Don't blame immigrants for COVID-19 spikes
Republicans will say anything to detract from their anti-science stance
Welcome to Inbox One, a weekly short-form newsletter by Juan Escalante that brings you the toplines on immigration, tech, and other topics of interest. Help Inbox One grow by sharing these bite-sized updates with a friend or two!
Things are moving fast in Washington D.C., which contradicts my belief that anything your state's legislature may conjure up during its annual session.
Congress moves at glacial speeds — this is less of a beltway secret and more of a fact of life. If you need any evidence of this, then close your eyes consider the times Congress has legislated anything that has directly impacted your day-to-day and how it compares to the speed that your state legislature operates.
Education. Immigration. Taxes. Hunting Permits. These issues (and many others!) are likely to move faster depending on where you live in the United States.
These days, however, Congress is poised to pass a massive infrastructure bill and then follow it up with the long-await reconciliation package that will (hopefully) include a path to citizenship — which I hope to dig into more in next week.
This Week On Immigration...
Speaking about state governments, the governors of Texas and Florida are not having a great week. Not that they deserved one, to begin with.
COVID: 1, DESANTIS: 0 — Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, is seeing a dip in his approval and reelection polls amid a rise in COVID-19 numbers. In response to this dip in popularity and a request from President Biden to "get out of the way," on COVID-19 response, DeSantis has resorted to one of the oldest (and most racist!) tropes — xenophobia. For a governor who is adamantly opposed to wearing or encouraging mask use, you truly have to look closely for who is to blame for making the State of Florida the COVID-19 capital of the country. Is it the state's Republican governor fighting against schools from mandating that students wear masks upon returning to classes or the immigrant front-line workers keeping our country running? Right answers only, please!
KEEP MESSING WITH TEXAS — A federal judge struck down the anti-immigrant executive order that the Texas Governor, Greg Abbot, signed to restrict the transport of migrants across the state of Texas. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Cardone Issues a two-page ruling this past Tuesday, which stated that Abbott’s EO "causes irreparable injury to the United States and to individuals the United States is charged with protecting, jeopardizing the health and safety of non-citizens in federal custody, risking the safety of federal law enforcement personnel and their families, and exacerbating the spread of COVID-19." Politico has the story.
THE IMPACT OF ABBOTT'S ORDER WAS SWIFT — with The Texas Tribune publishing a story detailing the arrest of a 61-year-old Venezuelan migrant by local authorities. Separate from his wife, the migrant identified as Nerio would likely be "booked at a just-erected processing tent outside the local jail, have bail set over Zoom by a retired judge from elsewhere in the state, then sent more than 100 miles away to a Texas prison recently converted into a jail for migrants."
As a Venezuelan national myself, these types of stories hit on a more personal level. Never mind that Republican Governors, like DeSantis and Abbott, dismiss immigrants like Nerio during their time of need while using Venezuela as a political weapon to scare voters into thinking socialism is creeping up behind them. If you need added proof, look at this story in El Nuevo Herald, about a Venezuelan woman in Florida who is on the verge of homelessness after meeting and campaigning alongside former President Donald Trump. Aminta Perez suffered a stroke and was later diagnosed with breast cancer — the humanitarian aid she asked of Trump has not materialized.
WHO RUNS THE WORLD — USCIS, the Department of Homeland Security agency tasked with administering the nation's immigration system, has a newly Senate-confirmed director. Ur Jaddou, the first woman to lead the agency and the daughter of immigrants, was a former colleague of mine during my time at America's Voice. I am genuinely excited for her to lead USCIS and look forward to seeing her reshape the agency into a functioning governing body. Best of luck, Ur!
A DACA RECIPIENT HEADS TO THE OLYMPICS — Luis Grijalva will compete for their home country of Guatemala (instead of the United States) due to their immigration status. The North Arizona University runner will participate in the men's 5000m race this Friday, August 6, at 8:00 am ET. You can read more about Luis's story here.
Tech And More…
FACEBOOK, NOT JUST FOR BOOMERS — If you had your doubts about the future of the social media behemoth, then think again. The Verge recently published an in-depth essay on how delivery (read: essential) workers can find community and organize themselves against robberies and other types of attacks while on the job. This is not my defense of the gig economy. The author of the story shines a light on the challenges faced by individuals working for food delivery apps, but rather a way to recognize some of the digital organizing tactics undocumented immigrants rely on to support each other. As an undocumented immigrant myself, this particular quote resonated with me:
“It’s dangerous. We go without weapons, knife, or razor when going to retrieve a bicycle. It’s like going to war without weapons. As undocumented immigrants, we do not have that right or that facility to carry a weapon as self-defense.”
PRIVATE EYES ARE WATCHING YOU — on the other side of Facebook, the company is allegedly researching ways to peak at encrypted information without actually decrypting it. What does that mean? It means that instead of trying to peak at your encrypted messages (one of the main features, and reasons, driving WhatsApp’s popularity), it would look at other types of encrypted data for targetted advertising. MacRumors has a great write-up, but for the full story, please check The Information.
WHATSAAAAAPPPPP — one more thing on WhatsApp, the service continues to be popular among family and community groups with the goal of keeping relationships alive throughout the pandemic and across borders. If you are like me, then you know that your family has a WhatsApp group for family members, groups where only your cousins are invited, and holiday-specific groups. Unfortunately, some of those groups are also the main conduits of misinformation and fake news — and this story from Neiman Lab highlights some efforts on how to fight back against toxic narratives. By distributing stories throughout WhatsApp, the online publication The Continent has managed to skip the traditional website/blog route and instead focus on delivering trusted news directly to their readers, many of whom use whats app for its low data usage.
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY — Bloomberg reports that a private equity firm is “merging three software companies serving non-profit organizations in a deal worth about $2 billion.” If you have signed a petition, taken action, or donated to a non-profit with a focus on left-leaning causes, then this story is for you. Digital organizing for big organizations relies on software that helps them connect to donors or show funders the impact their programs have. By buying EveryAction and merging it with CyberGrants, Apax partners are consolidating some of the biggest names in progressive tech — which should have advocates, non-profits, and users worried about competition, security, and privacy.
The further consolidation of the technology platforms progressive groups and Democratic campaigns rely on for advocacy and fundraising is a troubling development. It reduces innovation and leaves the progressive movement overly-reliant on a single entity.