| Dear Katy, Ronald Mortensen has spread racist smears about immigrants, declared that undocumented immigrants routinely commit felonies, claimed foreign nationals carry serious disease into the United States and railed against Dreamers – implying most are criminals and demanding all pay restitution for their supposed crimes.1 And he put it all in writing as a fellow for an anti-immigrant think tank that the Southern Poverty Law Center has called a hate group.2 Now, xenophobe-in-chief Donald Trump has nominated Mortensen to lead the U.S. government's efforts to aid refugees – and it's up to us to stop him. Tell the Senate: A racist like Ronald Mortensen has no place overseeing refugee resettlement. Click here to sign the petition. Mortensen has smeared all immigrants as "murderers, identity thieves, gang bangers, and other assorted thugs."3 He is a fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, a favorite organization of racist Trump adviser Stephen Miller that has already funneled other hate-mongers into the administration and which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a hate group for its efforts to demonize immigrants and people of color. Mortensen's work has even been shared approvingly by outright white nationalist figures.4 Only an unabashed racist like Donald Trump would even think of picking Mortensen to be Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, a role that involves overseeing refugee resettlement programs and building strong relationships with people around the world. The Trump administration has sought to impose a bigoted refugee ban and is now sabotaging refugee resettlement through layers of bureaucracy – and appointments like Mortensen – in an attempt to destroy America's legacy of welcoming those fleeing danger and violence.5 The White House has tried to sweep Mortensen's ties to CIS under the rug by focusing on his time at the United States Agency for International Development. But a former USAID coworker said Mortensen's work was unexceptional and far from high-level leadership, and he implied that Mortensen's hate-group affiliations were the real reason he was nominated.6 Democrats have blasted Trump's pick, and Republican senator Jeff Flake has already announced he will oppose Mortensen's nomination.7 We have a chance to keep Mortensen out of office and show that white supremacy ideology is unacceptable, even in the age of Trump – but to do it, we need to make sure every senator knows that a vote for Mortensen is a vote for all of his horrible, racist ideas. Tell the Senate: A racist like Ronald Mortensen has no place overseeing refugee resettlement. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/block_Mortensen?t=7&akid=28843%2E12967895%2ETAyNNS Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Hatewatch Staff, "Trump taps hate group fellow Ronald Mortensen for important post dealing with refugees," Southern Poverty Law Center, May 25, 2018.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Krishnadev Calamur, "Trump's Pick to Lead Refugee Efforts Is a Critic of Immigration," The Atlantic, May 31, 2018.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
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