Washington, DC — A memo released this week from America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas makes the case that the “most consequential” immigration storyline this year is “the central campaign promise from Donald Trump to conduct a massive roundup, detention and purge of immigrants who have lived in America for decades, including Dreamers.” The memo is available here: “Memo: Trump’s Mass-Deportation Plan is the Central Immigration Focus of His 2024 Campaign and Should Be Covered That Way.”
As Vanessa Cárdenas notes in the memo, “Trump’s plans for mass-deportation are morally abhorrent, economically devastating, and politically disastrous for his campaign and his party. The more people hear about them – the more they take the threats of mass deportation seriously – the more Americans will be repulsed,” counseling Democrats, members of the media, and other observers to amplify their focus on the intentions and consequences of the Trump mass deportation scheme.
In The Hill, Rafael Bernal highlighted the new memo: “Immigration group to the press: It’s the mass deportations, stupid” (find key excerpts below):
“A top immigration advocacy group is pushing the press to focus immigration coverage on former President Trump’s promise of mass deportations, a series of proposals they say would wreak havoc on immigrant communities and the economy in general.
In a memo to the country’s editorial boards, America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas made the case that coverage should focus on mass deportations because of their potential consequences, but also because of their scope, their unpopularity, and because, she wrote, a mass deportation plan is ready to go on day one of a second Trump administration.
“During an election year with a dizzying volume of immigration news, the most consequential related storyline is the central campaign promise from Donald Trump, which is backed by prominent voices in Congress: to deploy American troops in American communities to conduct a massive roundup, detention and purge of immigrants who have lived in America for decades, including Dreamers,” Cárdenas wrote.
“This mass deportation would rip apart American families, communities, and the economy in a way that impacts people across the country regardless of immigration status or direct connections to the foreign-born. We should take this mass deportation promise seriously and devote renewed attention to this potential catastrophe in the weeks and months ahead.”
For an example of the type of local coverage that we hope to see more of, see this excellent story from Jason Salzman in the Colorado Times Recorder, “Colorado Congressional Candidate Evans Would ‘Definitely Prioritize’ Mass Deportations of Immigrants,” highlighting the mass deportation stance of candidates in a battleground Colorado House race.
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