As Ohio Republican Senate candidates Bernie Moreno and JD Vance malign, misrepresent, and demonize hard working Ohioans from immigrant backgrounds, the Ohio Immigrant Alliance urges all people of faith and good conscience to denounce these attacks.
Bernie Moreno, a car salesman (some used) from Cleveland, entered the crowded GOP primary race for Sen. Rob Portman’s seat earlier this year and the vote is scheduled for May 2022. Moreno (pictured above) was born in Bogotá, Colombia, moved to the US at age five and became a citizen at 18.
A self-proclaimed “pro-Trump legal immigrant,” the 54-year-old Moreno believes Democrats allow immigrants to cross the Mexican border for their vote, which is a myth.
Nonetheless, this so-called Democrat plot Moreno rails against also suggests he believes in the “White Extinction theory.” Now he’s spending $4 million on an ad campaign running this month and into January attacking those immigrants who sought Ohio for its plethora of low-paying servicesector jobs.
He “exclusively” told Breitbart his ad campaign is the most expensive political ad campaign ever in an Ohio primary, which the Free Press could not verify.
“They’re changing our nation. Let’s stop them,” Moreno says during the commercials. “Build the wall and make English our official language.”
Moreno penned an op-ed for the Dispatch recently where he rightfully condemned Mexican drug cartels, but fails to also demonize America’s insatiable hunger for illicit drugs which fuels the cartels.
In response to Moreno’s rich-boy attacks against the working poor, Ohio Immigrant Alliance organizer Maryan Sy points out how white immigrants also came to Ohio seeking labor that was backbreaking and paying pennies.
“Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s campaign wants to initiate fear into the hearts of Ohioans,” said Sy. “We know that America is a nation built by immigrants, whether they came by choice or by force. From the 17th century when Europeans came to construct canals in Ohio through today, people born in other countries have contributed to the Ohio economy in a positive way. We should embrace and accept that we are a nation born from immigrants.”
“Hillbilly to the Hamptons” JD Vance is also campaigning on a racially charged anti-immigrant stance, as he too has sold-out to MAGA, even though he admits to not voting for Trump in 2016. Vance over the summer said the US could become a “refugee camp” for Afghanistan, and said both “legal and illegal” immigration has wrecked working-class America.
Lynn Tramonte, Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, says “true leaders bring people together, not pit us against each other.”
“When you insult and denigrate immigrants, you are attacking our parents, co-workers, neighbors, family members, and friends,” she says. “Ohioans contributing to our state’s health, economy, food supply chain, and social fabric come from all backgrounds, including other countries. Immigrants are business owners, factory and farm workers, and medical professionals. Students, children, and future Ohio leaders.
“I want to be clear: this is not about what immigrants do for Ohio, although their contributions are immense. It’s about who we are as Ohioans. These attacks show an ugly side of Ohio that needs to be eradicated, not elected into office.
“Moreno and Vance’s depictions of immigrants are rooted in stereotypes and insulting to all Ohioans…There can be no political space in this state for hate.”
Meanwhile, the disaster in neighboring Kentucky is showing, in sad and desperate detail, how the lives of immigrants and U.S. born Americans are linked.
Immigrants – including multiple members of individual families – are among the dead. Many have lost homes and businesses.
Ana Massó, a pastor’s wife who is collecting donations for families, said: “The Latino community was hit hard by this tragedy. Many don’t know where to go or who to ask for help. I really don’t know where do we go from here.”
