This statement is available as a PDF here.
Yesterday afternoon, President Trump asserted that efforts to recruit individuals with disabilities and members of underrepresented minorities to the federal civil aviation workforce contributed to the recent crash at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
This is a lie, and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network condemns this claim along with all efforts to discriminate against the hardworking members of the federal workforce who keep us safe.
This incident is an unfortunate tragedy that is still unfolding. ASAN offers our condolences to the friends, families, and communities of those who have been killed in this unexpected crash. It is disrespectful and dangerous to make claims that blame marginalized communities for this event without evidence. The crash is still under investigation, and as of now, there is absolutely no evidence that anyone with an intellectual or developmental disability, or indeed any type of disability, was involved.
The president is speaking without evidence before an investigation has occurred and is casting blame on minority communities, including people with disabilities. The government owes it to the victims of this crash to instead properly investigate the true causes of this tragedy and prevent future accidents. Its own actions related to air safety, including firing the heads of TSA, Coast Guard, and eliminating all members of the Congressionally-mandated Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and freezing Congressionally-mandated federal hiring of much-needed additional air-traffic controllers should certainly be examined, particularly given that air traffic control at Ronald Regan National Airport was apparently understaffed for their responsibilities the night of the crash.
Rather than discriminating against federal workers on the basis of their race, gender, or disability status and driving qualified personnel out of the government as part of an ideological test, we call on all members of government to do their part to ensure our aviation system has sufficient staffing to keep Americans safe.
Trump’s statements about disabled and minority members of America’s workforce mirror his executive orders directing agencies, including the FAA, to discriminate against people with disabilities and other marginalized groups. Trump has encouraged agencies to discriminate against and sideline members of the federal workforce based on their identities and stripped away or suspended government activities that protect against discrimination.
Some of these discriminatory actions include:
- Improperly firing multiple members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission- the agency that enforces all Americans’ civil rights against workplace discrimination.
- Issuing an executive order to end all Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility activities and suspend all federal employees who served as Diversity Equity and Inclusion and Accessibility officers.
- Issuing an execuitive order directing the FAA to end diverse recruitment and hiring efforts and singling out individuals with disabilities as suspect and subject to replacement
- Issuing an executive order directing federal agencies to discriminate against gender minorities
- Ending an executive order banning discrimination in federal contracting that has been in place since 1965
People with disabilities, including IDD and autism, are hard-working, talented, skilled workers who succeed in jobs consistent with their individual skills and experience. While no one person has the skill set to perform every job, it is unconscionable and illegal to deny people work they are qualified to do because of an unrelated disability. Contrary to the president’s claims, people who work in sensitive positions with specific ability-related requirements, such as air traffic control and piloting, already routinely undergo medical fitness standards that assess their job-related capability. People whose disabilities would limit their ability to do these jobs without risk to the public are not hired for these positions. People who develop new disabilities that would compromise their safe job performance are let go and have to find other lines of work. At the same time, there are more than 45,000 positions at the FAA, covering an enormous variety of responsibilities. Meanwhile, there are more than seven million people with disabilities in the labor force, working across virtually every sector and holding nearly every type of qualification. Claiming that there are no people with disabilities who are well-qualified for any of those jobs would be an insult to the entire disabled community.
Prior to this administration, the federal government has acknowledged for decades that people with disabilities are unfairly discriminated against in ways that have no bearing on our ability to do our jobs. People with disabilities have an unemployment rate that is more than twice that of workers without disabilities. Even when an applicant’s disability is completely irrelevant to their ability to do a job, disabled job-seekers are 26% less likely to be offered an interview. Instead of protecting our community from discrimination and harm, the current president is standing before the nation and openly encouraging -even demanding- it. President Trump’s recent executive orders reinforce discriminatory beliefs about people with disabilities in the workforce by making claims that are based on a political agenda, not facts.
This discriminatory statement must also be placed in the context of this administration’s general approach to disability since taking office–specifically, pursuing deep cuts to the health care and services that people with disabilities -particularly those who struggle to find work- rely on to survive.
- In his first days in office, the President attempted to impose a massive freeze on all federal funding and programs, including countless programs that people with disabilities rely on.
- President Trump and Congressional majorities are planning to seek devastating cuts to the Medicaid program which will devastate access to critical health care and services for members of the disabled community.
- President Trump and members of Congress are also pursuing similar cuts to other critical services such as food and nutrition assistance through SNAP.
- President Trump’s early executive orders also drastically impact housing access to the lowest-income individuals, including many people who face housing discrimination and require affordable, accessible housing to avoid homelessness or institutionalization.
Such actions would be worthy of condemnation coming from any administration. They are even more disturbing coming from a president who allegedly said, in reference to his own disabled family member, that people like us “should just die.” We hope that attitude will not prove to be the guiding principle of this administration’s approach to disability policy. America’s more than 70 million disabled citizens deserve better.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!