TPS: IT’S A BFD
The Biden administration announced the redesignation of TPS for Venezuela on Wednesday (America’s Voice statements in English here and Spanish here) and the same for Afghanistan the next day. President Biden is responding to calls from advocates, lawmakers, mayors, governors and others, taking affirmative steps to allow immigrants already living here to get permission to work more quickly and protecting them from deportation. Working with partners across the pro-immigrant movement and beyond, AV pushed out messaging intended to encourage the White House, thank them for taking action, and undergird their announcement in the face of withering criticism. In addition to bilingual graphics and blog posts, AV developed a Tough Q&A document for advocates, leaders and talkers to accompany topline talking points developed by the Immigration Hub. “We thank the countless community members, advocates, and elected officials whose tireless advocacy helped push for this important step forward and we thank President Biden for recognizing that using his power to improve lives, strengthen the economy and deliver real solutions is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do,” said AV Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas. Read more here.
THE POLITICS OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS, BORDERS AND IMMIGRATION
The week started with news that House Republicans had agreed among themselves to add some of the worst elements of anti-immigration legislation that passed in May to a short-term government funding agreement, known as a Continuing Resolution or CR. The package would have combined elements of HR.2 – known to Democrats as the Child Deportation Act – and an 8% across the board government spending cut (with some exceptions), which on Monday was hailed as a possible way of uniting the GOP House Conference. Although the deal quickly fell apart, AV immediately framed the move as a recycling of the anti-immigrant side’s “Cruel, Unworkable and Extreme” policies and an unserious attempt to politicize the immigration issue. As the GOP builds towards an October 1 crescendo of their government shutdown effort – and as we prepare for the September 27 GOP presidential primary debate – AV contextualized the “Five Key Immigration and Border Dynamics to Know” in a background memo to press, policymakers, advocates and the public. Read more here.
THE CORRUPT STENCH OF IMPEACHED TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON
Impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remains corrupt, despite the disgraceful acquittal on 16 articles of impeachment by Texas Senate Republicans. From his indictment on felony state securities fraud back in 2015 to searing testimony from former aides at his impeachment trial this month, Paxton’s corruption has always been shameless and on full display. In addition to being arguably the most corrupt state attorney general in the country, Paxton’s also the leading GOP political strategist behind using the courts to further his right-wing, anti-immigrant political agenda. It’s one of Paxton’s handpicked judges that recently issued yet another ruling against the popular and successful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. But when Texas Republican senators voted against removing Paxton from office, despite the overwhelming vote from the Republican-controlled Texas House, it was clear his corruption extended beyond just himself. It wasn’t lost on leading observers in the state. “In acquitting Ken Paxton, Senate Republicans place party over principles,” said the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board. Read more here.
VIOLENCE AND DISINFORMATION ARE LATENT THREATS IN THE 2024 ELECTORAL PROCESS
In their weekly column, America’s Voice En Español Director Maribel Hastings and Spanish-language Advisor David Torres write that “while organizations around the country promote naturalization on the one hand, and voter registration on the other, diverse extremist sectors are also preparing themselves. But in their case it is to intimidate voters and interrupt the course of the democratic process.” They write that the way to combat disinformation is with education. “Therein lies the importance of participating in the democratic process, to protect rights from those who want to undermine them, such as the right to vote,” they continue. “It’s a collective job. Among the millions of people eligible to become citizens, register, and vote there are surely many who arrived in the US fleeing dictators and totalitarian regimes. It’s about trying to keep the seed of hate and extremism from germinating in the nation that continues to be a beacon of hope around the world.” Their column was also published at a number of outlets including La Opinión, Radio Bilingüe, and El Periódico USA. Read their column in English here and in Spanish here.
WHAT TO KNOW AHEAD OF THE NEXT GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
The second 2024 Republican presidential debate is set to take place September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California’s Simi Valley. While candidates will no doubt have plenty of praise for the late president, expect those words of praise to stop when it comes to his stance on immigration. Reagan, of course, passed historic legislation that legalized millions of undocumented immigrants, and frequently spoke of immigration and our history as an immigrant nation in glowing terms. Candidates will instead continue their tone from the first Republican debate in Wisconsin last month, which was to frame the arrival of asylum seekers and migrants through a xenophobic lens in order to falsely pin them as an imminent threat to the nation. Candidates will again do this despite debating in a state where immigrant essential workers have made the agricultural industry and overall economy what it is today. But, of course, GOP candidates prefer a crop of violent rhetoric, not a crop of food put on our tables by hardworking immigrant essential workers. Click here to read more.
FOUR THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT VENEZUELA’S TPS REDESIGNATION
Following the Biden administration’s decision to redesignate Venezuela for TPS, the AV Digital Team created bilingual graphics with four things to know about the announcement, including important information on eligibility criteria for prospective applicants. Click here to read and share our graphic in Spanish, and here to read and share our graphic in English.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
New polling conducted by BSP Research and released by the Immigration Hub, UnidosUS Action Fund and Somos Votantes surveying Latino voters in key battleground states finds that a majority of respondents continue to reject anti-immigrant policies largely pushed by Republicans, and support the Biden administration taking action to protect immigrants ahead of the 2024 election. There was similar good news in polling conducted by Global Strategy Group and released by FWD.us and SEIU, which found that a strong majority of U.S. voters in battleground states support the usage of TPS to “allow immigrants from war-torn countries to live and work in the United States while it’s unsafe to return to their home countries.” It’s further proof that the administration’s recent TPS redesignations aren’t just the right thing to do, but smart politics. Click here to see survey results from Immigration Hub, UnidosUS Action Fund and Somos Votantes, and here to see survey results from FWD.us and SEIU.
Not a subscriber to our weekly immigration policy and politics updates? You can sign up right here.
