National

Americans More Pragmatic Than Trump on Border Security

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — It’s “xenophobic rhetoric” and “fear mongering,” but most Americans are more pragmatic about border security, according to NAACP leaders.

Published

5 years ago

January 13, 2019

Oakland Post

By Clint Confehr

It’s “xenophobic rhetoric” and “fear mongering,” but most Americans are more pragmatic about border security, according to NAACP leaders and friends commenting on President Trump’s first televised Oval Office speech.

“There is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border [with] thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country,” Trump said. “All Americans are hurt by uncontrolled illegal migration. It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages.

“Among those hardest hit are African Americans and Hispanic Americans,” Trump said.

NAACP Nashville Branch President Keith Caldwell asked, “How has he arrived at this conclusion that African Americans are being adversely affected by immigration trends?”

An attitude about ability is exposed; “We know,” Caldwell said, “he’s talking about the jobs that no one wants, that are reserved for African Americans and migrants in the fields.”

Trump said the partial government shutdown should end with Democrats’ compromise on a wall.

Deidre Malone, president of the NAACP branch in Memphis, said, Trump “needs to work with the Democrats and get the government back open. A wall is not needed … He’s saying those from Mexico are terrorists and his own government is saying terrorists are coming in through airports.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis said Trump’s “reality and most Americans’ reality are at odds … Fear mongering … does not create a crisis… Few beyond his core acolytes will accept that the country needs to spend $5.7 billion to build an ineffective wall to keep asylum seekers out.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville sees “better” and “cheaper ways to secure our borders…”

Better policing Laredo, El Paso, and San Diego will stop thousands of trucks, often hiding drugs and people. Stop paying Congress and White House negotiators until the shutdown ends.

Gloria Jean Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee State Conference NAACP, said, “We need better border security, but we don’t need a wall… He’s used the same rhetoric he’s used all along… I don’t think he’s changed anyone’s opinion.” Trump was “talking to his base [and] mixing up the facts to his advantage.”

Immigration is down, Sweet-Love said. “It’s not a “growing … security crisis,” but humanitarian issues exist.

Roan County’s NAACP branch President Joe Eskridge, a vice president to the state conference, said Trump’s speech was “just more rhetoric to his base.”

The wall, Trump said, “would very quickly pay for itself [because] the cost of illegal drugs exceeds $500 billion a year.”

A former Jackson Madison County Narcotics Unit deputy commander, Harrell Carter, president of the Jackson, Madison County branch, said, “We need security, but it comes from a well-thought-out strategy, not from this knee jerk reaction to people of color…

“Back in the day, we had a problem with planes flying [across the Gulf of Mexico] as far north as they could [and] in several occasions, local officials were involved in the drug trade.” Now, most illegal drugs come through airports and cargo ships.

Trump is “clouded by his views” Carter said. “He … doesn’t represent the majority of the American people.”

Murfreesboro NAACP Branch President Katie Wilson looked at “photos of children with plastic sheets over them;” concluding, “The money for the wall could be spent on immigration reforms, and to support people coming to the border, and the officers who address their needs…. They’re coming to America … because they couldn’t continue to live in their homeland because of the crime.”

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.