Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece said she supports President Trump’s forthcoming temporary suspension of immigration to the United States.
Trump announced he would be signing an executive order this week that is expected to put a 60-day ban on immigrants seeking permanent status in the U.S. Alveda King, the director of Civil Rights for the Unborn at Priests for Life, said she agrees with the order, arguing that it will help the U.S. become healthier and stronger amid the coronavirus.
“I agree with President Trump,” King told Just the News on Tuesday. “Now, this is a temporary measure. This is not a forever measure.”
“So, the president, when he says ‘America first’ — he never says ‘America only,’ just ‘America first,'” she said. “Immigration slows for a time. Then we become healthier. Then we can reach out to others. That is the strategy. So, people need to understand that. We’ve got to strengthen our own borders, our own lives, our own families, our own communities. Once we do that, then we can help others.”
Just the News reported that the U.S. Civil Rights Commission under the Obama administration showed illegal immigration negatively affects blacks and asked King if the U.S. should consider immigration control a civil right.
“Civil rights, I would not say — I think more it helps human rights. It helps Americans to get better,” King said. “Civil rights, of course, come after human rights, and human rights are endowed by our creator. So, there are some rights, human rights, that we all have. And I believe we all have rights all over the planet to safety, security, provision, and all of that. When that is missing, it is wise for leaders of any nation to stop, take toll, repent, pray, return to God, and get things straightened out.”
On the topic of immigration, she added, “During her lifetime, my aunt Coretta Scott King spoke about immigration coming in, and it would displace ‘negroes,’ or blacks, as we were called back then. And she even wrote about that. My uncle, Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke about immigration as well.
“My father, the Rev. A.D. King, with all of us having the understanding this nation was founded by immigrants, as it is today,” she continued. “We had the Native Americans here before we were here, of course. So, we are all immigrants. … Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Well, we may have come out on different boats, but we are all in the same boat now.'”
