October, 14 2010, 02:05pm EDT
Immigrant Advocates Highlight Efforts to Turn Out Latino, Asian, and Immigrant Voters in Key Battleground States
Nationwide Effort Targets Over One Million Voters in $5.4+ Million Effort
WASHINGTON
Today, leaders from immigrant advocacy and civic participation organizations hosted a press call to highlight "Get Out the Vote" efforts to mobilize Latino, Asian, and immigrant voters in a number of battleground states, in time for the mid-term elections. The leaders discussed how the immigration debate is motivating these voters to head to the polls and provided firsthand accounts from the ground. The $5.4+ million engagement and mobilization efforts are targeting more than one million Latino, Asian, and immigrant voters in at least twenty-three states: Florida, California, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, New York, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Ohio, Wisconsin, Idaho, North Carolina, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Utah.
As several recent polls highlight, the immigration debate continues to be an issue of top concern for Latino voters, a major driver of Latino political engagement and a key point of distinction between the two parties. Latino voters are building upon record levels of participation in 2008 and are poised to make a difference in 2010 and 2012.
Aparna Shah, Coordinating Director of the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV) California Collaborative and a partner in the We Are America Alliance, underscored the commitment she is seeing from immigrant voters this year. "Latinos, Asians, and immigrant voters continue to be driven by isues of immigration, the economy, and education. Since these are the critical themes in this election, our communities in particular will be turning out to make our voices heard."
"From the response we've seen in the Latino community and the impressive numbers of Latinos registering to vote, I believe that our community realizes the importance of this election. With so many issues at stake, like immigration, unemployment, and the road to economic recovery, I think we will see people motivated to participate in the process. Democracia wants to ensure we keep that motivation going up until Election Day and that's why we are involved in a robust GOTV program across the states where we operate," said Rafael Collazo, National Deputy Director of Democracia USA.
As key issues like immigration and the economy continue to lead the debate in states like California, Arizona, and Colorado, advocates hope that this multi-million dollar campaign will help translate Latino and immigrant power at the voting booth into action by Congress. In Arizona and Colorado alone, advocates are targeting 230,000 and 175,000 voters respectively, amounting to approximately 15 percent of the voting populations in the previous primary elections. Given their proximity to the southern border, congressional representatives from these states should be leading the charge to reform federal immigration laws in Congress.
Lynn Tramonte with America's Voice said, "Immigrant voters are Americans by choice. They love this country and are proud to be a part of it. By getting out to vote they strengthen our democracy, and encourage politicians to pass immigration reform that integrates immigrant families rather than demonizes them."
"These grassroots groups will make all the difference on Election Day," said Rudy Lopez, national field and political director for the Campaign for Community Change. "They have the greatest success in turning people out to the polls because people trust them, because they are part of the community and have dedicated years to advocating for the community. Latinos and immigrants represent the fastest growing segment of the voting population. In 2006 and 2008, there were record turnouts amongst these populations. We have no reason to believe we won't beat expectations again this year."
"Latino and immigrant communities that otherwise would not be contacted are engaged in November's elections thanks to the efforts of the coalition," said Ben Monterroso of Mi Familia Vota. "This mobilization is unprecedented in the way it has targeted a majority of the Latino vote that is poised to become the swing vote in numerous states."
The call comes on the same day the Immigration Policy Center released a new report detailing the rise in the number of "New American voters" this cycle-voters for whom the issue of immigration is a deeply personal one, either because they are the children of immigrants or naturalized citizens themselves. Candidates should pay close attention to these numbers, and recognize that adopting an anti-immigration platform will cost them real votes from citizens with a close connection to immigration.
Click here to listen to a recording of today's call: https://americasvoiceonline.org/page/-/americasvoice/audio/GO_TV_press_call_101410.mp3
Read more about Latino voter polling and trends from Latino Decisions: https://latinodecisions.wordpress.com/
Read more about the numbers of New American voters in this new Immigration Policy Center report: https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=j7yeracab&et=1103776477707&s=0&e=001ISjn6n3euAzDbkGMoItHI2o4MzI7mbnrINzuUnxU1QwDrjwUw4Z0M1WQ-lMfn8IID0x0K1OKILtuDRtwEKsH7xnuGomm93NRj76rGSOtdoJZPyTANO7Aei0RKRVTU6bpigwkaCbHCZcU9Wmv2Un4vgzlpkL3MBv7dS1_ELSLtAsQ-1i-xeT6KBvg9l-Q8j
Read more about the role Latino voters will play in the 2010 mid-terms in this America's Voice report: https://americasvoiceonline.org/pages/latino_voter_report
America's Voice -- Harnessing the power of American voices and American values to win common sense immigration reform. The mission of America's Voice is to realize the promise of workable and humane comprehensive immigration reform. Our goal is to build the public support and create the political momentum for reforms that will transform a dysfunctional immigration system that does not work into a regulatory system that does.
LATEST NEWS
Trump Condemned for 'Genocidal' Threat to Destroy Iran
"Trump's threat to blow Iran's largest cities and the country itself 'to smithereens' is an outrageous threat that should be widely condemned," said the National Iranian American Council.
Sep 25, 2024
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's threat on Wednesday to blow Iran "to smithereens" if he returns to power was condemned by a leading Iranian American advocacy group as "genocidal."
Trump—the 2024 Republican nominee—addressed a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday after he was reportedly briefed about alleged Iranian assassination threats against him.
"If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country—in this case, Iran—that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens," he said to raucous applause. "We're gonna blow it to smithereens, you can't do that. And there would be no more threats."
Responding to the former president's remarks, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said in a statement that "Trump's threat to blow Iran's largest cities and the country itself 'to smithereens' is an outrageous threat that should be widely condemned as psychotic and genocidal."
"Just like his threat to target 52 of Iran's most cherished cultural sites, Trump appears disturbingly willing to kill millions of Iranians who have no say over the actions of their authoritarian government," NIAC continued. "These remarks should be disqualifying for a man vying to once again be commander in chief and have sole authority over launching nuclear weapons with the power to make good on his horrifying threat."
"Likewise, we unequivocally condemn any Iranian threats that may be targeted at Trump or former officials," the group added. "Political violence must be rejected and prevented in all forms. Assassinations are a path to war and human suffering, as was demonstrated by the strike on [Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen.] Qasem Soleimani that engendered these threats, and risk further embroiling the region in violence."
Trump ordered the January 2020 airstrike that killed Soleimani in Iraq. He also unilaterally withdrew from the so-called Iran nuclear deal and ramped up sanctions on Tehran, exacerbating Iran's economic woes.
While Trump is known for his boastful and sometimes empty claims, as president he also followed through on his 2016 campaign promise to "bomb the shit out of" Islamic State fighters and "take out their families," resulting in thousands of civilian casualties in countries including Iraq and Syria.
Although Trump often presents himself as the peace candidate, critics have warned voters not to be fooled.
"He's a liar. C'mon, you know he doesn't tell the truth at all," Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—the only member of either legislative chamber who voted against authorizing the so-called War on Terror in 2001—said in a recent interview with The Nation.
"Just look at his record, who he cozies up to in terms of dictators," Lee added. "He wants more investment in the military budget. What his strategy is, is to create a more dangerous world."
Keep ReadingShow Less
CBO: GOP Social Security Plan Would Cut Benefits by Thousands, Not Extend Solvency
"Their goal is to destroy our Social Security system," one advocate for seniors said of Republican politicians.
Sep 25, 2024
Social Security defenders have long argued that former Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the Oval Office could spell disaster for seniors, and a nonpartisan government analysis released Wednesday bolsters their warnings.
U.S. House Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to analyze the impact of raising the full retirement age (FRA) for Social Security from 67 to 69, as various Republican groups have proposed.
"This report shows that raising the retirement age to 69 would slash benefits by an average of $3,500 a year," Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson told Common Dreams. "For seniors and people with disabilities, that means not being able to buy groceries, pay a heating bill, or buy birthday presents for their grandkids."
"This cruel benefit cut would hit those who claim benefits early—largely people who work on their feet, not those who work in offices—the hardest," Lawson noted. "Even worse, it is only one of the benefit cuts that Republicans are backing. Their goal is to destroy our Social Security system."
As CBO Director Phillip L. Swagel wrote to Boyle:
All people affected by such an increase in the FRA would receive a smaller amount of Social Security benefits over their lifetime. Workers who chose to delay claiming their retirement benefits by the same number of months as the increase in the FRA would receive the same monthly benefit for a shorter period. Those workers who claimed retirement benefits at the same age as they would have claimed them under current law would receive a smaller benefit for the same number of years.
In a statement responding to the report, Boyle's office highlighted that "for workers currently in their 30s and 40s who are subject to the full retirement age increase, the average annual benefit cut would be 13%, or around $3,500 a year."
As the congressman's office pointed out, the CBO also found that "though increasing the retirement age would reduce spending, it would not create enough savings to change the expected exhaustion date of the Social Security Trust Fund, which is projected to be unable to pay full benefits by the end of fiscal year 2034."
Boyle and Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have introduced the Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act, which would extend the solvency of both programs by requiring Americans with higher incomes to pay more than they do now.
"Social Security is a sacred promise that after a lifetime of hard work, Americans have earned the right to retire with dignity," Boyle said Wednesday. "This independent, nonpartisan report shows just how devastating Republican plans to rip away hard-earned Social Security benefits would be for American workers."
"Instead of saving Social Security by making the ultrarich pay their fair share, the GOP is hellbent on gutting benefits for the middle class," he warned, specifically calling out the congressional Republican Study Committee and the Heritage Foundation, which is behind Project 2025. "Democrats will never stop fighting to keep the promise of Social Security and defend Americans' retirement security from Republican attacks."
The CBO report comes less than six weeks away from the U.S. general election. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is facing Trump in the race for the White House.
Before President Joe Biden left the contest and passed the torch to Harris, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, National United Committee to Protect Pensions, and Social Security Works Political Action Committee were backing him over Trump. All three groups have endorsed Harris.
"As president, Biden has been an unwavering protector of Social Security and Medicare," Social Security Works president Nancy Altman wrote in a July opinion piece for Common Dreams. "Harris will be as fierce a defender, and she will do more. She will expand Social Security and Medicare and ensure that all benefits will continue to be paid in full and on time for the foreseeable future by requiring billionaires to pay their fair share."
"In stark contrast, Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are a serious threat to our earned benefits and to our families," she stressed, also warning of the GOP's positions on medication prices and tax breaks for the rich. "A vote for Democrats is a vote to expand benefits, lower prescription drug prices, and require those billionaires to start paying their fair share."
Keep ReadingShow Less
After Latest US Execution, Progressives Say 'Abolish the Death Penalty'
"The use of the death penalty in the United States is one of the ugliest stains on our broken criminal justice system," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Sep 25, 2024
Amid a wave of executions in Republican-led states—including Tuesday's lethal injection of Marcellus Williams in Missouri—progressive U.S. lawmakers and groups renewed calls to "abolish the death penalty."
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) were among those who took to social media to demand an end to capital punishment following Williams' execution.
"The use of the death penalty in the United States is one of the ugliest stains on our broken criminal justice system," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). "It is disproportionately imposed against poor people and people of color. We must abolish it once and for all."
Williams, 55, was killed by the state of Missouri via lethal injection—a method known for botched executions—despite serious doubts about his guilt. The office that prosecuted him sought to have his murder conviction overturned and members of the victim's family pleaded for clemency.
"Sometimes injustice is so glaring that it leaves us struggling to comprehend how such events could happen in the first place," Bush said in a statement released after Williams' execution.
The congresswoman continued:
The deadly decision to execute Williams came despite urgent pleas from Missourians and people all across the country... who called for clemency. Gov. Mike Parson didn't just ignore these pleas and end Williams' life, he demonstrated how the death penalty is wielded without regard for innocence, compassion, equity, or humanity. He showed us how the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" can be applied selectively, depending on who stands accused and who stands in power.
"The state of Missouri and our nation's legal system failed Marcellus Williams, and as long as we uphold the death penalty, we continue to perpetuate this depravity—where an innocent person can be killed in the name of justice," Bush stressed. "We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice, and to work towards building a just legal system that values humanity and compassion over criminalization and violence."
"Rest in power, Marcellus Williams," she added.
Williams wasn't the only one executed on Tuesday. Travis Mullis—a 38-year-old autistic man who murdered his infant son—was killed by lethal injection in Texas after waiving his right to appeal.
Last week, South Carolina executed Freddie Owens by lethal injection after Republican state Attorney General Alan Wilson brushed off a key prosecution witness' bombshell claim that the convicted man did not commit the murder for which his life was taken.
Although the number of U.S. executions has been steadily decreasing from 85 in 2000 to 24 last year, there is currently a surge in state killings, with five more people set to be put to death in three states by October 17.
On Thursday, Alabama is scheduled to kill Alan Eugene Miller using nitrogen gas, despite the inmate suffering severe mental illness. Miller was meant to be put to death in 2022; however, prison staff could not find a vein in which to inject the lethal cocktail and his execution was postponed.
That same day, Emmanuel Antonio Littlejohn is set to be executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma, even after the state's Pardon and Parole Board voted to recommend clemency.
According to a 2014 study, over 4% of people on U.S. death rows did not commit the crime for which they were condemned. The Death Penalty Information Center found that since 1973, at least 200 people who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated.
"The only way to eliminate the possibility of executing an innocent person is to do away with the death penalty altogether," the advocacy group Human Rights First said Wednesday.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular