Issues: Immigration

After Nielsen Resignation, American Bridge Repeats Call for Corporations to Deny Board Seats to Trump Administration Officials Involved with Family Separation

Days before the Trump Administration announced that it could take years to identify and reunite thousands of immigrant children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, American Bridge 21st Century Foundation joined TrumpAdminSeparation.org, a coalition of progressive organizations urging corporations and CEOs not to hire administration officials who played leading roles in the outrageous practice of tearing families apart.

Now, following the resignation of Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen as well as the removal of Secret Service Director Randolph Alles — both of which signify that Donald Trump plans to double down on his draconian border policies — American Bridge reiterated how crucial it is that the senior administration officials who designed and implemented this policy be completely shut out of the private sector executive and board room positions that are frequently given to former federal officials at that level.

“This appalling, brutal Trump Administration policy of family separation […]

Read more after the jump.

Sanders Questions: Bully-In-Chief Edition

It’s been one day since the deadly terrorist attack in New York City and President Trump is taunting the home state Senator on Twitter with lies about his record and calling for immigration bans steeped in Islamophobia. As we’ve sadly come to expect from this President, he has shown once again moments that require leadership, unity, and compassion completely evade him.

American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden calls on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to answer the following questions:

1. Why is President Trump calling for policy changes right out of the gate after yesterday’s terrorist attack in New York City but insisted it was not time talk about reforms after the terrorist attack in Las Vegas that killed 59 people and injured more than 500 more?

2. Does President Trump support Senator Grassley’s legislation to enforce registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the wake of Paul Manafort’s […]

Read more after the jump.

American Bridge DACA Statement

American Bridge President Jessica Mackler statement on Donald Trump ending DACA:

“Over the past few weeks, Donald Trump praised neo-Nazis, pardoned a racist criminal convicted of jailing people based on the color of their skin, and he’s now authorizing the mass-deportation of young people who have done nothing wrong. Trump’s actions will force a million people out of the country, break up hundreds of thousands of families, and throw away the contributions that a generation of young immigrants would have made to the United States — all in the name of a partisan agenda that solely caters to extremists in his party.

“DACA recipients are the best of us; young people who, despite difficult circumstances and challenges, achieve success and make the best lives they can for themselves and their families. They are the epitome of the American dream that Donald Trump is hell-bent on undermining.” 

Read more after the jump.

Who the GOP Needs to Win in 2016…No One At CPAC

It’s hard when you can see what’s wrong, but you can’t do anything to correct it. That’s how the Republican Party must feel about CPAC. As thousands of conservative Republicans arrive in Washington, DC for the three-day jamboree, the Republican Party will have to balance how to appease its right-wing base but still attract and win over women, immigrants, and the youth vote.

From the looks of CPAC’s agenda, panel discussions, and guest speakers, the GOP has waved the white flag.

Check out this list of speakers, panels, and activists who will have a mic at CPAC:

Women Don’t Vote for Anti-Choice, Anti-Equal Pay Agendas

James O’Keefe of Project Veritasand his Protégé-In-Crime David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress are sitting down together for an “inside the activists’ studio” session – presumably they’ll be providing tips on how to misleadingly doctor up videos to inspire a congressional investigation to undermine women’s health and defund Planned […]

Read more after the jump.

NEW REPORT: A Koch Confessional

Or How The Kochs Have Attacked Pope Francis While Pushing A Self-Enriching Agenda That’s On The Wrong Side Of The Holy Father

As Pope Francis arrives in Washington, Bridge Project is releasing a new report titled, “A Koch Confessional, Or How The Kochs Have Attacked Pope Francis While Pushing A Self-Enriching Agenda That’s On The Wrong Side Of The Holy Father.”

The Kochs are terrified of the pope’s teachings because they threaten what the billionaire brothers worship most, their bank accounts. Bridge Project’s new report, reveals how the Koch network has attacked Pope Francis and targeted his teachings on the economy, immigration, climate change, fair pay, and more.

At the crux of the differences between the billionaire Koch brothers and Pope Francis is their starkly contrasting world views. While the pope has pleaded for his followers to reject the “trickle-down” policies championed by billionaires like the Kochs, and pushed immigration as a “hallmark for our society,” the Kochs have […]

Read more after the jump.

Bridge Project Digital Ads Targeting NCLR Conference Reveal Truth Of Koch-Backed LIBRE Initiative

Bridge Project today announced it is running digital ads targeting attendees of the National Council of La Raza’s Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, highlighting the truth behind the subversive motives of the Koch-funded LIBRE Initiative — a Koch brothers Latino-outreach front group, whose political motivations run counter to those of the Hispanic community.

One of the ads will target the group’s executive director, Daniel Garza, whose past comments reveal the LIBRE Initiative’s true agenda. Garza has expressed outrage over DACA, the executive order protecting DREAMers, denouncing it as “pandering” and “dangerous,” and called DAPA — which would extend those protections to members of DREAMers’ families — “executive overreach.” A second ad will highlight a LIBRE Initiative spokesperson’s unabashedly offensive characterization of undocumented immigrants as “illegals.”

The truth is LIBRE Initiative’s sole mission is to promote the Koch agenda above all else — and it shamelessly does so at the expense of Hispanics, by actively campaigning […]

Read more after the jump.

One More LIBRE Lie: ‘Voter ID Laws Don’t Hurt Latinos’

Image Credit: nshepard

It’s well documented that voter ID laws disproportionately disenfranchise Latinos, the same demographic for which the LIBRE Initiative claims to be advocating. Yet, the Koch-backed organization’s executive director, Daniel Garza, said he was in favor of the policy yesterday, with NBC News reporting Garza claims “he has no problem with requiring identification to vote because he believes in preserving the ‘integrity’ of the vote.”

The truth is: needless voter ID laws only serve to build up barriers to the ballot box for those that aren’t receptive to the Koch brothers’ regressive vision for America. As the New York Times noted on Monday, “There is virtually no in-person voter fraud; the purpose of these laws is to suppress voting.” Even a top RNC official admitted voter fraud is basically a straw-man of the right’s creation.

Read more after the jump.

REPORT: Kochs’ LIBRE Initiative is Harmful to Hispanic Community

Bridge Project is continuing the “Month’s Supply of Koch” with the release of the latest report on the Kochs’ LIBRE Initiative. Today Bridge Project is also releasing a new 50-second Spanish language web ad “Los hermanos Koch se oponen al Papa por el cambio climático,” about the Kochs’ attacks on the pope for the Holy Father’s efforts to deter climate change.

The report is a comprehensive look at the Koch-backed LIBRE Initiative that deceptively brands itself as a “grassroots organization” that pushes messages of “liberty, freedom and prosperity,” founded to “empower Hispanics.” The group is actually run by Republican operatives and financed almost entirely by the Koch network.

Read more after the jump.

Michele Bachmann & Steve King

video •

Renowned xenophobes Reps. Steve King and Michele Bachmann have announced a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border today as part of their offensive offensive against President Obama’s action on immigration. Ever the moderate, Bachmann warned of “millions of unskilled, illiterate, foreign nationals coming into the United States who can’t speak the English language.” While King, who’s proposed a legal change to prevent the issuing of new visas, defended his obstructionist stance with a mature “we can do anything we want to.” After Speaker John Boehner’s five minute press conference on the matter this morning, Bachmann and King are effectively left as the de facto spokespeople for the Republican Party, driving their narrative and policy direction on the matter.

Read more after the jump.

Boehner and his merry band of well poisoners

video •

Yesterday, President Obama announced his plan to take action to address immigration reform. Today, House Speaker John Boehner will use his 9 a.m. address to try to explain away the Republican Party’s obstructionist plan to fight the President’s effort.

Yesterday, American Bridge sent you a list of the many other times Republicans have claimed the President “poisoned the well” on an issue. Today, we’re showing you those Republican claims – in their own words.

Read more after the jump.