Dear Friend,

My name is Ivonne, and I'm the new Director of Communications at America's Voice. It's been a little while since we’ve sent you an update, but a lot has been happening in the always-busy world of immigration.

To start:

This week, after months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill that was a massive giveaway to Republicans’ supposed priorities on immigration, like gutting asylum as we know it. Despite being offered what they claim to want, Republicans declared the bill they negotiated "dead on arrival."

As many of you who have watched the immigration issue for a long time know, this is just the latest example of Republicans constantly moving the goalposts so they can walk away from immigration and border legislation. They think demonizing immigrants is the best way to win elections, so they won't even try to pass a real solution.

Also this week, House Republicans tried and failed to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. House Republicans presented zero evidence of the “high crimes” they accused him of, instead using an unconstitutional move to try and impeach the Secretary over political differences. Luckily, their move backfired: the impeachment attempt was so spurious and cynical that the GOP could not secure enough votes (for now).

Finally, in Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott remains in a tense standoff with the U.S. government over whether federal border agents can access part of the international border with Mexico. The Supreme Court already ruled 5-4 against Abbott, but so far, he isn't budging. Right-wingers are escalating the situation by calling on followers to take up arms, creating a real threat to public safety.

In short, the Republican Party is, unfortunately, playing political games and promoting hateful ideas at every turn. Instead of passing real immigration legislation that recognizes the contribution of immigrants and creates a path to citizenship, they are using the issue again and again to inflame supporters and obstruct solutions -- no matter who gets hurt.

Between now and November, we'll be sure to keep you updated on all things immigration and let you know about ways you can make a difference.

Until next time,

Ivonne