CHAOTIC GOP HOUSE REMAINS A THREAT; BIDEN URGED TO GET IMMIGRATION POLITICS RIGHT
GOP dysfunction and inability to govern or broker real solutions seem likely to continue unabated or get worse, as Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz ushered in the historic removal of California Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. While Republicans have shown little interest in governing, we must remain vigilant, as their focus on extreme and unworkable immigration policy is one of their few areas of intra-party unity. “Such an example is the GOP’s extreme and unworkable HR2 legislation, which would only compound chaos and cruelty and make things worse at the border,” America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said in a statement. Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced a commendable action in extending and redesignating Cameroon for Temporary Protected Status. This expansion of protections allowing beneficiaries to live and work in the U.S. for 18 months stands to protect an additional 7,900 Cameroonian nationals already here. This announcement is the result of tireless work by the Cameroonian community and their advocates. However, other announcements from the administration that it will build miles of new border wall and resume deportation flights to Venezuela have angered and confused advocates and communities and is sowing a contradictory message on immigration. Read our statement here.
DANGEROUS ‘POISONING THE BLOOD’ REMARKS CAN’T BE IGNORED
Speaking to a far-right outlet last week, indicted former president Donald Trump claimed that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.” This is white nationalist rhetoric that authoritarianism expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat said eerily parallels that of Adolf Hitler’s, who claimed that Jewish people were “causing a blood poisoning” of Germany. MSNBC’s Steve Benen noted it’s typical of Trump to attack “those seeking a better life in the United States. But ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ is new.” Mehdi Hasan, also from MSNBC, noted that his tweet alarmed over the remarks prompted a report from The New York Times. “We have seen this kind of toxic rhetoric inspire real-world violence before in places like Pittsburgh and El Paso,” the Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt said in the report. “It should have no place in our politics, period.” The fact that the titular head of the Republican Party is spreading this rhetoric cannot be overlooked, especially when his most fervent supporters continue to commit acts of violence against vulnerable communities.
THIRST FOR REVENGE AND CHAOS FUEL REPUBLICAN EXTREMISM
In their weekly column, America’s Voice En Español Director Maribel Hastings and Spanish-language Advisor David Torres write that Trump is an ex-president “consumed by a thirst for revenge against those who, according to him, ‘stole’ the 2020 election and, therefore, humiliated him. The same thirst for revenge that led Gaetz to present the motion to remove McCarthy. The same thirst for revenge that threatens to continue undermining our institutions and our democracy.” Hastings and Torres add: “In other words, the MAGA side that is behind this whole political soap opera is honoring their leader, Trump, and is an agent of chaos that has shown its incapacity to govern in an effective way.” Their column was also published at a number of outlets including La Opinión, Radio Bilingüe y La Tribuna Hispana. Read their column in English here and in Spanish here.
DRIVER’S LICENSE LAW GOES INTO EFFECT IN MINNESOTA
More than 80,000 undocumented Minnesotans are now eligible to apply for a driver’s license under new law that went into effect this past weekend. While motor vehicle offices in the state are usually closed on Sundays, special hours were offered for applicants to complete their written knowledge tests on the first day of applications. Keren Muñoz was among residents who lined up to take their test. She passed. “I feel very happy,” Muñoz told the Sahan Journal. Driver’s Licenses for All gained broad support due to its wide-reaching benefits. Similar policies have recently gone into effect in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Not only do these laws help keep families together (unlicensed immigrants have been turned over to federal officials and deported after being pulled over for something as minor as a broken taillight), they boost the state’s economy through license fees and greater accessibility to workplaces, and make roads safer for all. Read more here.
WE NEED LATINA EQUAL PAY FOR TRABAJADORAS EVERYWHERE
Latinas embody the entrepreneurial spirit, “creating businesses at a rate six times faster than all other groups, including White men and Latinos,” The 19th reports. However, Latinas still earn only 52 cents for every $1 earned by white men. This includes immigrant working mothers, who already face enough barriers. Latina Equal Pay Day this past week is an important reminder that there is still work to be done to ensure Latinas get the wages – and respect – they deserve. Click below and retweet to show your support for Latina workers on Latina Equal Pay.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) has kicked off a bus tour across the New York Tri-State area to educate workers on new workplace protections announced by the Biden administration earlier this year. The changes by the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security “can potentially benefit thousands of undocumented workers in the region who are confronting abuse at work, including wage theft, verbal and physical harassment, retaliation from employers, & other forms of workplace abuse,” NDLON said in a release. The “DALE A La Ruta” – Get on the Road to Worker Justice bus tour will stop at different job sites, workers centers, and day laborer street corners to meet with workers, facilitate workshops, and educate workers on the policy. Upcoming stops in New York include Portchester, Staten Island, and New Rochelle. Click here for more information.
Not a subscriber to our weekly immigration policy and politics updates? You can sign up right here.
