Dear MoveOn member,
I am a proud woman, mother, Muslim, and Palestinian-American, and I have dedicated my life to fighting for justice. And now, thanks in no small part to the work of MoveOn members this past election year, I am also a congresswoman from Detroit.
People like me don’t usually run for Congress—let alone win. I’m the person who carries a bullhorn to a rally. And you can bet that I’m going to do things differently, as I fight day in and day out for working people and communities.
“My name” , I’m writing to you today—on the 34th day of the government shutdown—because we need to rise up, together, to reopen the federal government.
Trump’s fake wall debate has led to a very real humanitarian crisis: People in my own district are begging their landlords not to evict them because Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding is suspended. My neighbors live among the biggest corporate polluters and are wondering—without EPA inspectors on duty—if they’re breathing in dangerous levels of pollution. This is not right.
This shutdown will end only when we take to the streets—and in huge numbers. And that’s why I’m joining MoveOn’s “Shut Down the Wall, Open the Government” nationwide mobilization on Tuesday, January 29. On that day, regular folks across the country will rally at their senators’ offices and closed government buildings to share their stories, speak truth to power, and demand that we, their elected officials, do our jobs.
But for MoveOn to pull off the massive mobilization in every corner of the country, they need to raise $100,0000 by midnight on Friday to pay for signs, sound equipment, airfare, organizers, ads to help turn people out, livestreaming, and more.
Can you chip in $3 to help out?
Together, we’ll show the true costs of Trump and the GOP’s demand for a racist border wall.
Trump had two years to get his useless wall under Republican leadership. Instead, he waited until Democrats took over the House to suddenly create chaos. This is not about an unrealistic wall but political games he likes to play with real people’s lives.
Now, in Wayne County, Michigan, there are low-income families, elderly, and disabled people in 635 housing units whose contracts have expired, with another 267 expiring by the end of February. They can’t fly to Mar-a-Lago to stay warm in the middle of winter. The shutdown has caused HUD to halt health and safety inspections, putting our most vulnerable citizens, yet again, in harm’s way. So many people are suffering due to Trump’s shutdown.
It’s time to disrupt the status quo. We need to take it to the streets—and in a big way. Please, can you chip in $3—or whatever you can afford—to help MoveOn pull off an enormous mobilization in just five days to shut down the wall and open the government?
Yes, Rashida, I’m in! I’ll chip in now.
In this urgent moment, we must speak up, be loud, and be courageous, together. So much is at stake.
Thanks for all you do.
–Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib