TRUMP HAS BEEN THE MOST ANTI-MEXICAN PRESIDENT IN
175 YEARS.
Donald Trump has done more harm to Mexican-Americans than any
President in recent history. Anyone who loves Mexico and the Mexican-American community
should welcome the electoral defeat of Donald Trump and the transition to the
Biden Administration.
Slander of the Mexican people.
Let’s not forget that Donald Trump started his first campaign
for President in 2015 by slandering Mexicans and Mexican immigrants. “They are not our friend, believe me. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing
crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Trump spoke about immigrants at the Southern border as “bad
hombres” and “animals”. He called the
Mexican legal system corrupt. When an
Indiana judge ruled against his company, Trump said it was because he was “Mexican”. He even baselessly stated that the “overwhelming”
share of crimes in urban areas were committed by blacks and Hispanics. https://time.com/4473972/donald-trump-mexico-meeting-insult/
Trump used his vow to build a wall between us and Mexico to
incite his supporters at political rallies, scapegoating Mexico and Mexican
immigrants for our problems. He even
taunted the Mexican government by saying it would pay for the wall, repeatedly working
his followers into a fervor by asking them: “And who will pay for it?”. “Mexico”, they gleefully responded.
In fact, over the last four years, Trump spent billions of
American government funds on his “wall”, even though border security experts argued
the wall was ineffective. He even
diverted money from the military and emergency relief to spend on his border
fences. It’s clear he used this obsession with the wall to enflame many of his nativist
supporters.
Never before has a U.S. President so relentlessly targeted a
U.S. ally for hostility and scapegoated its immigrants so maliciously for
political gain.
Widespread racist attacks against Mex[CK1] ican-Americans
and other Latinos.
Donald Trump’s rhetoric contributed to a wave of racist attacks
in public on Mexicans and other Latinos not seen in decades. People speaking Spanish in grocery stores –
often U.S. citizens -- were told to “Go back where you came from.” Many Latinos were physically assaulted, their
homes vandalized in ethnic-based attacks.
There have been an increased number of complaints of mistreatment of Latinos
by law enforcement over the last four years.
https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2018/10/25/more-latinos-have-serious-concerns-about-their-place-in-america-under-trump/
And Trump never called out these racist attacks for fear of
disappointing the racists among his supporters.
Trump’s war on Mexican immigration.
And for millions of Mexican immigrants here, Trump’s
Administration has brought fear, anguish and broken dreams on a massive
scale. Every day for four years, I’ve
seen the toll that his administration's policies have had on the Mexican immigrant
population here. He deputized Steven
Miller, Jeff Sessions and William Barr to carry out a virtual war on Mexican
immigration; specifically:
· Trump cancelled
Obama’s program known as DAPA, which deprived status to 5 million mostly
Mexican undocumented immigrants here
· he repeatedly
attempted to kill DACA, which would have cancelled status for another 750,000 immigrants; he was only
stopped from doing so by the courts;
· The Trump
Administration’s expanded deportation to
remove thousands of families previously given a reprieve by Democratic and
Republican administrations;
· His Department
of Homeland Security jailed and prosecuted asylum seekers, and separated them
from their children; many still have not been reunited;
· Trump has
promoted an end to family unity, supporting an increase in the 20+ years most
Mexicans wait to immigrate through family members;
· Trump even
made it harder for domestic violence victims or military veterans to
immigrate.
These actions of the Trump Administration – among many
others-- have translated into more Mexican families separated from their loved
ones or further deferring their dreams of obtaining status in America. https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/biden-vs-trump-how-they-differ-on-immigration-policy/
Even worse was what Trump said behind closed doors about
immigrants crossing the borders. Here’s
what was reported by his aides:
“Privately, the
president had often talked about fortifying a border wall with a water-filled
trench, stocked with snakes or alligators, prompting aides to seek a cost
estimate. He wanted the wall electrified, with spikes on top that could pierce
human flesh. After publicly suggesting that soldiers shoot migrants if they
threw rocks, the president backed off when his staff told him that was illegal.
But later in a meeting, aides recalled, he suggested that they shoot migrants
in the legs to slow them down. That’s not allowed either, they told him.”
COVID.
Lastly, Trump’s handling of the COVID epidemic has been a story
of ineptitude, misrepresentations to the public, and reckless disregard for public
health. https://kpblawfirm.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-detailed-account-of-trumps.html
COVID has disproportionately affected the Hispanic community; approximately
45,000 have died, representing 20% of the deaths in the U.S. since the epidemic
began. Trump has shown little or no empathy toward families who have suffered illness
or death from COVID.
Conclusion.
There hasn’t been a President so consistently anti-Mexican in
word and deed, since James Polk – who took about half of Mexico’s territory
after the Mexican-American War he incited.
The election this week has apparently brought an end to Donald
Trump’s Presidency after one term. It’s
a blessing for all those who care about democracy and good government in
America. But it’s particularly good news
for the Mexican-American community. Joe
Biden will put a stop to the anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant rhetoric,
implement more humane immigration policies and attempt to restore the historically
friendly relationship with the Mexican nation and people.