As Trump spreads lies about undocumented immigrants in an attempt to score political points, it is important to remember that as a business owner Trump has profited from the labor of the same undocumented immigrants he is attacking.
Following revelations by two housekeepers who took on the president and revealed that his company employed and exploited undocumented immigrants, one of those brave whistleblowers Victorina “Vicki” Morales has been fast-tracked into removal proceedings.
Undaunted then and now, Vicki and and a group of undocumented workers went to Orlando, FL in June of last year — on the day that Donald Trump held his reelection campaign announcement event — to remind Americans of Trump’s hypocrisy and what the immigrants are fighting for. On that day, Vicki said: “We are here to show our faces, not just for ourselves, but for the 11 million (undocumented) immigrants who are here in the country.”
Eleven million undocumented immigrants continue to face uncertainty as their lives and livelihoods hang in the balance even as they simultaneously provide this country with essential services, put food on the tables and contribute to the economy. They are also facing a barrage of anti-immigrant campaign ads from Trump as he tries to exploit them for politics just as he did for financial gain.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
The time for choosing is upon us. Vicki Morales possesses all the values of grit, determination and hard work Donald Trump lacks. Like the millions of undocumented immigrants living and working in America, she is more American than he is. She is fighting for justice, fighting for her family, fighting to be formally recognized as the American she already is.
She worked for five years for Donald Trump. She did everything he asked of her. Washed his clothes. Cleaned his house. Took care of his family. Yet Donald Trump and his GOP shock-troop enablers now want to deport this 5-foot tall firebrand. To them, immigrants are simply political pawns, where it is a sport to deport.
The hypocrisy of Trump and the GOP is fully revealed in its mendacity: revile immigrants one day, declare them “essential workers” to fight the pandemic the next; put kids in cages and separate families one day, ask front-line workers to pick our crops, work in the meat plants, assist in deadly hospitals and nursing homes the next.
We have a chance on November 3rd to put an end to the divisiveness and hatred Trump and his enablers direct at immigrants and people of color. It’s time to elect leaders who bring us together to take on challenges and enact breakthrough solutions. When it comes to the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are deeply rooted in American communities, the American public is more than ready for that breakthrough. By a 3 to 1 margin, voters want a policy that creates a roadmap to citizenship for those in the U.S. without legal status.
The choice is clear. And the vast majority of Americans are in favor of Vicki Morales and opposed to Donald Trump.
