Republicans Sure Do Love Lyin' 'Bout Immigrants
Republicans Sure Do Love Lyin' 'Bout Immigrants
And also, the sky continues to be blue.
Was there ever a time when the Republican Party did not hate most immigrants to these United States? Sepia-toned Ole Republican Party 1.0, the Tiny Baby Elephant Party that courted German immigrants during the 1860 election and eventually got around to banning the enslavement of human beings — yeah, okay, those Republicans were different. But while today’s MAGA jagoffs like to hallucinate that they’re doing noble, principled Team of Rivals cosplay, they are in fact members of an entirely different organization in a far more diverse world full of people they hate!
But while we’ve all presumably seen by now that Republicans — including their vice presidential nominee and the chair of the House Whoops Forgot To Report The Guy Molesting The Wrestlers What An OVERSIGHT Committee — are actively smearing immigrants as stealing your pets, for eating them, Republicans aren’t just lying about immigrants. They’re “cleaning up” the voter rolls by looking for anyone whose last name ends in “z.”
Here are some disgusting details the New York Times obtained from a recorded July Zoom call of Republican activists doin’ a little normal, casual election prep. This isn’t anything new for Republicans, but it is gross.
One woman, a local party chair from Georgia, recommended scouring school enrollment figures to find neighborhoods with large numbers of migrants. Another, Darlene Hennessy, an activist from the Detroit area, recommended hanging up signs in “ethnic” neighborhoods warning people not to vote if they were not eligible. She also suggested searching voter rolls for certain types of surnames.
“I think it’s unfortunate, but sometimes the only way you can find out is to look for ethnic names,” Ms. Hennessy said, according to a recording of the call obtained by The New York Times.
“We don’t want to be doing anything illegal,” she added.
There is no indication that noncitizens are voting in large numbers.
More like Triumph of the Will cosplay, truly! These Republicans are obsessed with the delusion that a big swath of noncitizens will vote, and vote Democrat. Why do they think this untrue thing is true?
Well, they’re drone robots programmed by their overlords who know full well undocumented immigrants are not voting en masse. These assholes swallow their Dear Leader’s garbage like it’s mommy’s milk, and since they are wonderful at organizing, they pressure their other elected officials to do their creepy bidding. And of course, the people in power are more than happy to oblige!
In Texas, the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, recently announced an investigation into whether organizations were purposely registering noncitizens to vote. (He also authorized the state police to search the homes of activists who had been registering Latino voters as part of an investigation into allegations of voter fraud.) In Alabama, the secretary of state recently deactivated the registrations of more than 3,000 people, including some who are naturalized citizens, according to news reports, forcing them to update their records before they can vote.
Secretaries of state in Ohio and Montana are suing the Biden administration accusing officials of encouraging noncitizens to vote.
Now, not all immigrants arrive here from dire circumstances or without disposable income. But if you want an actual view of what many immigrants (documented and undocumented) do deal with and what the fuck they actually need to focus on just in order to fucking survive, check out nonprofits like RAICES Texas and Miry’s List.
One would surmise that the people the overwhelmingly white Republican Party loves to hate would be poor immigrants of color who surely have more pressing priorities than casting a fake vote for a ding dang Demmycrat. To help ensure fair elections, check out organizations like Protect Democracy and All Voting is Local. The Brennan Center for Justice also has some great info.
And if you’re going to work at your local polling site this November, thank you for being awesome. It’s about so much more than handing out stickers, although those stickers are fun to put on your face or bosom or somebody else’s butt (we’ve heard.)
And Lordy did Trump "go there" on immigrants this evening. It was pretty much his answer to every question. I'm sure that nonsense will appeal to his base, but I don't see how it helps him with anyone else.
My great-grandfather was one of those German-speaking abolitionists who helped found the Republican Party. I like to think he would have abandoned what it has become.