GOP 2024 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY IS RACE TO THE BOTTOM ON IMMIGRATION
Indicted former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are currently in a battle over who can be the worst on immigration. But even as both have unveiled cruel and extreme proposals, America’s Voice Political Director Zachary Mueller warns candidates will only get uglier as the GOP primary continues. “I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it,” he tells The Hill’s Rafael Bernal and Julia Manchester. “I think what we’re really going to see is a nativist arms race here, as they move further and further to the extremes over the next year as they compete for these primaries.” Read the full piece from The Hill here.
ANOTHER UPHILL BATTLE FOR MIGRANTS, MINORITIES AND DEMOCRACY
In their latest column, America’s Voice En Español Director Maribel Hastings and Spanish-language Advisor David Torres write that immigrants, minorities, and our very democracy face enormous challenges, from state laws like Florida’s anti-immigrant S.B. 1718, to the recent SCOTUS rulings eliminating Affirmative Action. “Also, we find ourselves on the threshold of another presidential election, where Republican figures like Trump and DeSantis remain at the center of the debate with their anti-immigrant rhetoric and where the Republican Party has normalized it, to the point of appropriating racist discourse once reserved for marginal groups, such as promoters of white supremacist conspiracy theories,” they continue. Read their column in English here and in Spanish here.
EL PASO SHOOTER SENTENCING IS GRIM REMINDER OF DEADLY INVASION LIES
The white nationalist gunman who murdered 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in August 2019 was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences on Friday, after pleading guilty to nearly 50 federal hate crime charges earlier this year, the Associated Press reports. But despite the racist mass killer complaining of a so-called “Hispanic invasion” of Texas, this debunked white nationalist conspiracy theory continues to be mainstreamed by Republicans in the state and across the nation. “Despite the proven real world dangers, they’ve escalated their use of the ‘invasion’ and ‘replacement’ conspiracies in the last four years, seemingly not caring that this rhetoric comes with a body count,” said Mario Carrillo, Texas-based Campaigns Manager for America’s Voice. Read more here.
CELEBRATING PRO-IMMIGRANT WINS IN MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND
Massachusetts and Rhode Island this week implemented laws opening driver’s licenses to eligible undocumented residents. Not only will roads be safer because more drivers will be licensed and insured, but families will now live with greater peace of mind, because even minor traffic infractions have resulted in deportation. “When I began working on the issue over a decade ago, I would have benefitted from this law myself,” said Lenita Reason, Executive Director of Boston’s Brazilian Worker Center. “I am now a naturalized U.S. citizen, and I am proud to say that, starting today, the Commonwealth will be a safer place not only for immigrants, but for everyone.” Read more from Editor Gabe Ortiz here.
THANK YOU, ESSENTIAL IMMIGRANT FARMWORKERS
We hope you had a great July 4th holiday. Here at America’s Voice, we were thankful for the invisible guests at our picnic tables – the essential immigrant farmworkers who helped make our celebrations possible. From delicious summer foods like watermelon, apple pie and corn, it’s all possible because of the skilled labor and hard work of farmworkers. Despite the fact that they feed America, many lack a way to ever become U.S. citizens because they are undocumented. Click and share this graphic from the America’s Voice Digital Team thanking these essential immigrant workers.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
In a historic win for union and farmworker rights, United Farm Workers announced it unionized 500 workers at five apple and vegetable farms in New York State, The Guardian exclusively reported. “It’s the union’s biggest organizing success in years, and the first time the California-based union has organized in the north-east. The New York victories will increase the union’s membership by 8%, with some labor experts saying these successes show new promise and energy in the long-languishing UFW.” The unionization follows recent state law addressing the federal exclusion of farmworkers from unionization rights. The hope is that more states will follow suit. Read the full piece from The Guardian here.
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