See below for an eloquent, passionate, spot-on statement by Raheel for Coles Supervisor,
I am extremely hurt and angered that President Trump told four congresswomen of color to “go back to the countries they came from.” As an Immigrant and first-generation American, I love our Country and feel ashamed and sad to see the President become more and more extreme. How can the leader of the free world attack American citizens and motivate others to spew hatred such as, “SEND HER BACK!” I’m disappointed that not a single local Prince William County Republican candidate or elected official spoke out against President Trump’s racist tweets and actions.
Voters have a right to know where a candidate stands on the issues. My opponent is supported by folks who have targeted our immigrant communities. She brags about being endorsed by Ken Cuccinelli, who is currently leading the ICE raids in which children are separated from their families and locked up in detention center cages. I believe the voters should know where my opponent stands on the issues I’ve raised. I also challenge everyone running for local office in Prince William to tell the voters where they stand on these issues.
Prince William is a Majority-Minority county, and the immigrant communities in our county are growing. They own small businesses and homes, which help generate tax revenue. Immigrants also make up a large portion of our county’s workforce. Immigrants and children of immigrants attend our schools, compete academically and are in extracurricular activities at the highest levels. We cannot allow our immigrant communities to continue to be deliberately targeted.
I am fed up with the systemic racism and classism that exists in our county. School boundaries are gerrymandered to benefit affluent families while children of immigrants and people of color suffer. Preferential treatment is given to developers over small business owners, many of which are minority-owned.
As someone who is part of the business community, I know that many business
owners have opted-out of settling in our county. They decided to do so because of the hateful rhetoric and actions against marginalized communities by our local elected officials.
There was a documentary called 9500 Liberty done on our Board of Supervisors. It showed that there were deliberate attempts by Corey Stewart and others to target and drive out our Latinx neighbors from Prince William. Those elected have used terms like “Sanctuary County” to disguise their hate and bias towards Latinx people.
A few years ago, an effort led by Jennine Lawson and company hid behind the guise of “preserving the rural crescent” to resist building a mosque. This effort was a deliberate attempt to keep Muslims from moving into Prince William.
I am for protecting our environment, and I am for having responsible growth. However, I am opposed to ICE raids in our county. I am opposed to ICE detention centers in our county. I am opposed to separating families. I am opposed to detention centers, which are now being run like concentration camps. I’m opposed to any deliberate attempts to deter embracement our growing diversity. I will protect the rights of ALL people, regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or income.
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