Will MAGA Latinos see the light now?
By Miguel Pérez What does it take? Most U.S. Latinos have been asking ourselves that question ever since Donald Trump came down that damned escalator and began his political career by declaring that Mexicans are rapists. What does it take to convince Trump’s Latino followers that the MAGA movement stands against their own best interests? How many blatant demonstrations of racism and xenophobia do they need? Did you ever imagine that we would see American politicians recruiting, deceiving, and trafficking human beings for political gain? Isn’t it sad to see Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans go from political refugees to political props? Isn’t it hard to watch them running away from Latin American communist dictators, only to be used by authoritarian American governors? And so, once again, we have to ask our very stubborn MAGA friends and relatives: What does it take? Is seeing Ron DeSantis bamboozle dozens of Venezuelan migrants and send them to Martha’s Vineyard not enough? What right does the Florida governor have to recruit migrants in Texas and send them to Massachusetts? DeSantis is using the pain, suffering and desperation of political refugees for his own political gain! If this not a cruel and stupid political stunt, nothing is! So, where are the MAGA Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans now? Can they stand for this? Are they so indoctrinated by the right-wing media that they would turn against their own people? Do they realize that these migrants are here legally, that they came to this country seeking political asylum — just as did? Or does their MAGA devotion outweigh their support of their own compatriotas? Of course, Republicans are well known for going to South Florida and boasting about their opposition to Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan communism, and then doing absolutely NADA about it. Their hardline rhetoric is historic now, lasting more than six decades. But who is really standing up to the Latin American communists, those who use hallow words to denounce them or those who help the victims of their repression? Do MAGA Latinos see how legal asylum seekers are being characterized as “illegal aliens” by the right-wing media they follow? Could they open their minds enough to even read this column? Frankly, when I see MAGA Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans who have been so indoctrinated by our right-wing media that they turn against their own people, when they are so hypocritical that they don’t recognize that they were once in the same position as those seeking asylum now, it makes me sick, literally. Some have turned into outright bigots, apparently not seeing that there were other bigots who saw them the same way when they came. I try to think of something else to avoid the pain. But sometimes it’s just not possible! Sometimes I have to write a column about it. I’m retired from writing columns. But sometimes you feel like Al Pacino in The Godfather III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” This time, what did it was seeing how those right-wing, fire-breathing TV hosts so disingenuously keep calling these asylum seekers “illegal aliens” — when they know very well that they are human beings legally seeking asylum. On their way to New York and other northeast cities, many buses forcibly bringing migrants from Texas and Arizona are coming through my home state of New Jersey, where there are enough Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans to give them assistance. If they they decide to start dropping migrants here, we should be ready to follow the admirable example of the people of Martha's Vineyard. After all, from my New Jersey windows, I can see the Statue of Liberty! So, just when I think I’m done writing columns about immigration, disgusting politicians, communist dictatorships, and many of the other topics I covered for more that 30 years as a journalist writing about the U.S. Hispanic community, something happens that makes me shout at my TV, run to my computer, and begin writing another column. This is one of those times. “WHAT DOES IT TAKE?” I shout. When do MAGA Latinos begin to recognize that they have been fooled by authoritarian demagogues very similar to the ones from whom they fled? Of course, this is all very personal to me, because in 1962 I also came here seeking political asylum from Cuban communism, and because I know what has been done in the past to assist others like me. In 1975, when I was a reporter for The Miami Herald, I wrote an in-depth story on the history of the Cuban Refugee Program, which was being phased-out by the federal government because the greatly-diminished influx of Cubans was no longer considered an emergency. I reported that of the 650,000 Cubans who had immigrated to the United States since Fidel Castro took power in 1959, some 460,000 had sought U.S. government assistance. The federal government had spent more than $1 billion to help the exiles find jobs, give them career training, provide for their medical care, give them financial assistance and help them relocate from Miami to other parts of the country. Almost 300,000 had resettled in all 50 states. But do the MAGA Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans know this history? Are they aware that the old Freedom Tower Cuban Refugee Center is now a museum celebrating the generosity with which we were received by this country? Does their right-wind political agenda now prevent them from treating others the same way? Did they see DeSantis’ followers giggling as he announced that he had bamboozled the Venezuelans? Did they see Trump complaining because DeSantis stole his sick idea? Did they see Sean Hannity celebrating the humiliation of their people? Are they masochistic? Of course, President Biden is at fault too. He should have never allowed this situation to get to the point where these MAGA governors can bully the rest of the country. Why hasn’t the Biden Administration organized a process — like the Cuban Refugee Program — to relocate these new asylum seekers in an orderly way? Isn't this a new emergency? Are they waiting until after the midterm elections because they are too scared of making immigration waves right now? Of course, they are! And it's disgusting! And do you know why Democrats don’t do more for Latinos? Because they know that, considering the alternative, we have no choice but to vote for them. And they are right. The alternative is downright evil! |
En Español: ¿Verán la luz ahora los MAGA Latinos?
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