Washington, D.C. — In a campaign speech in Ohio on Saturday, former President Donald Trump said that if he didn’t get elected, “it’s going to be a blood bath for the country.” The former President also referred to migrants as “not people.” This is yet another example of how he intends to weaponize immigration and related fears, lies, and conspiracies to pursue power. His shocking and extremely dangerous language can lead to real-life violence and undermine trust in our elections. In response, leading immigrant, progressive, civil rights, and labor advocacy organizations, said:
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, said:
“Trump’s continuous use of language that devalues the humanity of immigrants is a threat to our democracy and the core of who we are as a nation. This is the same rhetoric that he used to summon a violent mob on January 6 and then recklessly directed them to attack the U.S. Capitol. It’s also the same dehumanization of immigrants that has inspired domestic terrorist attacks like the mass murders at an El Paso Walmart, Buffalo grocery store, and a Pittsburgh synagogue. We cannot become numb to the fact that a major candidate for president relies on lies and dehumanizing immigrants and calls to violence as the bedrock of his campaign.”
Lorella Praeli, Co-President of Community Change Action, said:
“A second term would embolden the MAGA right to continue threatening immigrants and migrants even more than what we experienced in his first term. The only way we can stop the fear-mongering is by turning out to vote and choosing the direction we want our country to take. A multiracial democracy is possible – and it’s on us to build it.”
Bruna Sollod, Senior Political Director at United We Dream Action, said:
“Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric represent the worst this country has to offer and should never become something we normalize. When Trump threatens to carry out mass deportations and chooses violent, dehumanizing language to incite anti-immigrant hate, we must take it seriously. We all witnessed the ways his policies and vitriol-filled statements emboldened white supremacist violence in El Paso to Texas, and Buffalo, New York. We cannot afford to lose this country and ourselves to this white nationalist playbook, nor can we normalize the racist discrimination, inhumane surveillance, racial profiling, harassment, and detention that our loved ones are experiencing in places like Texas and Florida. We call on all people and elected officials across the country to reject these dangerous, white supremacist positions that pose an existential threat to the lives of immigrants and Black and brown people in this country. Together, we must build a government that respects the humanity and rights of all people and push for policies that help all of us.”
Kica Matos, President of the NILC Immigrant Justice Fund, said:
“Trump’s abhorrent and dehumanizing words against immigrants are a clear preview of what we can expect should he return to power: extreme, barbaric treatment of immigrants along with anyone suspected of being an immigrant. During his time in office, we saw children in cages, entire neighborhoods, and communities living in constant fear and abject cruelty at our southern border. We can anticipate much worse from a second Trump presidency. The truth is that immigrants contribute to their communities, pay taxes, and move the country forward. We need to elect leaders who recognize that immigrants are a strength to our nation, and everyone with a conscience must work to keep Trump out of the White House.”
Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino, said:
“As Americans continue to tire of Donald Trump’s antics, his racist rhetoric only gets louder and more extreme as he desperately seeks attention. His words are a reminder to us of the hate they breed in real life — from El Paso to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and all the victims in between of heinous acts inspired by Trump’s charged rhetoric while he was in the Oval Office. Americans are clear on his threat. That’s why we collectively beat him at the ballot box. We rejected his fear-mongering, rage, and chaos. We will do it again. The twice-impeached, four-times indicted former president has no future in our multicultural America.”
Rocio Sáenz, SEIU Executive Vice President, said:
“We are appalled –and sadly not surprised– of the abhorrent and violent language spewed by former president Trump. As we’ve tragically seen, violent language has the potential to impose enormous pain and suffering, and possible death on our friends, neighbors, and co-workers who are immigrants. Our members, many of whom are immigrants, work across all sectors of the economy. They’re the essential janitors who clean the buildings we work in, the doctors and nurses who take care of us when we’re sick, and the home care workers who help our aging loved ones and those with disabilities. Come November, hard working Americans—Black, brown, white, immigrant—will take their demands for good union jobs from the strike lines to the ballot box in 2024 and will do everything in our power to keep Trump and MAGA Republicans from having the last word on who they consider to be ‘people’. We will use our anger and frustration to make real change and elect leaders who will keep all families safe.”
Lindsay Schubiner, Director of Programs of Western States Strategies, said:
“Dehumanizing and violent rhetoric is deeply dangerous—for our communities from El Paso to Pittsburgh to Buffalo, and for our democracy. Trump has led the normalization of bigotry and violence in our politics, but each and every one of our leaders has the responsibility to push back vocally. Trump’s words are a threat to immigrant communities, and they are a threat to the electoral process. We must take him at his word, and take action so that his vision does not become reality.”
