AMERICA’S VOICE WELCOMES WALZ AS VP CHOICE
This week, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz, a former high school teacher and congressman currently in his second term as governor has helped usher in a progressive agenda that benefits all working Minnesota families and a style of governance that rejects the right-wing lie that pro-immigrant policies come at the detriment of U.S.-born Americans. America’s Voice highlighted his immigration record here and in a longer piece here. In a statement, AV Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said that from defending Dreamers and making roads safer by delivering on driver’s licenses for eligible undocumented immigrants, Walz stands to be a strong partner to Harris. “As an organization whose ‘candidate’ is immigration reform and fighting for an America that recognizes immigrants and immigration as a strength, we welcome the selection of Tim Walz as vice presidential nominee,” Cárdenas said. “This choice again demonstrates why the contrasts and stakes in this election go beyond the policy realm and straight to fundamentally different visions for our nation and our future as a multiracial democracy.” Read more here.
NATIVIST UK RIOTS A REMINDER OF THE VIOLENT EFFECTS OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT RHETORIC
Last weekend, nativist riots broke out across the United Kingdom following disinformation spreading online and organized anti-immigrant bigotry on the ground. The ugly and violent scenes that played out the same weekend that marked five years since the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, are a dual reminder of the violent downstream consequences of nativist disinformation. AV has been closely tracking the mainstreaming of the white nationalist replacement conspiracy theory that inspired the El Paso attack and is increasingly concerned that nativist disinformation spreading online boosted by American political leaders will lead to more political violence like is playing in the U.K. “A similar toxic brew of online disinformation, organized anti-immigrant forces, and dehumanizing nativist rhetoric from political leaders that fed the violence in the United Kingdom over the weekend is boiling here at home,” said Senior Research Director Zachary Mueller. “We must take these two points of nativist political violence as an urgent reminder to switch course in the national conversation about immigration and immigrants.” Read more here.
HARRIS-WALZ: EMBRACING WHAT IS RIGHT WITH AMERICA FOR A CHANGE
In her weekly column, America’s Voice consultant Maribel Hastings writes that it is undeniable that the introduction of the Harris-Walz ticket is generating enthusiasm among the Democratic base and other Americans who fear a second Trump administration. “There are echoes of Barack Obama’s rise in 2008, with his message of Hope and Change,” Hastings notes. “The Philadelphia rally to welcome Walz evoked memories of the enthusiasm that gripped the nation 16 years ago. And that stands in contrast with the Trump-Vance team — their negative, dark, divisive, and apocalyptic message and their extremist and retrograde rhetoric and proposals that have only intensified.” Hastings points to Trump’s recent, chaotic interview with the National Association of African American Journalists, where he despicably questioned Harris’ very identity as a mixed-race American. Trump has also tried to distance himself from the dystopian Project 2025, but the two remain inextricably tied. “It remains to be seen how the positive vision of the Harris-Walz duo, with her contagious laugh — criticized, of course, by Trump — his joviality and charisma, and their common sense and inclusive proposals stack up against the retrograde and extremist vision of the Trump-Vance team,” Hastings concludes. “On November 5th, the voters will have the last word.” Her column was also published in several outlets, including La Opinión, El Diario NY, and Radio Bilingüe. Read her column in English here and Spanish here.
USA OLYMPIC TEAM’S IMMIGRANT ROOTS SHINE BRIGHT
Immigrant roots run deep in the talented and decorated USA Olympic Team. “An analysis by George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research found that 3.7% of athletes on this year’s US Olympic team are foreign-born, while more than 7% are children of immigrants or second-generation immigrants,” The Guardian reported. Among them is gymnast Paul Juda, a son of Polish immigrants. Last week, he and his team won a bronze medal, marking the first time the men’s gymnastics team won an Olympic prize in over 15 years. Paul’s parents initially enrolled him in gymnastics because of his high energy level. However, as a teen, he soon began to show real talent and won a full gymnastics scholarship at the University of Michigan. But Paul’s mom said he didn’t make it to sports stardom alone. It took a community that gave Paul rides and offered moral support when his parents had to work. “He’s not at the Olympics because we moved to the United States,” she said. “He’s at the Olympics because we moved to the United States and met wonderful, wonderful people who helped us.” Read more here.
WALZ OFFERS COMMON SENSE ON IMMIGRATION
As an organization that advocates for immigrant rights and a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million, we’re excited to see the selection of Tim Walz for vice president. He will bring common sense solutions to the table and will stand up to the anti-immigrant cruelty. Click here to learn more about Tim Walz’s immigration record and then share.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Bend the Arc, HIAS, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Presente.org, Southern Poverty Law Center, Western States Center and America’s Voice have released a new report exposing the normalization of deadly and antisemitic “great replacement” and “invasion” conspiracies within the 118th Congress. The “Bigoted Conspiracy Caucus” report documents the historical roots and shocking, widespread promotion of this once-fringe conspiracy theory by members of Congress, including top GOP leaders. It also underscores the alarming rise of racially and politically motivated extremist violence animated by these conspiracies, including in El Paso, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. ”Congress adopting an anti-democratic conspiracy theory rooted in white nationalism and antisemitism is a serious and urgent problem,” said Vanessa Cárdenas. “As this new report documents, anti-semitism and white nationalism rooted rhetoric is not an isolated problem, but rather a feature of the 118th Congress. We call on all Members of Congress to denounce and stop using bigoted conspiracies.” Read the full report here.
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