The president’s budget is a statement of principles and priorities, articulating an administration’s vision for the whole of government and a starting place for the annual appropriations process. But the Trump administration’s proposed FY19 budget, released earlier this week, reads like a nightmare for most of us.
The budget includes large increases for immigration enforcement and for the military, and sweeping cuts to education, health care, food assistance, and other valuable social programs that help millions in the U.S.
Lori Fernald Khamala is the director of the North Carolina Immigrant Rights Program for the American Friends Service Committee and also serves as the coordinator of AFSC’s Sanctuary Everywhere initiative.

Maria Alcivar recently served as a Lang Fellow with AFSC’s Immigrant Rights Program in Des Moines. She is currently a full-time student in the Human Development and Family Studies Ph.D. Program at Iowa State.
In his three years in office, President Trump has launched multiple attacks on immigrants and communities of color; supported measures that deepen economic inequality; and has taken steps abroad—and at home—that will make America less safe.