17 MARCH 2021

Hub Highlights: Abbott Feigns Concern as Republicans Deflect to the Border and Drive Fear Despite the Political Liability

“We’ve seen this playbook before and we’ll see it sail into 2022, baiting the media but sinking with the American electorate.” - Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub

WASHINGTON, DC - For the past month, Republicans have re-adopted the Trump playbook of anti-immigrant stunts and rhetoric as a strategy to distract from their own legislative failures and mismanagement of recovery efforts. As public sentiment grows in support of President Biden and Democrats’ American Rescue Plan, Republicans are planning more trips to the border, actively whipping their members against the highly popular Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and today Governor Abbott in Texas has joined the calvary to deflect from his own governing negligence.

“The caravan, ‘bad hombres’, ‘job-stealers’, ‘they’re bringing crime’, ‘open borders’ - the attacks are always the same and are always used when Republicans have botched their response to the demands of the American voter,” stated Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “In 2018, Republicans tried to scare voters by employing the Trump caravan hysteria to distract them from their attempts to strip health care coverage. In 2020, immigrants were part of the ‘radical left’ and trying to undermine social security. None of these tactics worked in favor of Republicans; instead, the American public resoundingly rejected Trump and the GOP’s rhetoric and approach to immigration. We’ve seen this playbook before and we’ll continue to see it sail into 2022, baiting the media but sinking with the American electorate.”

“The fact of the matter is that President Biden and his administration are cleaning up the mess left behind by Trump and Stephen Miller. And the mess is huge. It’s an understatement to think that the current administration in less than eight weeks can address every challenge left behind in one fell swoop. That’s not how it works. Children must be cared for as children. The asylum process must be fixed and enhanced. Smart investment in our neighbors to the south must be made. Just as NGOs have stood up to the plate to ensure the safety of children and families, so has the Biden administration delivered on common sense, humane solutions that will strengthen our recovery and reignite the country’s beacon of hope.”

The Highlights to Follow:

  • Recycled GOP tactics: Republicans are employing the same failed tactics Republicans used to oppose President Biden’s COVID plan: tolerate Trump’s breaking the system; falsely blame Biden for the problem; refuse to be part of the solution. 

  • ICYMI: Today, Secretary Julian Castro joined the Hub’s Gonzales, Mayor of Brownsville (TX) Trey Mendez, Cristina Tzintzun of Jolt TX and Wendy Young of KIND to respond to Gov. Abbott and Republican antics. Bottom line - as Sec. Castro stated - “Republicans are demagoguing.” Follow up with us for the recording of the press call.

  • Truth at the border: Washington Post’s Arelis R. Hernández reports on what’s really happening: “Migrants are not overrunning U.S. border towns, despite the political rhetoric”

  • A Texan who’s got it right: Congresswoman Veronica Escobar remarks, “The Minority GOP Leader used El Paso – my community – as a prop to advocate for the same cruel policies that stripped migrant children of their humanity during the Trump administration.

  • Catch up: The GOP playbook failed in previous election cycles - read the Hub’s analyses for 2018 and 2020. 

  • Biden is cleaning up Trump’s mess: Greg Sargent breaks down how Republicans are trying to blame President Biden for the previous administration’s destructive immigration policies. 

  • Solutions Americans want: America’s Voice and FWD.us polling shows 79% of voters prefer the approach of providing a pathway to citizenship to undocumented immigrants over an deporting them, and “even base Republicans prefer citizenship over deportation by a 61% to 39% margin.” And, “a majority of voters say they would be less likely to vote for a Senator who votes AGAINST citizenship bills.”

###

The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.