Author: FRÉA LOCKLEY
As mid-term elections loom in the US, Donald Trump’s latest vote-grabbing strategy is arguably his most twisted and sickening yet. As thousands of refugees flee to the US from Central America, Trump has threatened to send 15,000 troops to the US-Mexican border. And at the same time, he’s leading a racist fearmongering mission against people who are fleeing extreme violence and poverty in their home countries. In fact, it’s so bad that even a Fox News anchor has spoken out against the blatant lies.
“There is no invasion”
With mid-terms on 6 November, immigration and borders have become a “priority issue” for the administration. Trump’s also seized this crisis to push an increasingly vile and dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric:
As The Canary has detailed previously, these refugees are fleeing extreme poverty and violence – conditions very much created by decades of US interference in the region. People originally started travelling from Honduras, for example, which has “suffered some of the worst abuses of US foreign policy”.
The militarisation of the US border
On 29 October, meanwhile, the Pentagon announced the deployment of 5,200 troops to the border. As Newsweek reported, this was fuelled by unfounded “claims of the presence of “unknown Middle Easterners,” terrorists and MS-13 gang members”. These claims are not “supported by intelligence on the ground”. Trump’s administration also received, and reportedly ignored, evidence stating that these troops were not necessary because “only a small percentage” of the refugees would make it to the US anyway.
According to Newsweek, defence secretary James Mattis has authorised troops heading to the border to carry arms and live ammunition. Yet it’s all unnecessary for so many reasons:
“The most racially charged national political ad in 30 years”
On 31 October, the Trump campaign team went a step further, releasing what CNN called the “most racially charged national political ad in 30 years”:
It features Luis Bracamontes, a Mexican man convicted of murder in February. “DEMOCRATS LET HIM STAY,” it declares. But this isn’t true. Because Bracamontes was first deported in 1997, but reportedly returned to the US in 2001 under the Bush administration.
As Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez told CNN:
This is distracting, divisive Donald at his worst. This is fear mongering…
They have to fear monger and his dog whistle of all dog whistles is immigration. This has been Donald Trump’s playbook for so long.
This latest ad “comes with all the symbolic significance of the presidency itself”. So for a Fox anchor to speak out as Smith did, making the clear link between the timing of Trump’s lies and the mid-terms, speaks volumes.
Get Involved!
– In the UK, write to your MP to share your concerns about human rights in Honduras. In the US, write to your representative and senator.
– Read The Canary‘s previous articles about Honduras and Latin America at The Canary Global.
– Join The Canary so we can keep holding the powerful to account.
Source: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2018/11/01/even-a-fox-reporter-thinks-trumps-gone-too-far-with-his-racist-lies-about-refugees/
