tags: Press Releases

Op-ed from Mario Carrillo of America’s Voice: Is my Family American enough for Greg Abbott?

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Washington, DC- Yesterday, an op-ed from America’s Voice’s Texas-based Campaigns Manager Mario Carrillo was published in El Paso Matters, titledIs my family American enough for Greg Abbott?Carrillo challenges Gov. Abbott’s attacks on immigrants and immigration, including his recent mention of a potential challenge to the Supreme Court’s Plyler decision, and raises questions about what his mixed-status family may face in the future.

Key excerpts from the piece are included below:  

“We are what is known as a mixed-status family. I am a naturalized U.S. citizen, born in Mexico and raised in El Paso, while my wife is DACA-recipient, also born in Mexico and raised in Utah. Our daughter is a U.S. citizen by birth thanks to the 14th Amendment, which guarantees her citizenship because she was born here, regardless of her parents’ immigration status. And, she’s not alone. Of the 29 million residents of Texas, there are almost 1,000,000 ​​U.S. citizen children living with an undocumented parent. […]

“You see, to Greg Abbott, my daughter is not deserving of her citizenship. To him, my wife and her family don’t belong in his version of America. If Gov. Abbott had it his way, my wife would be deported back to a country she left more than 25 years ago, and my daughter’s citizenship status should be questioned. […}

“Texas Republicans have made it clear that they intend on attacking immigrants in the state, regardless of the contributions that we’ve made or how long we’ve been here. And Gov. Abbott’s attacks on the children of immigrants proves that Republicans, whose argument has long been that they support immigrants who “do it the right way,” are untruthful, and they don’t care if their policies harm immigrants here legally or otherwise. […]

“The Republican Party is so far gone that even educating the state’s own children, some of whom may be U.S. citizens by birth, is a bridge too far. In a state that wants to force women to carry children to term, without any exceptions, you’d expect them to at least care for the children once they’re born. 

“But no, our leaders only seem intent on appeasing an ever-more extreme base, fear-mongering against immigrants, attacking women and the LGBTQ community, and scoring cheap political points on policies that are wildly unpopular.”