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Work and Family Mobility Act deserves our support

As Marcela Garca noted in her Aug. 23 Opinion column, Fear and loathing of immigrants drives license ballot question, Massachusetts residents may decide the fate of the Work and Family Mobility Act this fall, voting on whether individuals may acquire drivers licenses regardless of immigration status. We firmly believe that voters should support this law.

One of the greatest perks of providing drivers licenses to individuals regardless of immigration status is increased public safety. By making drivers licenses more widely available, the state ensures that all drivers take the same road test, understand the same rules of the road, and become properly registered and insured. Increased public safety is one of the prime reasons police chiefs and district attorneys across Massachusetts have supported this reform.

But providing drivers licenses to individuals regardless of immigration status has many other benefits. Drivers would probably experience lower insurance premiums as more drivers acquire auto insurance. The state would also benefit financially, since more drivers will pay license fees.

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Beacon Hill passed the Work and Family Mobility Act this year because of benefits like these. If this issue does come before voters in November, we will stand alongside our allies and tirelessly support this law.

Elizabeth Sweet

Executive director

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

Boston

Concern over illegal immigration is a bipartisan issue

Im co-chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform, an organization advocating for reduced immigration to the United States. We are a coalition of 240 members (35 percent Democrats and 65 percent Republicans). Concern over immigration is a bipartisan issue.

When I read Marcela Garcas columns on this subject, I think about how the right has distorted the image of immigrants seeking to enter this country illegally, vilifying them as less human than citizens. At the same time, Garca vilifies thoughtful people who want to protect the United States. Many Massachusetts residents oppose drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants and favor enforcement of immigration laws.

If Garca seeks to understand opposition to immigration, we invite her to meet with us. She may be surprised that civil rights, the unfair racial and economic effect of immigration on overall wages, and the environment top our list of concerns that drive us to seek limits to immigration. For example we just won a step in court demanding that the federal government pass any immigration policies through the lens of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Steve Kropper

Lincoln

Continued here:
Two coalitions, two views on immigrants and drivers licenses - The Boston Globe

By Julian Grace, WRAL anchor/reporter

Wake County, N.C. The two challengers for Wake County Sheriff shared their plans to address illegal immigration, and neither will include a controversial federal program called 287(g).

The federal program allows foreign born people to be screened by deputies for their legal status.

Both contenders made it clear 287(g) is not the right policy. They both shared plans for more of comprehensive approach for Wake County.

There was fallout from the controversial 287(g) program in Wake County with protest and marches back in 2018.

Sheriff Candidate Donnie Harrison has used the federal program before during a previous stint as Wake County Sheriff, and if elected again he said he wont use it.

We know 287(g) was out of the window, said Harrison. It's just not working. it has taken too many to the cleaners that didnt do anything.

Candidate Willie Rowe said using 287(g) is not on his agenda and he wont use it.

That program is not cost effective and not productive in any way, said Rowe.

So whats the plan?

Harrison is calling on a universal background check where everyone arrested, no matter the age gender or background, will be checked for wants and warrants.

Everybody needs to go to the same process," said Harrison. "We want to make sure people know we are being fair to them and treating them the way they want to be treated.

Rowe said Wake County already has a similar universal background check that Harrison is proposing.

Instead Rowe would like to see an all inclusive approach from Congress on how to address illegal immigration.

"I call on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform so we are operating at the same page," said Rowe. "People undocumented can come out of the dark into the light without the threat of deportation."

Both Harrison and Rowe agree that anyone arrested in Wake County needs to go through a background check to make sure they are not wanted by another sheriff office.

Original post:
Neither Wake sheriff candidate to support controversial immigration program 287(g) - WRAL News

As Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, is set to face-off with Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in the Nov. 8, 2022, election, his stance on immigration has taken a hit from the Republican opposition.

Or at least his perceived stance.

In an Aug. 10, 2022,news release, part of a series aiming to paint Barnes as extreme, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), claimed that Barnes "supports abolishing ICE."

ICE, of course, is U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, one of three agencies created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks when Congress passed the Homeland Security Act.

The agency says its "mission is to protect America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety." The agencys detention and deportation operations have faced the ire of immigration rights groups and others, putting ICE at the center of controversy for many years.

But it wasnt until spring2018 when "the Abolish ICE movement began to shift from a hashtag to a more formal stance," according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Even then, as with the "defund the police" efforts, there are many different views on just what it means. Some want the agency eliminated entirely, others prefer reforms.

In a July 2018 article, the Brennan Center noted that if ICE were to be abolished, "other parts of the government would likely take up some of the agencys responsibilities."

So, returning to the claim: Does Barnes support "abolishing ICE"?

Does Barnes really want to abolish ICE?

When asked for backup, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which aims to elect Republican senators across the country, pointed to two things:

The first is a 2018 photo of Barnes holding up a red T-shirt that reads "Abolish ICE." The photo was shared at the time on Reddit and has since made the rounds on Twitter, especially in the wake of Barnes winning the Democratic nomination in August.

The photo surfaced shortly after Barnes responded to a tweet from a Madison-based activist, who offered him the shirt from the Democratic Socialists of America.

"Don't know how I missed this reply, but I need that," Barnes replied to the tweet on July 4, 2018. At the time he was in the midst of his successful campaign for lieutenant governor.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee also pointed to when Barnes headlined an event on Nov. 15, 2021, for the Brooklyn, New York-based advocacy group Center for Popular Democracy,a group that has endorsed Barnes.

But the committee offered no reference to anything Barnes said at the event, or elsewhere on abolishing ICE.

Instead, it was mostly guilt by association: The NRSC shared a Vox article that noted the group was involved in a June 2018 march during which "protesters draped themselves in silver thermal blankets evoking images of migrant kids in shelters and chanted Abolish ICE and We care. "

In an October 2021 news release, Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, said,"The repeated violence perpetrated by (Customs and Border Patrol) and ICE prove time and time again that these agencies cannot be reformed and must be abolished."

The November 2021 event that Barnes attended, however, focused on voting rights issues and the mobilizing of young and first-time voters, especially those from Black and Latino communities.

"This group endorsed the Lt. Governor; he did not endorse them or their policies," wrote Maddy McDaniel, a spokesperson for Barnes, in an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin. "At no point in the event or during any interaction with this group did he advocate for abolishing ICE."

Thats a valid point: If Barnes supports abolishing ICE, shouldnt there be evidence of him saying so?

That brings us to the T-shirt photo.

Examining the claim

McDaniel made a similar argument, saying,"Simply holding up a T-shirt that was given as a gift does NOT equate to supporting a policy." But he did hold up the shirt.

Barnes has said little about the circumstances.

A March 2022 article in the Wisconsin Examiner noted: "He held up the Abolish ICE T-shirt, he says, as an expression of solidarity with immigrants who were reacting with horror at the time to scenes of children ripped from their parents at the border."

McDaniel declined to say anything more. Instead, she argued that: "The Lt. Governor has been crystal clear that he does not support abolishing ICE."

What is Barnes position?

Lets dig in from that angle and what Barnes himself has said. That is, the positions he has publicly taken.

Barnes has made clear during the campaign, and in recent years, that he does not support abolishing ICE. Rather, he has called for the agency to be reformed. In a video on his website, Barnes says: "We need comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border and also includes a path to citizenship."

McDaniel also pointed to articles from the Wisconsin Examiner and Spectrum News in which Barnes said he does not support abolishing ICE.

In addition, in February 2022, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a piece addressing questions surrounding the photo of Barnes and his stance on abolishing ICE.

"I am not a part of the Abolish ICE movement because no one slogan can capture all the work we have to do," Barnes said. "But I do support comprehensive reform in our immigration agencies that protect our borders while establishing a pathway to citizenship and ensuring no one coming to this country has to experience traumas like family separation."

Asked if he sided with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who wants to dismantle ICE, or with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who aims to overhaul the federal agency, Barnes told the Journal Sentinel: "Im not in any one persons camp, but I respect what they both bring to this important conversation."

Our ruling

The National Republican Senatorial Committee claimed that Barnes "supports abolishing ICE."

But the group identified no direct evidence or statements from the candidates saying such a thing only an appearance for a group that supports that position, and a photo with a T-shirt.

At the same time, there is plenty of evidence that Barnes has taken a less extreme position on the matter, calling for reforms.

In other words, we have a statement that "contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression." Thats our definition of Mostly False.

And thats our rating.

Continued here:
GOP Senate group off the mark with claim that Barnes backs abolishing ICE - PolitiFact

While Republican lawmakers such as Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson have been labeled by the corporate media as extremist, or others such as former President Donald Trump have been banned from social media, the same does not apply to those on the other side of the political aisle.

Leaders of the Democratic Party openly voice radical opinions on Big Tech platforms without garnering the same backlash. Democratic Senate candidate Mandela Barnes the current lieutenant governor of Wisconsin and Johnsons opponent for the fall midterm election is a perfect example.

One Twitter account that goes by FoiaFan created a thread of Barnes radical tweets on Sunday, and there are some doozies. In May 2021, for instance, Barnes exposed his anti-Israel posture when he wrote, Normalize saying Free Palestine, a phrase that has been associated with the goal to erase the Jewish state from existence.

Speaking of anti-Israeli, Barnes showed love to to squad member and Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar in the face of this deliberately misleading, racist and xenophobic aggression. In so doing, he propped up a radical lawmaker who has repeatedly expressed antisemitic viewpoints, conspiracy theories, and socialist sympathies.

His tweet came in response to Omars accusation that the nations core beliefs were threatened by how the Trump administration would rather cage children than pass comprehensive immigration reform, a baseless accusation and lie that Barnes perpetuated.

Barnes lies about the former administration werent limited to immigration policy. In February 2017, he jumped into the Russia hoax when he tweeted without evidence, Donald Trump is a Russian spy. Believe me, a classic fake narrative of the corrupt corporate media.

Barnes has also made a habit of policing speech, especially when it comes to discussing illegal immigration. Heres Barnes in 2015, dumbfounded that somebody would ever say illegal alien:

When former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker used the term illegal alien in 2018 and PolitiFact sicced its bogus truth-o-meter on him, Barnes clapped back: The debate here shouldnt be whether the claim is true or not. It should be whether using the term illegal alien is racist fearmongering or not. Which is definitely true.

Whats more disturbing than the accurate term illegal alien is Barnes apparent belief that immigrants who cross the border illegally must all share the same skin color and that all the people who use the term also belong to one racial group. But people of all races and ethnicities use the phrase illegal alien, and likewise, people of all skin colors have entered the country illegally.

In March of 2017, Barnes once again painted border-security concerns as racist, equating support for a border wall with xenophobia rather than engaging with Americans actual concerns.

Additionally, new reports further expose Barnes extremist views when it comes to immigration: The Democratic Senate candidate supports abolishing ICE. This movement, known for accusing ICE of terrorizing our communities, seeks to erase the law enforcement agency in the name of human rights. Barnes was photographed with an Abolish ICE T-shirt, showcasing his anti-border security and extremist immigration sentiments.

Last but certainly not least in the lineup of extreme Barnes tweets, the Wisconsin candidate wrote on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, I have a problem with people that feel the need to mention Islamic before terrorists when speaking on 9-11 looking at you Rudy Giuliani, downplaying the ideological radicalism that motivated the attack, which left nearly 3,000 people dead and thousands more injured.

Barnes tweets make his viewpoints quite clear. It is now up to Wisconsinites this fall to decide whether he and his radical ideas will make their way to Capitol Hill.

Sophia is an intern at The Federalist and a student at Le Moyne College. She majors in English and intends to pursue a career in journalism.

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See the article here:
Read These Shocking Tweets From WI Extremist Mandela Barnes - The Federalist

A new poll shows a wide majority of Latino voters in Nevada believe that abortion should be legal even if it goes against their personal beliefs on the issue.

The survey, conducted from July 20 to Aug. 1 by Mi Familia Vota and UnidosUS, found that 81 percent of those surveyed opposed taking the choice of abortion away from others. The same poll found that only 25 percent believed religious leaders should tell their members which candidates and policies to vote for, and the rest opposed that practice.

Latinos have historically not viewed political questions through a religious lens, which makes our next finding a little bit more understandable, pollster Gary Segura, president and co-founder of BSP Research, said during a call with reporters on Thursday.

The Nevada-specific findings were part of a multi-state poll of Latino voters who are considered key in the Silver States tight races for governor and Senate. The group leans solidly Democratic, although Republicans have made recent inroads, and 63 percent believe the country is on the wrong track.

Immigration has slipped far behind priorities such as inflation (a top-three concern for more than half of those surveyed), but the poll found that 79 percent agree with the statement that President Biden should not use the situation at the southern border as an excuse to do nothing to protect undocumented immigrants, and the same percentage believe the president should use his executive authority to act if Congress does not pass comprehensive immigration reform.

It has faded as an issue of importance as other issues in the immediate environment have become so concerning, Segura said. But it remains a deal breaker for Latinos most of whom who will oppose candidates who will not support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they were certain they would vote in November. Mi Familia Vota is planning to knock on 21,000 doors in Clark County, run digital campaigns that are both bilingual and directed to monolingual, English-speaking Latinos in Nevada, as well as send 240,000 calls and text messages in an attempt to mobilize voters.

You see high interest, particularly a few months out in a midterm election cycle, for participating in this election, said Rafael Collazo, the national political director of UnidosUS. This is not an apathetic electorate. It's unconvinced.

The poll surveyed 300 Nevada Latino eligible voters in English and Spanish and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percent.

Editors Note: This story appears in Indy 2022, The Nevada Independents newsletter dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the 2022 election. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Read more here:
81 percent of Nevada Latino voters think abortion should be legal, personal beliefs aside The Nevada Independent - The Nevada Independent