AMERICA’S VOICE LAUNCHES MAP TO SHOW SCOPE OF TRUMP’S CRUELTY
This week, as part of our “At What Cost” campaign, America’s Voice published “Trump’s America” map, a resource that highlights the scope and reach of Trump’s cruel and callous immigration enforcement agenda. The map documents the human and economic devastation of Trump’s mass deportation agenda that is searchable by state. View map here. As our Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas said, “Trump’s obsessions are not only cruel, but disrupt our economy, raise prices of groceries, health care, and housing, and make all of us less safe. We must be better than this. Read the accompanying blog from our Editor Gabe Ortiz here.
BELOVED MUSIC TEACHERS MAKES IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE TO LEAVE COUNTRY
As reported in the Washington Post, a music teacher in Northern Virginia here legally under a parole program implemented by the Biden administration has decided to return to leave the country rather than risk being abducted and sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, where hundreds of other Venezuelans have ended up unsure when and if they’ll get out. Jésus Rodriguez made the choice to leave the country rather than risk being separated from his six-year-old daughter. Our Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas summed it by saying, “It is a disservice to countless communities and our nation to push out people like Mr. Rodriguez, who has legal protections but who is so fearful of the Administration’s mass deportation efforts that they are choosing to uproot themselves again and flee again.” Read more here.
AS TRUMP’S DEPORTATION DRAGNET EXPANDS, REMINDERS OF A BETTER WAY
Everyday brings us new reports of Trump’s deportation dragnet expanding into every community across the country, bringing harm and devastation along the way. We at America’s Voice continue to collect these stories of cruelty, and encourage our country’s leaders to find a better way forward on immigration, one that doesn’t target long-settled immigrants, and instead pushes for a path towards legalization. “Americans are recoiling from Trump’s overreach and witnessing his deportation agenda in action, and should be reminded that there IS a better way – legal pathways that would be better aligned with our nation’s values and interests,” said Cárdenas. Read more about the recent reports of ICE activity here.
TRUMP SEEKS “HELP” FROM UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
In her weekly column, America’s Voice consultant Maribel Hastings writes about one of the latest in Trump’s callous efforts of upping his administration’s deportation numbers by offering immigrants $1,000 to leave the country willingly. As legal experts know, there is no precedent for this, and no likelihood that Trump would do right by his promise and pay any immigrant anything, leaving those who choose to leave potentially barred from ever returning to the U.S. As Hastings notes, “Undocumented people who have spent their whole lives contributing billions of dollars to the economy, to the fabric of this country, who work in key industries, and who have citizen children and grandchildren, deserve to be legalized. Not given $1,000 and a one-way ticket to self-deport.” Read her column in English here and Spanish here.
A WIN FOR CHNV PAROLE PROGRAM
In a welcome win for beneficiaries of the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan parole program, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week denying a Trump administration request to stay a district court decision that stopped Trump’s attempt at ending the successful program that has benefitted hundreds of thousands of people who arrived to the U.S. under the program. Karen Tumlin, Founder and Director of Justice Action Center said about the ruling, “Our clients and class members are essential coworkers, life partners, and family members to others in the United States, and they have done everything the U.S. government has asked of them. Now the Trump administration needs to uphold its end of the bargain.” Read the Justice Action Center’s full statement here.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS
This weekend is Mother’s Day! Don’t miss our newsletter this week highlighting the strength, resilience and love that immigrant mom’s express to their children. As our editor Gabe Ortiz says about his own mother, “…when I think about immigrant mothers, I think about my mom, who worked for many years as a housekeeper to support our family. When things feel too difficult to overcome – which can be often these days – I remind myself that I am my mother’s child.” Read Ortiz’s full blog here. We wish all the mom’s and mom figures in our lives a restful and peaceful Mother’s Day!
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