THE HIGH COST OF NATIVISM
Nativism has a clear negative impact on the economy, as employers continue to face challenges finding workers and the U.S.-born population ages. Opposition to asylum, refugees and visas for workers and families – and backlogs in processing – combined with opposition to legalizing the 11 million or so undocumented workers already living here, all serve to put the brakes on a growing economy. Bloomberg took a deep dive on the shortages in the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus state of Iowa, where candidates’ immigration rhetoric conflicts with the labor needs of the state, noting “[t]heir messaging could deepen a rift in Iowa’s GOP electorate, with some business-minded, traditional Republicans seeking new workers to fuel economic growth while others embrace former President Donald Trump’s more nativist stance.” Said America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas: “The GOP and their private sector supporters want to have it both ways: demonize immigrants and stop immigration, while declaring they need more immigrant workers…It’s way past time to drop this nonsense and do some actual work in Congress to fix our broken immigration system.” Read more here.
GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CALL FOR BOMBING MEXICO (SERIOUSLY)
With the first Republican presidential debate just days away, candidates have been previewing their “border security” talking points in an attempt to win the night. One talking point heavily pushed by candidates including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is an attempt to pick a fight with Mexico with talk of bombs, drone strikes and unilateral military campaigns under the misguided excuse of combating fentanyl. Like we’ve said over and over again, the fentanyl crisis is very real but has nothing to do with immigration. This dangerous and violent saber-rattling, threatening deadly military strikes on our neighbor and ally could worsen the cooperation necessary to tackle this drug crisis. “Instead, the rhetoric is designed to compete for the attention of a radicalized base where the thinly veiled calls to violence are the point,” said AV Political Director Zachary Mueller. Read more here.
CHILD’S SENSELESS DEATH SYMPTOMATIC OF OVERALL CRUELTY BY GOP
Over the past weekend, we were gutted to learn that a child aboard a bus of migrants sent by Gov. Greg Abbott as part of his cruel and likely illegal Operation Lone Star scheme died heading from Texas to Chicago. Jismary Alejandra Barboza González, who had been traveling to the U.S. from Colombia with her family since May, would have turned four-years-old next week. At least one other child had to be hospitalized immediately after an Abbott-sponsored bus trip last year, and now another has apparently perished. These tragedies are symptomatic of the overall mistreatment of migrants by Abbott and Republicans. “Let’s be clear. Our state’s policy choices, led by Gov. Abbott, are inflicting harm on people, including toddlers,” said Mario Carrillo, Texas-based Campaigns Manager for AV. “My heart breaks at the report of another avoidable loss of a child due to the inhumane policy. Operation Lone Star is not working, and only fuels relentless attacks on immigrants.” Read more here.
BORDERLAND DEATHS HIT TRAGIC HIGH
July was one of the deadliest months for border crossers in more than a decade, consultant Clara Trullenque said in this week’s news video from America’s Voice en Español. Trullenque said in the Spanish-language video that 42 people died in July, succumbing to intense temperatures and other harsh conditions in the southern desert. 109 migrants have died in 2023 so far, a reminder that the dysfunction of our out-of-date immigration system continues to have deadly consequences. Click here to watch and share this episode of Mini Cápsulas Informativas de America’s Voice en Español.
PEOPLE WALK TO AMERICA
Douglas Rivlin, Director of Communication for America’s Voice and America’s Voice Education Fund, visited southern Mexico and Guatemala this past June as part of a solidarity trip organized by the Quixote Center. The solidarity trip visited a number of shelters that serve some of the thousands of migrants making their way north to the U.S., oftentimes on foot and through dangerous regions notorious for rugged terrains and kidnappings. Rivlin met a number of men, women, and children who shared their stories of leaving everything behind to seek safety and opportunity, as well as the local workers and volunteers who on shoestring budgets run vital facilities offering food, showers, clothing, medical care, and some rest for weary but hopeful souls. “The trip renewed in me a sense that there are ways to solve our immigration and asylum problems if we keep working at them,” Rivlin wrote. Read more here.
DACA TURNS 11
This past week marked 11 years since eligible Dreamers could sign up for the popular and successful Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Over the past 11 years, its allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants to work legally and pursue their education goals, including our very own Yuna Oh, Political Associate here at AV. “Despite the uncertainty of my life in the United States, DACA gave me stability and a better quality of life,” she said. “Without DACA, I wouldn’t be at the stage of my life today.” Click below to share our tweet celebrating DACA recipients and 11 years of success stories.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
Our friends at Justice Action Center are sharing a video featuring Valerie, a Florida teacher who is fighting to sponsor her brother and nephew under the parole program for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants. But their reunification is under threat due to a GOP-led lawsuit. She’s now an intervenor in Texas v. DHS. “I love the poem that’s under the Statue of Liberty because it embodies what we represent in the United States,” she said. “#FreedomToWelcome means helping.” Click here to watch Valerie’s message and support the parole program for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants.
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