Joe Biden has earned Latino support; Let’s be there for him on November 3
Considering the COVID-19 crisis and the future of our courts, we can not afford another four years of Donald Trump.
The continued damage caused by COVID-19 and the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg put into even clearer view the critical importance to Latinos, and the nation as a whole, of electing Joe Biden president of the United States.
The November election is about more than Donald Trump’s unfitness for the highest office which was established early on when he called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “criminals.” It was reinforced by Trump’s unlawful attempts to end the DACA program, exclude people from the Census, and lock up children and asylum seekers at the border. More often than not, it has been the courts that have stopped Donald Trump.
This election is about electing a presidential candidate, Joe Biden, who has demonstrated his commitment to respect for all people and respect for the Constitution. I have witnessed Joe Biden for thirty-five years from the time I was an advocate for the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF), later as counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and subsequently as an appointee in the Clinton and Obama Administrations. Joe Biden has stood for Latinos and the core principles of America.
In 1994, authoring the Violence Against Women Act, Joe Biden empowered immigrant domestic violence victims to self-petition to remain in the United States instead of being left to rely upon the whims of the very partner who was persecuting them to file immigration papers. And Joe Biden stood with Senator Dennis DeConcini to pass temporary protected status for Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and others fleeing persecution in their home countries. Earlier, in 1986, Joe Biden worked to establish federal protections for immigrant workplace rights.
As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden played a major role to promote minority attorneys for federal judgeships. In the 1980s and 90s, minority attorneys were beginning to emerge in the profession and seek appointments to the federal judiciary. While this process typically involved home state senators and the White House, Chairman Biden worked closely with Hispanic and other minority bar association leaders across the country to advance judicial nominees who had the professional excellence and respect of their communities to serve on the federal bench.
As Vice President, Joe Biden saved the lives of untold thousands of children in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador by negotiating international agreements and leading U.S. efforts to promote economic development, strengthen local communities and combat corruption and gangs. Investments in the people and economies of these Central American nations reduced poverty and crime and gave families a reason to remain and not take the dangerous and deadly trek north. The Trump Administration reversed this aid and progress. Based on his record, Joe Biden, as president, will work with Central American leaders with respect and in partnership.
What I have seen of Joe Biden over the past 35 years tells me loudly that he will make history for Latinos because he already has a history with us. Whether it is in domestic or foreign policy, Joe Biden will act out of a respect and understanding of our community, our history and our future. Future judges, on the lower courts as well as on the U.S. Supreme Court, will have a lot to say about our future — equal protection under the law, access to healthcare, the treatment of immigrants. We have to make it possible for Joe Biden to appoint them.
Americans — Latino and non-Latino alike — must come together to make sure that all eligible citizens are registered to vote and then cast their votes on or before November 3. Replacing Donald Trump with Joe Biden in the White House will give our government the leadership to act with dignity and with respect to serve all the people.
An educator and attorney, John Trasvina is the immediate past president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF) and dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law. He was HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity in the Obama Administration and general counsel/staff director of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution.
