Senator Burr and Deborah Ross polar opposites on immigration
As the Democratic National Convention (DNC) kicks off today in Philadelphia, the contrast between the two parties’ larger visions of America could not be more clear or consequential. The issue of immigration, and the way immigrants are portrayed and featured at the two parties’ conventions underscores this point.
Last week in Cleveland, the GOP adopted Trump’s border wall as their official platform, showing that Trump’s xenophobic, racist, and anti-immigrant rhetoric is not isolated to him but has become the guiding ethos of the Republican Party.
In stark contrast, the DNC kicks off this week with the most progressive platform on immigration in history, which includes support for comprehensive immigration reform, the DACA and DAPA programs, an end to family detention, and the guarantee of legal counsel for Central American refugees. Complimenting this platform is a speaker list that includes undocumented Americans and, for the first time, a DAPA-eligible parent, who will deliver her remarks in Spanish.
These contrasts between the parties are clear here in North Carolina. While Senator Burr, who vehemently opposes immigration reform, is running on an anti-immigrant agenda that includes the deportation of DREAMers and the parents of US Citizens and a ban on Muslims, the Democratic Candidate, Deborah Ross, pledged her support for immigration reform, as well as the DACA and DAPA programs.
“Americans have a clear choice this election between Republicans who see immigrants as the source of all evil and Democrats who recognize that undocumented immigrants are Americans in all but paperwork,” said Tim Eakins, Director of North Carolina’s Voice. “North Carolina voters have the chance this election to defeat Donald Trump and Senator Burr’s anti-immigrant agenda and elect leaders who will embrace our values and our history as a nation of immigrants.”
