As America Celebrates Its Ideals, Ask Rep. Valadao why the GOP wants to stop all immigration to America. Immigrants played and continue to play a key role in building our nation.
Washington, DC – After six months of the Republican majority members have vanishingly few accomplishments that substantially improve the lives of the working families in their Districts. For many battleground members, like Rep. Valadao, their votes are not reflective of bipartisan solution-oriented deal making but instead are empowering the vocal extremists and obstructionists in their party. And, it’s Rep. Valadao’s actual votes, not words, that matter and show their true agenda.
With Congress out and Rep. Valadao back home, here are the three questions they should be asked about what they have been up to for the last six months:
- Is there an affirmative vision for the House GOP caucus or, as it seems, is the priority partisan impeachments over baseless accusations and policy disagreements? Rep. Valadao voted last week to advance Rep. Lauren Boebert’s sham impeachment effort of President Biden, which was steeped in nativist, anti-immigration disinformation. While the House majority leadership also wrangles for right-wing media attention in pursuit of a bogus effort to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. This has nothing to do with “high crimes and misdemeanors” and everything to do with ginning up a nativist attack against Democrats. Rep. Valadao already refused to stand up to the extremists in their party on one vote around this baseless impeachment strategy while against US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Where do they stand on these impeachment efforts is more than a reasonable question that should be asked by reporters and constituents.
- What are your plans to move actual solutions that can pass both Houses of Congress forward on immigration or are there just more cruel anti-immigrant show votes on the horizon? Despite the insistent, often apocalyptic, warnings about the dangers of the border, the House Majority has failed to pass any workable reforms to address the challenges at the border that can make it through the Senate. Instead, Rep. Valadao gave a critical vote to the extreme, cruel and unworkable Child Deportation Act (H.R. 2), that was a wishlist of anti-immigration and nativist measures but has no chance of becoming law. Meanwhile, Republicans act like nothing has changed at the border, even as numbers have dropped following the end of Title 42 and are suing to stop the Biden administrations programs that may be helping alleviate pressures at the border. So which is it? Do they want to help their party play politics or do they want to work in a meaningful way to achieve order and legality at the border?
- Republican leaders in the House like Elise Stefanik and Majorie Taylor Greene, among others, have fully embraced white nationalist conspiracy theories that there is an “invasion” at the border. Will Rep. Valadao rebuke and publicly denounce the white nationalism and the great replacement conspiracy theory coming from your colleagues or will they continue to vote to advance these deadly ideas? Unfortunately, we have heard only deafening silence from Rep. Valadao as their colleagues amplify white nationalist conspiracies about “replacement” and a so-called “invasion” – ideas that have inspired multiple domestic terrorist attacks (El Paso, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, among others) and threaten public safety. While DHS has repeatedly warned the most lethal terrorism threat looms from white supremacist domestic extremists, Rep. Valadao’s House majority is helping to normalize their ideas, words and theories. Democratic members, like Rep. Jamie Raskin, have asked for bipartisan efforts to condemn this rhetoric, Rep. Valadao has remained silent. Why?
According to Zachary Mueller, Political Director at America’s Voice:
“Battleground GOP members like Rep. Valadao appear to have remained silent or just gone along and voted the party line as the GOP has drifted farther and farther to the extreme. It is time to call the question. Do you support the extremists to get ahead in the Republican Party or will you stand for the voters of your district? At town halls, parades, meet and greets and press conferences, it is time for constituents and journalists to ask the tough questions.
We know that nationally, extremism on immigration and other issues that your silence emboldens has not delivered votes for the party, but instead has been a liability in the kinds of tough races these members will face next November. Maybe the hope is that voters will forget or not be unaware that their Member of Congress helped advance white nationalist conspiracy theories or that their votes were critical to the passage of cruel anti-immigrant statement bills. But actions, in this case votes and clear statements denouncing white nationalist tropes and calls to violence are what is needed. Rep. Valadao needs to be pressed to answer for their voting history and deafening silence on the deadly white nationalism being amplified from their colleagues.”
