NM Democrat Senate candidates use migrant children as political props

This week, the two Democrats seeking the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate in New Mexico, Rep. Ben Ray Luján and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver have been pounding the immigration issue hard, making outlandish accusations against President Donald Trump, and frivolously claiming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is “assaulting” people. 

On Tuesday, Ben Ray Luján appeared on MSNBC’s trashiest program, “The Rachel Maddow Show” to talk about migrant detention centers. In characteristic fashion, Luján blurted out as many leftist talking points as he could possibly muster up right out of the gate, claiming President Trump is “intentionally mistreating [immigrant] kids, separating them and putting them in the most inhumane conditions.” 

Luján appeared quite nervous as he repeated his lines, but continued with accusations of migrant detention facilities he has visited being “overcrowded,” with kids living “in cages.” He repeated the need for Democrat presidential candidates and members of Congress to visit these detention facilities and see the alleged “inhumane treatment.”

After the interview, Luján posted a clip of his TV spot on Twitter, with the caption “Make no mistake: President Trump created this humanitarian crisis – and under his watch, children are dying and families are being separated.” Multiple constituents clapped back at this frivolous claims. One user writing “The mistake is you decided to play on people’s emotions while doing nothing when caravans were heading to [the] USA. Your inaction to lean forward and proactively work for a solution is apparent. Let it all go horribly wrong and blame it on Trump. People are not as dumb as you think.” 

On Sunday, Maggie Toulouse Oliver sent out a fundraising email titled “A brief note about ICE” which lobbed wildly untrue statements against President Trump and ICE officials. The email said:

“I wanted to take a moment to write to you about the ICE raids that the Trump administration had authorized to begin today.

Terrorizing those seeking a better life in our country is inhumane and goes against our values as Americans. Though these ICE raids have been temporarily delayed, this delay still uses the fears of families fleeing violence and poverty as part of Donald Trump’s political games.

Let me be clear: ICE should never assault people fleeing violence and poverty. We must keep fighting until ICE stops separating families, caging children, and undermining American values.

I will always stand up to dangerous, xenophobic, and racist actions by the Trump administration — and by anyone else who stokes fear or terror in our communities.”

Maggie linking President Trump and border patrol agents to terrorists and assailants is exactly the hateful rhetoric that got President Trump elected in the first place. And by demonizing law enforcement officials, she is putting them in harm’s way, and hindering them from carrying out the jobs they were hired to do: “protect America from cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.” 

Also, by claiming the Trump Administration is “caging children,” with a link soliciting contributions a few lines down, it’s obvious Maggie is using the misfortune of illegal migrant children as a political prop. Where was he outraged when President Barack Obama placed children with human traffickers?

I have heard an awful lot of whining and crying from Ben Ray and Maggie, but have yet to see a single detailed policy on how they intend to fix the border crisis. By throwing cheap punches at President Trump and his administration, these candidates, who look to serve in “the most deliberative body” in the land, are underlining why they both lack the maturity and honor that is necessary for a U.S. Senator. As Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver has helped loosen voting laws, opening elections (such as her own to the U.S. Senate) to voter fraud. As a U.S. Representative, Ben Ray Luján has not passed a single bill of his own to be signed into law in his entire decade of service, merely getting by on the coattails of his father, former New MExico Speaker of the House Ben Lujan.

New Mexico deserves better in their U.S. Senator than someone who would do anything to get elected, even use the misfortune of immigrant children to raise campaign cash. That is not what New Mexico stands for.