Today in an open letter, the LIBRE Initiative, the Kochs’ Latino outreach front group, announced its opposition to policies that over the course of the summer have come to define the Republican Party — policies that outlaw birthright citizenship or call for the mass deportation of immigrants. Executive Director Daniel Garza told NPR that the group will also be watching for “when somebody goes so far beyond the pale,” promising to call those politicians out “without regard to political consequences.”
Call us overly skeptical, but from one of Charles and David’s front groups, this doesn’t exactly pass the smell test.
The “Summer of Trump” has seen more than its share of offensive rhetoric, with nearly all Republicans (including the Kochs’ chosen) echoing the frontrunner’s extreme and distasteful speech on immigrants. Jeb Bush had his “anchor babies” blunder, Ted Cruz joked about swimming across the Rio Grande at the Kochs’ own AFP summit, and more.
These examples beg the question: Is the LIBRE Initiative going to (read: allowed to) call out their fellow Koch groups and Koch-backed candidates? LIBRE’s track record on immigration and other Latino issues has us betting not.
LIBRE itself has even spent millions on the airwaves backing candidates who oppose commonsense immigration reform:
- Cory Gardner: The Koch network, including LIBRE, went all in for Gardner in 2014. But does Gardner support policies that are in the best interests of Latinos? Nope. Garner voted to overturn the president’s recent immigration executive orders.
- Martha McSally: LIBRE was one of McSally’s big backers in 2014, spending $500,000 to buy her a U.S. House seat. But contrary to LIBRE’s claimed mission to support candidates who support Latinos, McSally opposed comprehensive immigration reform.
- Will Hurd: LIBRE, and other arms of the Kochs’ political machine, spent hundreds of thousands to elect Hurd, but just like Gardner and McSally, Hurd is on the wrong side of Latinos and voted to end DACA.
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The LIBRE Initiative loves to say they are working for the best interests of Latinos, but they really advocate for the Kochs’ bottom line. Garza himself testified against DAPA, which protects millions from being deported.
LIBRE’s claims about advocating for the Latino community have been repeatedly undermined by their actions against immigration reform, and this “open letter to all Americans” is no different. LIBRE is just another propaganda arm of the Koch brothers, puppet masters for candidates who back anti-immigrant policies and spew offensive rhetoric.