Leaders of Latino organizations appeared at a press conference on Thursday to condemn ‘Operation Aurora’ announced by donald trump last Friday in that Colorado city, where he said he will use the Alien Enemies Act to carry out mass deportations if he is re-elected in the elections. 2024 elections.
Representatives of Voto Latino, UnidosUS Action Fund, Mi Familia Vota, Latino Victory Project and America’s Voice denounced the “hate plan” promoted by Trump and they said that it transforms immigrants and Latino citizens and other minorities into “enemy aliens.”
Activists described it as an “extremist agenda” the new threat of the Republican presidential candidate.
“In our history, the Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times: the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II,” said Maria Teresa Kumar, co-founder and president of Voto Latino.
“This is a strategy that seems taken straight from an authoritarian manual and that threatens to open a new and terrible chapter for our nation,” he added.
Arguing an alleged massive presence of members of the international gang Tren de Aragua in Aurora, which the authorities of this second most populous city in Colorado and the most diverse in the Rocky Mountain area have denied, Trump evoked this law approved 226 years ago.
And threatened again to carry out “the largest deportation in the history of this country” if elected, without making a distinction between legal or undocumented immigrants, and appealing to the use of the army to fulfill that purpose.
The use of the word “invasion” is key because the Foreign Enemies Act, born after the War of Independence to fight against British espionage and sabotage, and used for the first time in the War of 1812, It is only applicable in cases of “declared war”, invasion or “predatory incursion” on US territory.
“Dangerous” proposal
Representatives of Latino groups rejected Trump’s mass deportation proposal and warned against the “devastating” and “dangerous” current and future consequences of that rhetoric for the entire country.
“Now Trump wants to unleash a new war against our country with mass detentions that far exceed the 120,000 people of Japanese descent who were detained during World War II. We must not allow this to happen. We must ensure that all Americans know that there is a clear danger present for millions of families,” Kumar said.
Kumar emphasized that neither the mobilization of 3.5 million people related to Voto Latino nor press conferences like the one this Thursday are sufficient to “defeat Trump and his extremist policies,” maintaining that only “inform about the danger of the very essence of multicultural America” would defeat the former president in the next elections.
Janet Murguía, president of UnidosUS Action Fund, stated that “just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, we have now seen the extent to which the Trump campaign has gone in this election by blatantly lying, demonizing and falsely blaming immigrants for all evils.”
Murguía asserted that these elections are “the ugliest and most discouraging of my life.” because of the lies that are being told, They tell each other again and defend themselves,” like Haitians eating their pets in Springfield, Ohio. And although these lies have been widely debunked, “they endanger the safety and lives of immigrants.”
“(Hispanics) are 65 million Americans. We represent 20% of the country’s population. We will always remember what has been said and done. “Our community is not going to allow Trump to turn us into foreigners in our own land,” said Murguía.
Democracy under attack
Héctor Sánchez Barba, president and executive director of Mi Familia Vota indicated that “democracy is under attack” and that “it is very important that there is a clear understanding” of this situation so that, as in the past, organizations in favor of democracy are mobilized at the national level. civil, labor and women’s rights.
“We cannot go back to medieval times, to a time when the rights of everyone in this nation were taken away, from women, from minorities, from everyone,” expressed Sánchez Barba.
“When there is a political party that is creating an anti-immigrant movement as the central platform of that party, this is very dangerous for the nation. When officials from that party say that mass deportations are their party’s top priority, that is very dangerous for the nation,” he added.
‘Trump doesn’t care about Aurora or Colorado’
“Trump’s strategy to generate fear is as dangerous as it is dishonest,” stated Gladis Ibarra, co-executive director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition in written statements sent to EFE.
“He doesn’t care about Aurora or Colorado. He is using us as political pawns to push a racist agenda that paints our entire community in a bad light. We will not fall into the trap. “Immigrants are our teachers, our neighbors, our parents and our children,” he indicated.
With information from EFE
Keep reading:
• Trump repeats false and alarmist attacks against immigrants in the ‘town hall’ with Latinos on Univision
• They warn that Trump promises mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act
• Brennan Center report denounces what is behind the Alien Enemies Act