The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) and 92 other national and 67 state organizations have sent a letter dated August 1, 2023 to Congressional leadership asking them to unequivocally denounce white supremacist, anti-immigrant rhetoric and its use by Members of Congress, and encourage Members of your caucuses to refrain from using this dangerous rhetoric.
The letter reads:
"We the undersigned organizations, urge Congressional leadership to unequivocally denounce white supremacist, anti-immigrant rhetoric and its use by Members of Congress, and encourage Members of your caucuses to refrain from using this dangerous rhetoric. As we approach the fourth anniversary of the anti-immigrant terrorist attack in El Paso, Texas, that killed 23 people on August 3rd , 2019, we are reminded of the deadly impact of this rhetoric.
The perpetrator of the El Paso attack was motivated by the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy, which he believed was being facilitated by a “Hispanic invasion.” Four years later, this same “invasion” and “replacement” rhetoric is leveraged by Members of Congress to further political agendas related to immigration and national security. They echo white supremacist claims of a “white genocide” orchestrated by a “Jewish cabal”, who use immigrants and minority populations as pawns in a nefarious plot. This rhetoric, and its related dog whistles, dehumanize migrants and asylum seekers, posing them as an existential threat that must be met with violence.
Again and again, our country has experienced hate violence inspired by this conspiratorial rhetoric. We know this because terrorists tell us this in their screeds. Driven by fears of “replacement” and “invasion,” terrorists targeted the Latino community in El Paso, Texas, Black Americans in Buffalo, New York, and Jews in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Poway,California, among other communities.
Despite this repeated violence across the US, Members of Congress continue to invoke the antisemitic and anti-immigrant conspiracy theories that have inspired multiple violent attacks. Members have referred to peaceful migrants and asylum seekers as “invaders” or as an “invasion” 90 times in their official capacity in hearings, on the floor, or in official press releases.
Immigration and border policy are important topics that demand Congressional discussion. We implore Senate and House leadership to not only condemn references to conspiratorial and bigoted rhetoric, including references to the “great replacement” and an “invasion,” but to encourage the Members of your caucus to refrain from using such rhetoric. We cannot allow prejudiced and inflammatory language to dominate critical policy conversations, nor to threaten the safety and liberty of our communities.
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Sources:
Read the August 1, 2023 Letter.
