FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Contact: Denzel McCampbell, denzel@progressmichigan.org, 313-400-0298
Republican Leadership Uses Tragedy to Further Anti-Immigrant Fearmongering
Hoekstra, Hall use the murder of a Grand Rapids woman to stoke xenophobia and division
MICHIGAN – Last week, a 25-year-old woman named Ruby Garcia was murdered in Grand Rapids, allegedly shot by her intimate partner, who is an undocumented immigrant. Despite research time and again showing that undocumented immigrants actually commit fewer crimes than U.S. citizens, Michigan Republican leadership has joined their MAGA rank-and-file in exploiting this tragedy to spread hatred, fear, and division among our communities.
“This is a tragic case of intimate partner violence, that Michigan Republican leadership has exploited for their own gain while many of their own caucus members voted to protect the rights of convicted domestic abusers rather than the lives of survivors,” said Sam Inglot, executive director of Progress Michigan. “Statements by both Party Chair Pete Hoekstra and Minority Leader Matt Hall have shown they will continue to use any and every excuse to divide our communities and capitalize on tragic situations while ignoring their own records on the issue. We have real problems to solve with our immigration system and Republicans both in Michigan and nationally have exactly zero practical solutions to address it because they’re only interested in power for themselves and their donors, not passing laws that make our communities better.”
Last year, an overwhelming majority of the Republican Caucus in the Michigan Legislature voted against legislation aimed at protecting survivors of domestic violence from their abusers.
“From Marquette to Monroe, immigrants make important contributions to Michigan communities, and we cannot continue to let MAGA Republicans in Michigan and across the country scapegoat them for their own political purposes,” Inglot continued. “We all want to live in a safer world, but spreading hatred and fear to divide our communities and continuing to dehumanize a group of already-marginalized people will only put more people in danger and keep us further away from real solutions.”
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