a former naval aviator and organizer for Veterans Organize CNY, said at the protest that the Trump administration is diverting funds from military infrastructure projects to pay for the wall. Of the $8 billion being redirected for the wall, $3.6 billion will come from military construction projects, according to the The New York Times.

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Housing developments for military service members and families across the U.S. have major issues, like black mold and rodent infestations, Misso said. He said the Trump administration is hurting military families by redirecting funding that was intended to improve military infrastructure.

Misso said Monday’s protest outside the James M. Hanley Federal Building was his first protest since retiring from the military.

“I have fought for a long time against all enemies foreign, and I am proud to stand with all of you today against all enemies domestic,” Misso said.

Syracuse Common Councilor At-Large Khalid Bey also attended the protest. Bey talked about the danger posed by the emergency powers Congress has given the president. He said Trump’s declaration of a national emergency shows why the emergency powers should be reconsidered.

“A lot of these issues, for him which start out as a joke, are done at the expense of a lot of people and unfortunately a lot of small children,” Bey said. “From my perspective, the real emergency is in our White House.”

Syracuse Common Councilor at-large Khalid Bey criticizes President Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers: pic.twitter.com/gdGcVwipqf

— Casey Darnell (@caseydarnell_) February 18, 2019

Ursula Rozum, an activist with the Syracuse Peace Council, said Trump’s declaration of a national emergency along the southern border directs attention away from “real emergencies” in communities across the country.

Several of the protesters’ signs listed what they considered to be real emergencies: that one-half of Syracuse children live in poverty and the 100 gun-related deaths that occur every day in the U.S.

About 40 people attended the protest. Hieu Nguyen | Staff Photographer

Julio Urrutia, an organizer for the CNY Solidarity Coalition, said Puerto Rico has still not received proper humanitarian aid from the U.S. government.

“They are vilifying our sisters and brothers coming here to flee violence,” Urrutia said. “They dehumanize our sisters and brothers who are coming here seeking safety and a better life. We can’t allow them to control us by fear.”

Rebecca Fuentes, lead organizer of Workers’ Center of Central New York, is the daughter of immigrants. When her family moved to California, her mother worked on a farm and as a housekeeper, Fuentes said.

“The wall is nothing but a monument to the racism of this country,” she said.

Fuentes said she went to a Trump rally in 2015 where the then-presidential candidate said Mexico was going to pay for the wall. She said Trump has lied and manipulated the American people, and now their tax dollars are paying for the wall.

“As long as we don’t stop the reason why people are coming here, people are going to risk anything — they’re going to risk their lives to come to a better place,” Fuentes said.

Fuentes repeated the bulk of her speech in Spanish. She urged those at the protest to continue organizing against the Trump administration.

When she finished, the crowd yelled “No más!”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Roger Misso’s title was misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error. 

Published on February 18, 2019 at 10:33 pm

Contact Casey: casey@dailyorange.com | @caseydarnell_