In the latest episode of our podcast, we spoke with Yaheiry Mora, Director of CASA in Action. Last fall, Republicans tried to use Trumpist, anti-immigrant messaging in the campaign for Virginia governor — and it backfired horribly. That route has also failed to work in numerous races around the country this year. Yet Republicans have made it clear that this is the strategy they’ll be pushing in the midterms this November. (Interview starts at 14:10.)
Some children who have been separated from their families have been reunited, but they’ve brought back horror stories of how they were treated in detention, including drinking toilet water, wearing soiled underwear for days because they weren’t allowed to go to the bathroom, being leered at while they showered, and more. And at this point, it seems to be ICE bureaucrats who are deciding which families get to be reunited — despite the court order telling the Trump Administration that all separated families must be.
There’s a special election in Ohio’s 12th District, and a Paul Ryan-affiliated superPAC is running anti-immigrant ads against Democrat Danny O’Connor, even though that’s what failed earlier this year against Pennsylvania’s Conor Lamb. And DHS chief Kirstjen Nielsen yesterday doubled down on Trump’s infamous Charlottesville comments from last year, prompting us to ask her if she’s cowed by Trump, too much of a careerist to know what’s right, willfully blind, or all of the above.
“A is for America” is a podcast which tells stories from the front lines of a changing America. Each week, we’ll be talking to advocates and experts working in immigration reform, immigrants’ rights, immigration politics, and the forefront of what it means to be a new American. Tune in next week for more.
https://soundcloud.com/aisforamerica/episode-20-yaheiry-mora-casa-in-action