MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: "Trump approves emergency declaration. "

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

O`DONNELL: Senator Mazie Hirono represents a state where nearly 1 in 5 residents is an immigrant. That leaves about 20 percent of the population of Hawaii at risk of losing their immigration status or having relatives lose their immigration status, because of a new trump administration policy change that could deny Green Cards and citizenship to legal immigrants, if the Trump administration believes that there is any possibility that a legal immigrant might, at any point in that immigrants life, even temporarily, rely on government benefits like food stamps, Medicaid or housing assistance. Senator Hirono said quote "Donald Trump`s so-called Public Charge Rule will directly hurt hardworking families by punishing them for using critical services or discouraging them from accessing these services out of fear." You have seen Senator Hirono in action, challenging Trump administration nominees and Trump administration officials in the Senate Judiciary Committee and now she plans to challenge this Trump administration change in immigration rules and we are fortunate tonight to have her with us to explain how she hopes to do that in the Senate. Joining us now from the only place in the United States where it is still afternoon, Hawaii Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono joining us now from Honolulu. Senator Hirono, I want to get your reaction to the President`s new policy here - the so-called Public Charge Rule, where if you just temporarily for a couple of weeks - very, very briefly fall into using food stamps. He could - that administration could choose to deport you.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): That`s right. This is yet another action in a long line of actions taken by this administration where I have concluded that cruelty to immigrants or migrants is the point of all of these actions. And so, yes, with the Public Charge Rule you have a situation where, not only does this administration want to keep people from coming to our country - minority people - from coming into our country. But those who are here, many of them for many years, paying taxes et cetera, they could face deportation. So needless to say, in a state like Hawaii where there`s a very high percentage - in fact, one out of three people in the State of Hawaii are either immigrants or children of immigrants. So of course the children have a tremendous fear that their parents will be deported under this Public Charge Rule. So it`s having a tremendous negative effect. And I did talk with a program called the Maui economic opportunities office and this is a Community Action Program and some 85 percent of their clients, which number in hundreds and hundreds of people are Maui, will be negatively impacted by this public charge rule.

O`DONNELL: And the AP is reporting their analysis of it, more than $1 billion in taxes annually is contributed by immigrants in Hawaii. And there`s an economic side of this question that the Trump administration seems to ignore.

HIRONO: That`s because they are blinded in their desire to bring about cruelty - to visit (ph) cruelty on immigrants. And you just talked to Congresswoman Perry (ph) about what`s happening on the border. So it`s a long line of actions taken by this administration, and some of them totally gratuitous, Lawrence. There is a parole program for Filipino World War II veterans that was put in place by President Obama. There are everyday fewer and fewer of World War II Filipino veterans. They`ve been waiting for decades to reunite with their children. And this administration even got rid of - wants to get rid of this program which is not hurting anyone. So it`s just cruelty upon cruelty.

O`DONNELL: Well, and along that theme, "The Boston Globe" revealed this week that the administration is trying to end the medical deferred action program. So if your child or someone is having surgery - in this case in Boston hospitals that they were finding, that the administration is actually trying to deport these people.

HIRONO: That`s right. So yet another example and we all saw - I think a 16-year-old boy who is given 30 days to get out of our country. So these are people who are here under a legal waiver to enable them to receive medical help that they would otherwise not get. So this is a death sentence for many of these people. And then you saw the huge ICE raid in Mississippi. Every day, every day this administration is thinking of new ways to previse a cruelty upon the migrants.

O`DONNELL: Senator Mazie Hirono, thank you very much for joining us tonight. I appreciate it.

HIRONO: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source