Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast reports that billionaire funders Charles and David Koch will push Congress to enact protections for immigrant youth following Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, with a spokesperson saying that “the Seminar Network is committed to working with and encouraging lawmakers to come together to pass a durable solution into law.” Yes, making sure that undocumented immigrant youth get to stay in the only country they’ve ever known is a bipartisan issue, but you also have every reason to give this development some side-eye.
According to the Daily Beast, the Koch brothers are entrusting this effort to ”its entity that focuses on Latino issues, the Libre Initiative,” a group that “at first glance” does work “that seems like standard efforts in any community outreach project” (think food drives and flu clinics). But in reality, as community advocates have long warned, the initiative “is a wolf in sheep’s clothing to the Latino community.” In fact, the group’s director has a history of criticizing the DACA program, calling it “pandering” and “dangerous” back in 2012. Media Matters has more background:
While Fox News has presented Libre as empowering Hispanics, the group campaigns for policies that would hurt Hispanics. As UCLA political scientist Matt Barreto said, Libre is "definitely trying to get people to vote against their self-interests."
Libre opposes the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which helps Hispanics obtain health insurance; opposes a federal minimum wage increase, which would help more than 6.7 million Hispanics; supports voter ID laws that serve "to disenfranchise Hispanic voters"; and campaigns against Democrats who support immigration reform because of their support for ACA.
According to Brave New Films in The Nation, community members who have shown up for these innocent-looking drives have to give over their information “so the real feeding can begin—feeding them propaganda. The Kochs use the personal information to send them misleading information about conservative candidates and to try to get them to support policies like opposing a higher minimum wage.”
Last year, Libre backed Marco Rubio, who called Donald Trump a “con man” and then ended up voting for him anyway. Yes, when it comes to making sure immigrant youth have the protections they deserve, everyone needs to speak out and show support. But considering the history of a group like Libre, Latinos and immigrant rights advocates have every right to be cautious, vigilant, and ask questions when it comes to protecting vulnerable populations like young undocumented immigrants.