FOUR YEARS AFTER DEADLY ATTACK IN EL PASO, EXTREMIST RHETORIC CONTINUES
This week marked four years since the horrific white nationalist-inspired attack in El Paso, which killed 23 people, injured 22 others, and left countless scarred. To remember those affected by this tragedy, as well as call out elected officials and campaigns that continue to mainstream the rhetoric espoused by the gunman, America’s Voice helped organize a press conference with Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and organization leaders uplifting a letter from over 160 groups urging Congressional leadership to take action to root out the use of the same white nationalist “replacement“ and “invasion“ conspiracy theories that motivated the shooter. Representatives from ADL, the National Urban League, SPLC, UnidosUS and Human Rights First spoke of the press conference call. “This rhetoric, and its related dog whistles, dehumanize migrants and asylum seekers, posing them as an existential threat that must be met with violence,” the letter read. It was also published in its entirety by the El Paso Times. Read and listen to remarks from Rep. Castro and organization leaders here.
WHITE NATIONALIST CONSPIRACY THEORIES NOW MAIN TENET OF GOP
AV released updated data and analysis on the dangers of mainstreaming white nationalist conspiracy theories, including startling examples of how this extremist rhetoric is now a centerpiece of the GOP’s policy agenda. We found that over a one year period, elected Republicans or their campaigns employed the white nationalist great replacement conspiracy theory more than 500 times. They’ve done this even as this kind of rhetoric has led to a horrific body count across multiple cities. “Instead of generating a reckoning about the dangers of mainstreaming dangerous conspiracies after the deadly incidents in El Paso, Pittsburgh and other communities across the U.S, too many Republicans have embraced the use of ‘invasion’ and ‘replacement’ conspiracy language,” AV Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said. Click here to read more.
EL PASO TRAGEDY SURVIVORS SAY HEALING REMAINS A STRUGGLE
AV partnered with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso to hold a press call elevating the victims of the El Paso shooting, as well as to contextualize the dangers that continue due to the mainstreaming of anti-immigrant sentiment and rhetoric. The Dallas Morning News’ Allie Kelly was among journalists who reported on the call, and highlighted the emotional testimony of Ana, a survivor. She and her son were shopping for birthday cake ingredients when shots began to ring out at the Walmart. While Ana said she and her family are grateful to be here, without a work permit, they struggle to survive. Advocates from Las Americas discussed how bureaucratic backlogs and arbitrary caps have made special visas for the victims of and witnesses to crime difficult to obtain for El Paso’s survivors. During the call, AV Campaigns Director Mario Carrillo noted that other families are also grappling with cruel policies designed to deter migrants. “We cannot become numb to the cruelty,” he said. Read the full piece from The Dallas Morning News here.
HUMANITARIAN PAROLE FOR CUBAN, HAITIAN, NICARAGUAN, AND VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS FACES COURT BATTLE
In their weekly column, America’s Voice En Español Director Maribel Hastings and Spanish-language Advisor David Torres write that the lack of immigration reform has been limiting how people can immigrate to the US legally. But when legal channels actually are in place – like the recent policy allowing people in the U.S. to sponsor Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals – the GOP immediately acts to block it. “The response is clear: for Republicans, it’s just a political game whose only purpose is to oppose anything that even hints at help for minorities, especially if they come from the Latin American region,” Hastings and Torres write. “For those searching for solutions from a humanitarian perspective, it’s even a matter of life or death, and human lives are exactly the priority.” Their column was also published at a number of outlets including La Opinión, Hoy Dallas and Radio Bilingüe. Read their column in English here and in Spanish here.
TUITION WIN WITHIN SIGHT FOR MASSACHUSETTS DREAMERS
Massachusetts is poised to expand higher education access for young undocumented immigrants who call the commonwealth home. Included in the state’s budget for 2024 is a proposal that will broaden the number of local Dreamers who can qualify for in-state tuition rates at Massachusetts public and private universities. Currently, only beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program qualify for in-state rates. This unfair policy has blocked many Dreamers from their higher education goals, even if they grew up in Massachusetts and were educated alongside their peers. The proposal will likely become reality: Democratic Gov. Maura Healey “has been a strong advocate for tuition equity for Dreamers,” national scholarship fund The Dream.US said. The policy would be an economic winner for the commonwealth, too. Read more here.
FARMWORKERS TAKE THE HEAT SO WE CAN EAT
Even in this extreme heat, farmworkers are outside growing, picking and packaging the food that we all eat. But with no federal heat protections in place, this deadly heat represents an active danger to the men, women, and children – yes, even children – who feed us. While OSHA has issued a number of alerts and guidelines related to heat, it just isn’t enough. Workers need shade, paid breaks, and federal standards that ensure accountability when employers aren’t protecting their workers. Click here to sign and share the United Farm Workers petition urging OSHA to implement immediate heat rules.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
United We Dream Action, Sunrise Movement, Never Again Action, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center have launched a campaign to hold Texas Gov. Greg Abbott accountable for Operation Lone Star and his cruel and inhumane stunts at the border. In his nearly ten years in office, Abbott “has continuously failed our communities by putting his political stunts and thirst for power above the well-being of our people. Just this month, horrific details were revealed about his inhumane treatment of migrants at the border. He ordered Texas troopers to deny water to migrants and push children back into the Rio Grande River.” Click here to read more and demand that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott be held accountable.
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