| Dear Katy, Even Republican members of Congress saw through Trump's fear-mongering and embarrassed him by rejecting his declaration of a state of emergency at the southern border. So now, the Trump administration is fostering and playing up a sense of crisis in order to justify his authoritarian power grab – orchestrating a nightmare scenario by misallocating resources for political gain. The Senate should be resisting Trump's racist campaign of terror against migrants and holding the perpetrators accountable. But instead, it is poised to approve Ronald Vitiello – one of the key players in the Trump policy of tearing families apart – as the permanent head of ICE.1 The Senate could vote on Vitiello's nomination any day now, but some Republicans are wavering after the ICE employees' union expressed concerns. We need to speak out now. Tell the Senate: Reject Ronald Vitiello's nomination as permanent head of ICE. Click here to sign the petition. There are thousands of children still in detention at this moment thanks to Ronald Vitiello. We've watched ICE tear gas mothers, children and even toddlers in diapers, children die of severe neglect in ICE and CBP custody, and border agents turn away thousands of migrant refugees escaping violence. We've also watched the Trump administration sabotage the asylum process, divert funds, and illegally deploy the military to the border – all to manufacture a sense of crisis that serves Trump's racist agenda. Ronald Vitiello, as the acting director of ICE since June 2018, is a key cog in this despicable campaign who:2 - Implemented and defended Trump's family separation policy. As acting head of ICE, he carried out Trump's orders. He tried to downplay and minimize the horror of separating children from their families in media appearances, and told senators that the policy would continue.
- Characterized immigrants in a racist way as bearers of crime and disease and called Democrats the "NeoKlanist Party." Vitiello also participated in an event hosted by FAIR, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center deems a hate group.
- Oversaw a racist and deliberately disorganized agency. No person who lost track of children and cannot locate and return them to their family deserves to stay in their job. Even the ICE employees' union – no friend to immigrants – expressed concerns about Vitiello's competence to lead the agency.
It is awful that the concerns of the ICE employees' union bothered some Republican senators more than Vitiello's role in separating families – but it gives us a window to prevent him from being confirmed if we act now. Tell the Senate: Reject Ronald Vitiello's nomination as permanent head of ICE. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/vitiello-ice?t=9&akid=32115%2E12967895%2EBm4axQ Thank you for speaking out, Nicole Regalado, Campaign Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Geneva Sands, "ICE director nominee in limbo after criticism from union," CNN, Feb. 13, 2019.
- America's Voice, "America's Voice to Senate: Reject Nomination of Ronald Vitiello – Defending and Implementing Family Separation Should Be Disqualifying," Nov. 15, 2018.
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