Gaither Campaign for Rural America

The terrorist attack in NYC is a tragedy. NYC officials are confident that this is an isolated incident by a lone wolf and there is no ongoing threat. And, yes, we must do more to protect people. How we do that is crucial to do with precision.

Enter the Trump Administration to take advantage of tragedy to sow further division regarding immigrants. He called for slashing immigration while blaming the Democratic Party for being obstructionist.

The contradictions are as ironic as the underlying fallacies behind it all.

First, it was the GOP that stood in the way of immigration reform just four years ago, not the Democratic Party. This reform package would have modernized our antiquated immigration systems, allowing for better tracking of those with expired green cards, opening up resources for more thorough screening, and creating a more safe environment for Americans.

Second, the extreme vetting and Muslim bans that President Trump and many within the GOP have been promoting have been found to be unconstitutional, ineffective, and used in online propaganda to recruit more terrorists like this lone wolf terrorist.

Finally, after the deadliest mass shooting in American history in Las Vegas, many people declared in the aftermath of the tragedy this was not the time to discuss doing something about terror, especially involving firearms. 

If you’ve not been paying attention, we’re still waiting for that debate and shouldn’t be holding our breath for one either. More than likely, the inability for Trump to face what happened in Las Vegas is due to a white man using firearms. He has no problem jumping to attack someone with a different color of skin. Both attackers terrorized Americans.

I’m tired of the double standards. Aren’t you?

• I believe we should be talking about real immigration reform, not immigration deform. We need to be focused on real threats to our country, not some expensive unfunded Trump Wall that would be ineffective at stopping ladders and tunnels. 
• I believe we should be debating how better to track visa overstays, not hyper focused on people who’ve been here for most of their lives, working, paying taxes, and living their lives for decades free from violent crime. 
• I believe we should be talking about real policies that protect people instead of dividing the country on cultural and racial lines. 

That’s what we need in America today. Not more scapegoating, big talk designed to divide and deflect over a failed agenda and no results for the American people.

We need better wages for all Americans. We need more, better paying jobs. We need better schools and to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure.

We need policies that will actually benefit Americans, not further divisions.

That’s what I will stand up to support and fight for in Washington.

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