ANOTHER NIGHT OF LIES AND HATE
As we predicted at the beginning of the week, every sentence Donald Trump said about immigrants during his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night included a noun, a verb, and an ugly lie on immigration. His anti-immigrant obsessions, fully embraced by Congressional Republicans, will come at a high cost for all Americans because they intend to gut essential programs to fund the mass abduction of our immigrant neighbors (continue reading on for more on our new #AtWhatCost campaign). Ahead of the speech, America’s Voice released a number of resources, including a fact sheet and cheat sheet, containing important context for media and observers. During the address, Trump reiterated his mass deportation plans without admitting he’s been targeting long-settled contributors and also claimed victory for border numbers that were already falling under former President Biden. “And from ‘invasion’ assertions to blaming migrants for fentanyl, he dusted off his favorite lies to scapegoat immigrants, stoke fear and justify his harmful, cruel, and chaotic policy agenda,” responded America’s Voice Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas. Read more here.
IMMIGRATION AND LATINO LEADERS DENOUNCE GOP’S RACIST ATTACK ON REP. ESPAILLAT
Following Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s powerful Spanish language response to Trump’s address, the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) stated in a social media post, “Democrats literally chose an illegal immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address.” This is a truly reprehensible attack: Rep. Espaillat is an elected member of Congress, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and a longtime naturalized U.S. citizen. As the Hispanic Caucus said, “This xenophobic rhetoric from Trump Republicans proves that you can follow the law, get your papers, become a citizen, get elected to Congress — swear multiple oaths to protect and defend the Constitution — and all you will ever be to Trump Republicans: an ‘illegal immigrant.’” In response to the attack on Rep. Espaillat, immigration and Latino leaders joined together and issued a joint statement calling for an official apology from Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Richard Hudson, NRCC chair. Rep. Espaillat’s story “should be celebrated by Republicans and Democrats alike and serve as a model for the types of journeys that a more functional immigration system would empower if reformed,” said Cárdenas. “If a sitting U.S. Congressman is not American ‘enough’, who is then?” Read more here.
AT WHAT COST?
AV launched a new rapid response campaign called “At What Cost” to bring home to key congressional districts the catastrophic costs associated with President Trump’s dangerous, cruel and chaotic indiscriminate mass deportation and family separation plans. In addition to a digital ad buy, AV is engaging partners and mobilizing a grassroots network to put pressure on Members of Congress to reject these proposals, which seek to make deep cuts to Medicare and food assistance in order to fund the mass detention and deportation of millions of our neighbors. Further, it will disrupt our economy and raise prices of groceries, health care, and housing for all of us, while making us less safe. And did you know that the administration is also diverting DHS resources away from violent criminal and fentanyl traffickers in order to focus on abducting immigrant neighbors who have lived here for decades? And for what and at what cost? “We need common sense policies for a functioning system that is safe, orderly and humane – the policies that Trump and his billionaire friends are advancing are not it,” said Cárdenas. Read more here.
WHEN DISCRIMINATION OUTWEIGHS IMMIGRANTS’ CONTRIBUTIONS
In her weekly column, Maribel Hastings writes that Trump’s desire to purge the nation of millions of immigrant workers who pay into federal, state, and local tax coffers and contribute to Social Security and Medicare proves that his crusade is based on discrimination. Why? Because a real businessman would not discard the billions of dollars that these immigrants contribute to the country’s economy every year. “Common sense suggests that legalizing that workforce would be more beneficial for the economy, but racism outweighs logic in this administration,” Hastings writes. “The facts speak for themselves.” Among those Trump is seeking to deport are TPS holders, who contributed more than $2.2 billion in taxes in 2021 alone. Dreamers, who are also on Trump’s radar, contributed nearly the same amount to Social Security and Medicare. “Time will tell whether, once Trump’s policies harm their pocketbooks and quality of life, his loyal followers will wake up,” Hastings concludes. “Or if their prejudice weighs more than the economic well-being of their families and the country. ‘America is back,’ Trump declared. Back to disgrace.” Her column was also published in several outlets, including La Opinión, Radio Bilingüe, and La Tribuna Hispana. Read her column in English here and Spanish here.
FOLLOW THE STENCH FROM CPAC
How did we know that Trump’s address to Congress would be a racist mess? Well, it’s Trump. But we also saw a preview of it at the recent CPAC. In the past, CPAC at least superficially distinguished itself from the hateful rhetoric of extremists, including by featuring mainstream Republican speakers like then-Governor Ronald Reagan. But it’s now full of white nationalist rot and serves as a testing ground for GOP messaging, writes AV Research Associate Yuna Oh. Importantly, the conference this year proved to be what we predicted a year ago: that white nationalist rhetoric will only get worse with Trump in office. In just one example, at least two featured speakers, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, flashed Elon Musk’s straight-armed gesture that looked an awful lot like a Nazi salute. A different U.S. president might’ve stayed a million miles away from this kind of event, but not Trump, who was its final speaker and laid out his plans to make America white again. If you follow the stink, you’ll know where it’s going. CPAC is exactly the event that must be followed to keep tabs on the further devolution of the Republican Party. Read more here.
WE’LL ALL PAY FOR MASS DEPORTATION
Trump and his allies are cutting Medicaid and SNAP to pay for mass deportation, as well as diverting resources away from going after fentanyl traffickers to focus on deporting our neighbors. This will hurt our economy and make us less safe. Click here to watch our new #AtWhatCost video and demand that Congress stop the chaos.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
Last month, we told you about one of the Trump administration’s cruelest decisions yet: a work stop order halting federally-funded legal services for unaccompanied migrant children, a decision that could have ripped attorneys from 26,000 kids and even forced infants to have to go to immigration court alone. But under intense public blowback – including thousands of letters sent by angered advocates and concerned citizens like you – the administration backtracked. “We are grateful for our dedicated partners, advocates, and community members across the country who raised their voices and demanded that these protections defending unaccompanied kids be restored,” responded Acacia Center for Justice, one of the great organizations that had been impacted by the work stop order. “In less than 48 hours, members of the public sent more than 15,000 letters to Congress demanding our vital work be restored. However, with this stop-work order lifted, our work is far from over – we are in a critical moment to ensure that no child is forced to navigate our immigration system alone.” Click here to read more and find out how you can continue showing up for vulnerable kids.
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