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make the road action
Immigrant Rights Group Gives Harris Its First-Ever Presidential Endorsement
"Former President Trump and extremist politicians have promised mass deportations, the erosion of fundamental rights, and four more years of white supremacist ideology," said the head of Make the Road Action.
Aug 15, 2024
Facing the specter of draconian policies including mass deportations of undocumented immigrants under a potential second term for former U.S. President Donald Trump, a major progressive Latine-led advocacy group on Thursday announced its first-ever general election presidential endorsement, for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Our democracy is at a crossroads. Former President Trump and extremist politicians have promised mass deportations, the erosion of fundamental rights, and four more years of white supremacist ideology," said Theo Oshiro, executive director of Make the Road Action, in a statement announcing the group's endorsement.
"In the face of this assault on freedom, equality, and dignity, Vice President Kamala Harris is the clear choice for voters this November," Oshiro continued. "This election is about our collective vision of what this country can become. We are working toward a future where all people have the freedom to stay with their loved ones, the freedom to transform their lives, and the freedom to thrive."
"That vision is only possible under a President Harris," he stressed. "We will fight to ensure that she is elected and will hold her accountable to deliver for immigrant and working-class communities."
Latine Americans could play a decisive role in key swing states including Nevada, where they make up nearly 1 in 5 of all voters, and Pennsylvania, where an estimated 615,000 Latine residents are eligible to vote. President Joe Biden won Nevada by fewer than 50,000 votes in 2020 and Pennsylvania by 80,000 votes.
Human rights defenders fear a second Trump term could be even more harmful to undocumented immigrants than his previous White House tenure, during which the Republican president—who launched his 2016 campaign by calling Mexicans rapists and drug dealers—enacted policies including ramped-up deportations; migrant family separation; imprisonment of children in cages; and banning people from several Muslim countries, Venezuela, and North Korea from entering the United States.
"I firmly believe this endorsement marks a pivotal moment for our membership," said Antonio Garcia of Make the Road Action Nevada. "The stakes couldn't be higher as we endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, signifying a bold step forward."
"This election isn't merely about individuals; it's a watershed moment in history that will profoundly influence our community's future," Garcia continued. "It compels us to choose unity over division, to take a stand on the right side of history."
"Electing the first woman of color as president of the United States fills me with immense pride, knowing my vote contributes to this historic change," he added. "More than responding to the times, being part of this movement means we are actively forging a better future. We are committed to holding our leaders accountable, ensuring they uphold their promises to our immigrant and working-class communities."
In an effort to blunt attacks by Trump and other Republicans over what they falsely claim are the Biden administration's "open borders" policies, Harris has positioned herself as a border hawk. The narrator of a new Harris campaign ad titled "Tougher" says that "as vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades, and as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. Fixing the border is tough. So is Kamala Harris."
According to a YouGov-Statista Research poll published last month, immigration is the second-most important issue to U.S. voters after inflation and prices.
Last week, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's largest and oldest Latine civil rights organization, endorsed Harris—the first time the group has endorsed a presidential candidate since its founding in 1929.
Harris has also been endorsed by Latine advocacy groups including Mi Familia Vota, Voto Latino, and UnidosUS Action Fund.
Another group making its first-ever presidential endorsement for Harris is the youth-led gun control campaign March for Our Lives.
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'Political Revolution in Action': National Pro-Bernie Coalition Launches Unified Voter Mobilization Campaign
"People's organizations from coast to coast are flexing our political muscle together to help elect Bernie Sanders."
Jan 30, 2020
A diverse coalition of progressive advocacy groups has launched what it is billing as "the largest independent mobilizing commitment for any candidate" in order to turn out an additional 1.4 million voters in a slate of key primary states on behalf of Sen. Bernie Sanders and the working class movement his campaign has built.
Called "People Power for Bernie" and launched just days ahead of Monday's Iowa caucuses, the voter mobilization effort was organized by nine progressive groups representing millions of people across the U.S.: Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) Action, People's Action, Dream Defenders, the Sunrise Movement, Make the Road Action, Our Revolution, Democratic Socialists of America, Progressive Democrats of America, and Student Action.
"Bernie Sanders' campaign is about more than one election. It's about changing politics and shifting power from corporations and billionaires to the working class."
--Megan Svoboda, DSA for Bernie Campaign
"This is the political revolution in action," Natalia Salgado, political director with CPD Action, said in a statement. "Black, Brown, and working people are the core of Sanders supporters. Together, this powerful network of organizations will ensure that Sanders becomes our nominee."
Salgado stressed that the grassroots mobilization will continue into the general election against President Donald Trump if Sanders wins the Democratic nomination. "When he does," Salgado said, "we will work together to ensure that our political future includes us all--Black and Brown people, women, immigrants, working people, queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people."
The coalition said it plans to knock on doors, host rallies, phone bank, and organize on college campuses in key states and districts across the U.S., including the crucial early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina; delegate-heavy Super Tuesday states like California and Texas; and battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin.
The groups will operate independently of Sanders' presidential campaign.
"People's organizations from coast to coast are flexing our political muscle together to help elect Bernie Sanders," Angelica Romero, a member of immigrant group Make the Road Action, said in a statement. "With his commitment to stopping deportations that are tearing communities apart, standing up for workers and tenants, and ending the school-to-prison pipeline, Senator Sanders has struck a chord with immigrants, Black and Brown, and working-class voters across this country."
"We will be knocking on thousands of doors in critical primary and caucus states like Nevada to make sure our voices are heard," said Romero.
\u201c.@CPDAction @PplsAction @dreamdefenders @sunrisemvmt @MaketheRoadAct @OurRevolution @DemSocialists @pdamerica @StudentActionUS are uniting to mobilize 1.4 million additional voters for @BernieSanders.\n\nTogether, we\u2019re #PeoplePowerForBernie, and we\u2019re going to win.\u201d— People's Action (@People's Action) 1580426107
The grassroots initiative comes as Sanders continues his polling surge in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire as well as nationally.
A national Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey released Friday found that Sanders is narrowly leading the Democratic presidential primary field, just a percentage point ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden.
"Bernie Sanders' campaign is about more than one election. It's about changing politics and shifting power from corporations and billionaires to the working class," said Megan Svoboda, chair of the DSA for Bernie Campaign. "But Bernie cannot do this alone."
"To win this election and the demands that he's running on, it will take a movement," said Svoboda. "A movement that will mobilize historic numbers of young people, union members, and working families across the country and keep fighting to the election, and then every day after."
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