Read the letter HERE
Washington, DC — A new letter signed by more than 150 organizations calls on elected leaders to “collectively and forcefully denounce the use of dehumanizing and demagogic rhetoric about immigrants,” noting that “language, such as saying that undocumented immigrants are an infestation, animals, or are not people … are profoundly vile and dangerous words.”
The letter, organized by America’s Voice Education Fund and joined by 153 civil and immigrant rights organizations, concludes by noting, “Immigration is important and demands earnest discussion and debate amongst our public leaders. While vehement policy disagreements are understandable, we implore our elected officials to not only condemn the use of demagogic and dehumanizing rhetoric but to also encourage other public leaders around the country to refrain from using such rhetoric.”
Sent to Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries, the letter is available in full HERE with the list of signatories. Key portions of the letter are excerpted below:
“We, the undersigned organizations, call on our elected leaders to collectively and forcefully denounce the use of dehumanizing and demagogic rhetoric about immigrants and to urge other civic leaders around the country to follow suit. There are very serious dangers of normalizing language, such as saying that undocumented immigrants are an infestation, animals, or are not people. These are profoundly vile and dangerous words. Elected officials and leaders around our country have a responsibility to denounce this dangerous rhetoric whenever they hear it and should never engage in it themselves.
Again and again, researchers have shown that dehumanization is connected to, and a precondition for, discrimination, oppression, violence, and, in extreme cases, murder or even genocide of an outgroup. Dehumanization is often a predictor and a primer of oppression, warming people up to the idea that oppressing another group is acceptable because they are a threat or not fully human.
Saying that immigrants are engaged in a hostile invasion of the United States or that there is a plot by elites to replace ‘real’ Americans with new immigrants is not just wrong; it is dangerous. This kind of rhetoric, when left unchallenged by our highest leaders, has predictable and deadly consequences. The murderers convicted of mass shootings at a Buffalo grocery store in 2022, an El Paso Walmart in 2019, and a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 all claimed they were repelling an invasion of immigrants. This language can no longer be treated as merely harmless words, but rather the kind of rhetoric that all leaders share a responsibility to confront.
Immigration is important and demands earnest discussion and debate amongst our public leaders. While vehement policy disagreements are understandable, we implore our elected officials to not only condemn the use of demagogic and dehumanizing rhetoric but to also encourage other public leaders around the country to refrain from using such rhetoric. We cannot allow prejudiced and inflammatory language to dominate critical policy conversations, nor to threaten the safety and liberty of our communities.”
