NEW YORK MIGRANT ARRIVALS SPARK RENEWED FOCUS ON POLICY; ABBOTT’S BARRIER LOSES IN TEXAS COURT
Escalating comments from New York City’s mayor on the stresses of migrant arrivals have received both local pushback and sparked much-needed conversations on a solution oriented approach. One solution with wide support is allowing migrants to work and support themselves and their families through an expanded use of Temporary Protected Status. “Ultimately, though, what is needed is a complete overhaul of our outdated immigration system and only Congress can do that,” America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said in a statement on Friday. In further news this week, a judge in Austin ruled that Greg Abbott must remove his dangerous and inhumane floating saw blade barrier from the Rio Grande. Not only did Texas fail to present “any credible evidence” that the buoys blocked unauthorized migration, its debunked legal basis for unlawfully installing the barrier – a supposed “invasion” by migrants – was rebuked by the court. “This is what happens when a dangerous Gregg Abbott nativist stunt meets the rule of law—it’s shut down by an independent federal judge in a well-reasoned opinion,” said America’s Voice Legal Advisor David Leopold. While the court ruled that Texas must remove the floating saw blade barrier by September 15, the fight isn’t over. Abbott has appealed to a conservative appeals court. Read more here.
DESANTIS CONTINUES TO ESCALATE DEADLY APPEAL FOR VIOLENCE
Ron DeSantis has only doubled-down on his recent stump speech pledging to leave Mexican drug lords “stone cold dead,” including selling t-shirts featuring the violent appeal and a new ad that openly calls for violence at the southern border. The ad, released by pro-DeSantis Never Back Down PAC, asserts he’ll “use force” to kill at the border, “no excuses.” This is opening the door to deadly consequences, because the vast majority of fentanyl is smuggled through legal ports of entry by U.S. citizens, not desperate migrant families. Make no mistake: DeSantis is pushing for deadly vigilantism based wholly on racial profiling. “The DeSantis campaign is crossing a dangerous threshold with this campaign message and the tens of millions of dollars behind it,” Cárdenas said. “Regardless of his prospects in the primary, we cannot tolerate this and he must be held to account.” Read more here.
TRUMP AND THE PROUD BOYS, THE DARK SIDE OF US HISTORY
In their weekly column, America’s Voice En Español Director Maribel Hastings and Spanish-language Advisor David Torres write that the line between violent extremists like the Proud Boys, Donald Trump, and the rest of the Republican Party is no longer distinguishable. “In other words, running through the wrong side of history seems to be the destiny of those who have opted to back those that reflect the worst of what one of the most powerful nations in the world has produced, and whose arrogance, narcissism, extremism, and lack of respect for the law have become the new values of their group of idolizers,” they write. Their column was also published at a number of outlets including La Opinión, El Tiempo Latino and La Tribuna Hispana. Read their column in English here and in Spanish here.
RALLY URGES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO PROTECT BLACK IMMIGRANTS
Immigrants and allies rallied outside the White House this week to urge the Biden administration to extend and expand temporary protections for Cameroonian immigrants currently in the U.S. The rally, led by the Cameroon Advocacy Network and local Cameroonian community, urged officials to extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status for Cameroon. Multiple crises have made it just too dangerous for Cameroonian nationals to safely return, advocates say. “Regrettably, the level of violence has been escalating in recent years,” Cameroon Advocacy Network said. By redesignating TPS, the administration could expand relief to more Cameroonians who’ve arrived here since the initial designation in 2021. “Failure to redesignate and extend #TPS4Cameroon would carry dire human consequences for Cameroonian individuals currently residing in the United States,” Cameroon Advocacy Network continued. Read more here.
IMMIGRANT WORKERS DESERVE OUR THANKS EVERY DAY
The nation observed Labor Day earlier this week, an annual holiday recognizing the many contributions of our nation’s workers. Of course, this day can’t be fully celebrated without acknowledging and honoring immigrant workers, including those without legal immigration status. Immigrants are major participants in the U.S. workforce and economy, representing one in six U.S. workers. Without essential immigrant workers, major industries, like agriculture, would collapse. This is true not just on Labor Day, but every day. Click below to share our tweet thanking immigrant essential workers keeping us all safe, healthy, and fed all year long.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
Resilience Force, described by the New York Times as “a nonprofit group that organizes disaster recovery workers and offers them safety training,” was instrumental in helping Florida recover from Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Michael in 2018. But due to fears that its largely immigrant workforce may become entangled in Ron DeSantis’ anti-immigrant S.B. 1718 law, the group does not plan to return to the state to aid in Idalia recovery, the Times reports. “Floridians will need thousands of skilled disaster recovery workers to rebuild their homes after Idalia, but they may not get them,” Resilience Force Executive Director Saket Soni said in the report. “These workers are overwhelmingly immigrants,” he continued. Soni told CNN that these essential recovery workers fear consequences from Florida’s law. “No amount of money would be worth it if it meant they would be incarcerated or deported.” Read more here.
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