"I strive to represent what it means to be a proud American. Hundreds of millions of us can protect the American way of life, the American Dream, and wear our citizen’s uniforms with pride, and we can do it all without stoking division and fear." – Dr. Bob Lorinser
MARQUETTE, Mich. – My campaign is committed to honesty and operating with integrity. I promised constituents I would speak truth over fallacies at every opportunity. Jack Bergman’s words and actions make these opportunities all too frequent. His recent Tweet regarding payment to undocumented immigrants whose families were forcefully separated is riddled with fallacies.
Families in America are struggling to pay their bills. This plight is a real issue here in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Connecting this genuine struggle to the potential remedy of a huge mistake by the government on immigration is misleading, dangerous, and morally wrong.
The payment in reference is a suggested settlement to end hundreds of claims filed against the U.S. Government. The previous administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy resulted in 5,500 children forcefully separated from their parents, 1,000 of whom are still not reunited. In 2018, a federal judge ordered the government to rescind the policy and reunite families, saying the practice “shocks the conscience” and violates the Constitution. I agree.
To be clear, the amount of the settlement deserves scrutiny and should be debated, but it must be done within an honest context.
Our immigration system is broken. Both sides of the aisle would agree it needs significant reform. But, Jack isn’t addressing this issue. He is fear-mongering. It’s troubling to see overt attempts to connect the real challenges faced by residents of Michigan with a completely separate issue of failed immigration policy. Both need to be addressed, but not by casting blame on others. To truly improve immigration and secure our borders, we must demand more from Congress.
Our inhumane and immoral policy of forcefully separating children from their parents led to lawsuits that our government is now forced to address. If we did it humanely, there would be no payment – no issue. Yet, here we are. Jack should highlight the abhorrent action taken by our government so we can learn from our mistakes. Separation was wrong. It is still wrong. We are now facing the repercussions of bad policy.
Shame on Jack Bergman for distorting the truth.
Maybe my opponent’s actions are an act of political cover for his unfortunate and inevitable “No” vote on the upcoming bipartisan infrastructure framework. Perhaps he’s distracting from his lack of support for universal pre-kindergarten coverage, financial support for childcare, or the expansion of hearing coverage for Medicare recipients. All of these policies would help our constituents in Northern Michigan attain the American Dream.
I strive to represent what it means to be a proud American. Hundreds of millions of us can protect the American way of life, the American Dream, and wear our citizen’s uniforms with pride, and we can do it all without stoking division and fear.
