Imagine that, a Latina Congressional candidate is lying about her connection to Donald Trump. Trump is so toxic that most politicians – especially Democrat candidates – will do everything to make sure there are no connections between them and Donald Trump. Politicians lie to be elected, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Veronica Escobar lies about her connection to Trump. It’s not that Veronica Escobar is lying, but rather how reprehensible it is to me – as an immigrant – that she uses immigrants as fodder for her political career.
In El Paso, Texas, the Democrats hold a stranglehold over the city. For countywide races, the Democrat nomination is usually the ticket to Congress. Veronica Escobar is running for the House of Representatives. She has drawn one viable opponent, Dori Fenenbock, who is also running for the Congressional seat, also as a Democrat. Therefore, the race is for the Democrat nomination, which for El Paso it means an easy win on election night for the Congressional seat. El Paso also happens to straddle the U.S.-México border; thus, it is in the epicenter of the Trump Wall and the immigration reform debate raging across the country.
Immigration is an ongoing debate in local politics but surprisingly to most, the city, although 80% Hispanic is not a “sanctuary city” and the city leaders take great pains to work with immigration officials, as demanded by the Trump administration. The political rhetoric is that the city leadership embraces immigrants, along with other “progressive” measures such as same-sex marriage and access to abortion services, among others.
It is because of this narrative that Veronica Escobar finds herself having to protect the narrative that she supports immigrants while her husband orders them deported.
The problem for Veronica Escobar, and her narrative about supporting the plight of immigrants, is that her husband was appointed to be an immigration judge for El Paso by the Donald Trump administration.
That is the inconvenient fact that Veronica Escobar is desperately trying to hide, so she lies about it.
Responding to a Facebook post, I posted the comment that Veronica Escobar meanwhile “keeps the County financially afloat on the backs of immigrants (jail) while her husband signs the orders deporting them.” I was pointing out that Escobar, while County Judge, supported the federal contract as a revenue source for the County while she was arguing that she supports the plight of the immigrants in the country and is against the Trump administration’s attacks upon immigrants.
Notable, if it were true, but it isn’t. My post demonstrated the hypocrisy of Veronica Escobar using immigrants as a revenue source, while her husband, as an immigration judge was ordering them deported, all while Escobar was arguing her support of the immigrants.
The egregious part, for me, is that her husband is being paid via tax dollars to deport immigrants, while Veronica Escobar needs those immigrants to keep jobs at the jail while she runs for office while she also drew a taxpayer-funded paycheck, all while pretending she was advocating for the immigrants funding her needs. Hence, my “on the backs of immigrants” comment.
But it was a comment to a few Facebook users, which may have gone unnoticed, had it not been for her supporters challenging the veracity of my facts and Escobar chiming in to further the lie that she has no connection to Trump, or his immigrant bashing politics, that got me to write this post.
First, let’s look at the fact that Escobar’s husband was appointed by the Trump administration. The June 16, 2017, Department of Justice announcement; “The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the investiture of 11 new immigration judges…” The release added, “After a thorough application process, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed…” Escobar’s defenders argued that the husband was not appointed because he was nominated by the Barack Obama administration to the post, and it was the bureaucracy that makes it seem as Donald Trump appointed him to bench.
That argument is neither here nor there because regardless of who nominated the husband, it was the Trump administration that appointed him to the bench. Moreover, whether it was Obama or the Trump administration that made the judge appointment, none of that negates the fact that ther husband is ordering immigrants deported.
Escobar responded to my Facebook post with an outright lie. Veronica Escobar wrote:
“FYI, my husband was not appointed by Trump. That is a complete and utter lie — something contrived in order to make me seem like less of a democrat and less of an immigrant rights advocate (and also as as [sic] a falsehood intended to deflect from my opponent’s republican record. What makes me a democrat, by the way, is not my husband’s employment. It’s my voting record.)” [emphasis mine]
I was perplexed by her response because my comment to a Facebook post was not significant enough to merit such a strong denial. At most, less than 1% of the voters would have seen that comment.
So why such a strong response?
It seems that Veronica Escobar takes the connection between her husband and the Trump administration as a serious threat to her candidacy. A September 8, 2017, HuffPost article titled; “Meet The Woman Who Could Be Texas’ First Latina In Congress” by Laura Bassett had an interesting “correction” added to it. The “correction” adds, “CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that President Trump appointed…”
While reading the HuffPost article, the passage, “her husband, a federal immigration judge (confirmed, ironically, by Trump)” seems to have been updated to remove the word “appointed” and replaced with the word “confirmed.” Neither word negates the Trump connection to Escobar. But the HuffPost article demonstrates why Veronica Escobar is so fearful of the optics of her husband deporting immigrants while she runs on an anti-Trump and pro-immigrant rights platform.
Escobar is quoted in HuffPost, “Donald Trump and his rhetoric about immigrants and the border have terrified her and inspired her to run.” Escobar added, “I worry about immigrants.”
But her fears, as she expressed them herself, runs counter to the optics of her husband signing orders to deport immigrants at the behest of the Trump administration.
When News Channel 9 questioned her about her husband’s job and her support for the County’s jail contract that jails immigrants, about 70% of the federal jail revenues for the County, on August 16, 2017, Escobar responded that she saw “no conflict” between her husband’s job and the jail contract. Clearly, I’m not the only one that sees a problem with running an anti-Trump campaign, while having her spouse draw a paycheck, deporting immigrants targeted by Trump’s anti-immigrant political rhetoric.
Veronica Escobar clearly understands the optics of her husband working for the Trump administration’s immigration policy agenda, while she runs on a platform of being anti-Trump and pro-immigrant. Thus, she lies to create the false narrative that allows her to pretend she is pro-immigrant, while her husband draws a taxpayer check deporting them.
As an immigrant I find that reprehensible.
Escobar is an opportunist, politician and a user. She will use anything and anyone to further her ambitions.
She’s against the “wall” ? Has she forgotten that we’ve had a fence for years ? She doesn’t mention that at all. Is this a Hillary ploy “I am against having a wall but ok with a fence”? Speaking of Clintons, has anyone ever reviewed the 1995 state of the Union speech on Youtibe. If one could show only the words you would swear Trump wrote it. It’s very pro-wall.
Back to Escobar, is she really the correct choice for congress ? Failed policies saddled tax payers with even more taxes for things that would not be subsidized by taxes. The jail budget was hidden until recently. That’s just two issues. She embarrassed herself and the county at a US Senate hearing by reminding the people present that she IS a county judge. Yes she emphasized “I am “. Next she embarrassed the city with publication of the El Paso whorehouse tour and I don’t mean out of business joints. She also stated El Pasoans love Chicos because of the guvmint cheese. As stated she was against jailing of immigrants before she was for it. “I’m a Republican ? People don’t get federal judgeships just because, there has to be a political connection ! Her support by a known friend and used by her, the meow factor posted anti-Semitic innuendo. The meow factor strongly defended the comments as not being as such. Why is that important, not once did she condemn the comments or threatened to not leave a bowl of milk out. She has done such a great representing Juarez at our expense that she is held in very high esteem by the Mexican government.
She USES the kitty to do the dirty work and will state there is no association. Bowl of milk ?
We could do a whole book of why she is the worse choice to go to congress.
She is a USER of people and causes. Anything to get elected. She will use your vote to enhance her career. She will fly like a butterfly to get your vote and sting like a bee to cover her tracks.
Dori has her issues but it’s the best we have.
Veronica Escobar should respond to these questions without obfusction. She should be clear. Why doesn’t she carry her husbands anglo last name, but keeps “Escobar?” Is she a practicing Catholic? Having an immigration federal judge as a husband, a contradiction to Veronica’s political agenda? If successful to be representing El Paso in Congress, what message is sent to other Democrats in both chambers of Congress? Will Veronica be an asset or liability to fellow democrats and to the El Paso community?