October 8, 2019
Dear Senator Tillis,
Blatantly inviting or coercing foreign governments to help him get elected is a good reason to impeach the president, but his rhetoric and policy concerning immigrants is just as disturbing. Since he first announced his campaign, he has characterized Mexicans as criminals and worse, manipulating public sentiment in false and hideous ways. The truth is that only 1.8% of immigrants commit crimes, compared to 3% of naturalized citizens.
Meanwhile, there is a concerted effort by the White House to make people believe that immigrants are a drain on the economy when the opposite is true. Study after study has shown that immigrants put far more money into the economy than they take out. Undocumented people put 16 billion dollars into Social Security each year and will never be able to collect any of this money.
Every week there are efforts by the White House to terrorize undocumented people and restrict immigration. Constitutional and human rights violations of immigrants escalate daily. In the past few weeks alone, there have been repeated efforts by the Administration to severely limit immigration, by the “presidential declaration,” the “public charge” declaration, and the proposal to deny visas to immigrants who lack health care coverage.
North Carolina is home to about 325,000 undocumented people. They are our neighbors, colleagues, and friends. We are protesting today in solidarity with them and demanding that you stand up to this president’s cruelty and lies.