| Dear Katy, Some are fleeing death threats against themselves or their children. Others want to escape some of the highest murder rates in the world. Most seek what we all seek: a job, a way to feed their family or the hope of a better life. A huge number are senior citizens or small children. Day after day, mile after mile, in 90 degree heat, they walk.1 Yet Donald Trump insists the migrant caravan from Central America is an invasion force of "criminals" and "Middle Easterners," without the slightest bit of evidence for his racist lies.2 This week's attempted attacks on Trump's political enemies shows that his reckless lies and incendiary rhetoric are dangerous. His vitriol has turned toward the caravan as a way to gin up his supporters before the midterms. We need to remind the media that we expect them to call out Trump's lies, and let them know that we'll have their backs when they do. Tell mainstream media outlets: Push back on Trump's lies about the Central American migrant caravan. Click here to sign the petition. For years, people fleeing horrific conditions in Central America have banded together for safety and headed north. Facing homelands and hometowns with some of the highest murder rates in the world, groups leave every few weeks. One caravan of migrants is not an invasion or a crisis for the United States. Media coverage of this particular caravan that replicates or elevates Trump's talking points serves only to boost his nativist fear-mongering and distract from the real issues facing the country as we head into the midterms. The media should be reporting that there is an ongoing crisis for the people of Central America that does not have simple solutions. They should remind Americans of our role in contributing to instability in Central America by overthrowing governments, fueling civil wars, mounting a flawed "War on Drugs" and pursuing a reckless policy of mass deportations of U.S. gang members.3,4 They should be reporting that we have a system for processing asylum requests at the border and letting asylum seekers begin to build lives for themselves in the United States while their cases proceed. They should be reminding readers and viewers that Trump's attacks on those systems have created long waits, overwhelmed immigration judges and the family detention and separation crisis. They should be calling Trump's tweeting out as a craven strategy to influence the midterms and refusing to play into his hands.5 Tell mainstream media outlets: Don't let Trump perpetuate lies about the Central American migrant caravan. Click here to sign the petition. It is unacceptable but not surprising that mainstream media outlets are tuned in and so responsive to Trump's messaging. There is an entire right-wing media ecosystem, including FOX, Sinclair Broadcasting, online propaganda outlets and AM radio shows, which incubates and amplifies it. That ecosystem's relentless claims of liberal media bias – though false – have encouraged mainstream outlets to give far too much room to conservative viewpoints, no matter how unfounded.6 And the media itself has been a target of some of the worst of Trump's vitriol, leading to CNN being one of the targets of this week's attacks. Mainstream media outlets know nativist race-baiting is Trump's strategy.7 We have to make sure they refuse to help. While conservatives demand favorable coverage, we need to speak out and demand that the mainstream media provide fair and objective reporting on the caravan, immigration and the issues really influencing voters ahead of the midterms. Tell mainstream media outlets: Push back on Trump's lies about the Central American migrant caravan. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/media_migrant_caravan?t=8&akid=30475%2E12967895%2EPDMyyp Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - David Agren, "'God will decide if we make it': Central American caravan presses northward," The Guardian, Oct. 23, 2018.
- Ryan Bort, "What to Know About the Migrant Caravan (Beyond Trump's Lies)," Rolling Stone, Oct. 22, 2018.
- Leon Krauze, "Trump vs. the Caravan," Slate, Oct. 22, 2018.
- Roque Planas and Ryan Grim, "Here's How The U.S. Sparked A Refugee Crisis On The Border, In 8 Simple Steps," HuffPost, Nov. 5, 2014.
- Joan Walsh, "Trump's Midterms Strategy Is Fear, Lies, and (White) Nationalism," The Nation, Oct. 23, 2018.
- Matthew Yglesias, "The hack gap: how and why conservative nonsense dominates American politics," Vox, Oct. 23, 2018.
- Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey, "Trump and Republicans settle on fear – and falsehoods – as a midterm strategy," The Washington Post, Oct. 22, 2018.
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