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America’s Voice Election 2020 Weekly Digest #9

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Key Immigration Politics Stories

  1. NYT/Siena Finds Overwhelming Public Support for Path to Citizenship in GA, IA, and TX: Read this to find out why Trump’s xenophobia backfires.
  2. Cornyn Con” Continues: Facing a close Senate race in a changing Texas, John Cornyn gets called out for lying about his support for the legalization of Dreamers.
  3. Trump’s Attacks on Rep. Omar Expose an Ugly – and Unpopular – Worldview: A majority of Americans reject Trump’s racism and nativism.
  4. 10 Reasons Why Chad Wolf Should Be Resigning, Not Testifying at His Nomination Hearing: He should be appearing before a judge, not a Senate confirmation hearing.

NYT/Siena polling finds overwhelming public support for path to citizenship in GA, IA, and TX 

  • The New York Times/Siena College released state-specific polling of three purple/red states: Georgia, Iowa, and Texas. Among the results, an overwhelming majority of voters, including Republicans, back citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Furthermore, in each state, voters oppose Trump’s border wall.
    • Georgia: 68-26% support for “providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States.” 82-14% Democrats; 69-26% Independents; 55-39% Republicans. Plus, 44-51% opposition to “building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
    • Iowa: 74-19% support for “providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States.” 90-7% Democrats; 73-24% Independents; 66-28% Republicans. Plus, 44-53% opposition to “building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
    • Texas: 74-20% support for “providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants living in the United States.” 87-9% Democrats; 80-17% Independents; 58-33% Republicans. Plus, 47-48% opposition to “building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
  • These results capture why Trump’s relentless xenophobia keeps backfiring. Remember, in August, Stephen Miller asserted that Joe Biden’s immigration stance would be “a massive political vulnerability.” And the Trump campaign has spent millions in ads attacking Biden for supporting a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 
  • As Frank Sharry stated, “Remember the midterms? Trump’s racial incitement around caravans and criminals led to the biggest midterm defeat in American history … Trump’s relentless reliance on nativism has forced Americans to choose. They have. They stand for an America that welcomes immigrants, puts Dreamers and TPS holders on a path to citizenship, legalizes the undocumented, rewards essential workers, and formally recognizes undocumented immigrants as the Americans they already are.”

“Cornyn Con” continues: Facing a close Senate race in a changing Texas, John Cornyn tries to con voters with his “two-faced, two-step” dance on Dreamers

  • The New York Times article accompanying their NYT/Siena state polling notes, “that a long-serving official such as Mr. Cornyn is not more firmly in control of the race illustrates the increasingly competitive nature of Texas elections and the G.O.P.’s struggles with suburban voters … A significant danger looming for Texas Republicans is that Mr. Trump’s hard-line immigration policies are increasingly out of step with where the state is today, and where it is heading.”
  • No wonder John Cornyn is now pretending he is a champion of Dreamers. We’ve been criticizing him for pretending in a Spanish-language ad that he “strongly supports the legalization of Dreamers” despite voting against bills that legalized Dreamers in 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2018. No doubt stung by being called out, Cornyn is now arguing, in a Texas Tribune interview, that he has “evolved” on legislation for Dreamers: “I don’t think it’s fair to those young people to hold them hostage to a larger deal…I think we ought to do that on a standalone basis, and I’m for giving them a permanent status.” 
  • According to Mario Carrillo, Texas-based Campaigns Manager of America’s Voice: “Why doesn’t John Cornyn just call on Senate Republicans to take the bill up now, and not wait until his reelection to vote on a bill the vast majority of Texans want? The answer is because he’s lying. And he’s been lying to Texas voters for almost two decades. He won’t vote for a standalone bill to protect Dreamers like my wife, who have had to withstand Trump’s attacks on DACA for almost four years. The truth is that Cornyn does not stand with our country’s young immigrants. He has enabled the worst of Trump on immigration and won’t do the right thing. We deserve better than John Cornyn.”

Trump’s Attacks on Rep. Omar Expose an Ugly – and Unpopular – Worldview: A majority of Americans reject Trump’s racism and nativism

  • During a campaign rally near Pittsburgh earlier this week, President Trump said the following of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN): “How about Omar of Minnesota … She’s telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How’s your country doing? She’s going to tell us — she’s telling us how to run our country.”
  • Trump and his Republican allies seem to think that naked appeals to white grievance is the best way to hold onto power. They are wrong. The majority believe racism is a challenge that must be dealt with, sympathize with the Black Lives Matter movement, believe immigrants benefit the nation, and oppose Trump’s cruelty towards immigrants and refugees. Electorally, in tight election races from 2017 through 2019, Trump and the GOP have gone there, fueling racial animus in a desperate attempt to win. In most cases, this reliance on racism and xenophobia has failed and, in many cases, backfired (see here for more).
  • As Frank Sharry stated in response: “Rep. Omar and her family are an American success story, full stop. They fled war in Somalia and spent several years in a Kenyan refugee camp before being granted asylum in America. She arrived in the U.S. at age 13, became an American citizen at 18, and became the first Somali-American elected to a state legislature and then the first Somali-American Member of Congress. She was duly elected by the citizens of her district. This is an inspiring story that all Americans should be proud of. But Trump and his Republican allies seem to think that naked appeals to white grievance is the best way to hold onto power. They are wrong. His presidency has forced a reckoning in America on racism and xenophobia. And Americans have chosen.”

10 Reasons Why Chad Wolf Should Be Resigning, Not Testifying at His Nomination Hearing: 

  • Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee this week for his official nomination hearing. 
  • We prepared a list of 10 reasons why Wolf should be resigning rather than sitting for his nomination hearing:
    • Illegally appointed and serving unlawfully. 
    • Playing a key role in family separation v1.0 and v2.0.
    • Openly defying decisions by the Supreme Court and other federal courts regarding the reinstatement of DACA.
    • Actively seeking to downplay Russian interference.
    • Personally presided over DHS deployment to Portland.
    • Using cover of COVID to shut off virtually all immigration and asylum to America.
    • Continuing ICE raids during pandemic.
    • Spreading COVID throughout detention facilities and deporting the virus internationally.
    • Presiding over deaths, abuse, and dehumanizing horrors in detention facilities.
    • Facilitating the failing and corrupt border wall.

Racist Campaign Ad of the Week (from our newly remodeled site, 2020 Ad Watch)

  • Team Trump: The campaign spent the last week trying to pivot to a newer xenophobic attack on Biden for supporting a the 700% increase in refugee admissions. It is worth noting the increase is more of a restoration to trends before the Trump Administration gutted the program. The Trump campaign turned this attack into a wildly racist and xenophobic ad singling out Yemen, Syria and Somalia and suggests theses refugees will bring new COVID-19 infections. And at his rallies in the last week, Trump has encouraged boos at the mention of Rep. Ilhan Omar when he launches this attack.