Washington, D.C. — Former President Trump is continuing his campaign of cruelty against immigrants today, headlining an event at Mar-a-Lago with Border911, an organization led by his former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, and with dangerous ties to conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists.
Today’s event is just the latest in a campaign tour that Trump is using to further scapegoat and dehumanize migrants. According to an ABC News piece:
“… an examination of Border911 by ABC News has revealed extensive ties to prominent conspiracy theorists who pushed false claims about the 2020 presidential election, and has raised questions over whether Border911 is supporting Trump’s candidacy in a way that amounts to illegal intervention in a political campaign.”
“The charity [Border911], a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization…. has been promoted across conservative media, and some high-profile Republicans in Congress, including the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., have publicly offered their support.”
As America’s Voice has noted, Rep. Green, along with several other former Trump officials involved in Border911 have been at the forefront of pushing and promoting the dangerous Great Replacement Theory and were also the architects of some of the most callous Trump immigration policies, including the separation of families at the border.
And as the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Green was also responsible for the sham impeachment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and has continually promoted the dangerous “invasion” rhetoric that has become a staple of Republican messaging.
In response, leading immigrant and progressive advocacy organizations said:
Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, said:
“Donald Trump’s continuous attacks on immigrants and immigration have no bottom. Earlier this week, he demonized immigrants in his speech in Grand Rapids and lied about a family in grief; today, he goes further by embracing the architects of his family separation policies. We cannot become desensitized to the cruelty and ignore the conspiratorial ideas he and his associates keep on feeding to the public, no matter the cost to our society and democracy. America is better than this, and we must unite to resoundingly reject Trump’s agenda and dystopian fantasies.”
Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino, said:
“Donald Trump is doubling down on violence against immigrants as the core promise of his campaign. Beyond his inhumane plans for the border, Trump’s MAGA movement represents a danger to Latinos throughout the country, and we all take very seriously his calls to turn America into a police state with sweeping deportation actions. Latinos recognize this threat, and we will be the decisive factor in the election.”
Sindy M. Benavides, President and CEO of Latino Victory Project, said:
“Trump is a danger to immigrants, Latinos, and our country—full stop. We cannot forget that along with his ICE appointees, Trump led a campaign of cruelty that separated children from their parents in detention centers and locked them up in cages. Trump’s preparing to unleash an immigration agenda that’s far more inhumane and xenophobic than our country has seen in recent years. He’s built his presidential campaign on these promises, and he’s banking on pulling stunts and spewing hateful words at events to rally his base. His actions are harmful and can lead to violence against immigrant and Latino communities. We know where Trump stands, and it’s up to us to reject his anti-immigrant, anti-Latino, and anti-American vision for our country.”
Beatriz Lopez, Deputy Director of the Immigration Hub, said:
“Tonight’s event will reunite the architects of Trump’s ugly family separation policy and include others who will undoubtedly carry out his plans to go even further in 2025, including rounding up and deporting Dreamers and hard-working immigrants in the U.S. And this time around, they are prepared to skirt any accountability. Family separation is integral to their platform — and we should take that as a serious threat to our democracy and to all American families. Donald Trump’s cruelty is completely misaligned with the collective conscience of the American people, who are eager for balanced immigration solutions that prioritize humane border security AND a path to citizenship for Dreamers and long-settled immigrants. This, not Trump’s divisive extremism, embodies the will of the nation.”
