Party vitriol drives rank and file Hispanic voters to independent status due to candidates’ lack of virtue and demonstrated demagoguery.
The Hispanic community with our intense religious and diverse monolithic political structure sadly remains conflicted in today’s political climate. Fortunately, Virginia’s first Hispanic Attorney General Jason Miyares demonstrates a virtuous sensitivity to community concerns like no other.
Of note is his advocacy for the victims of human trafficking by raising awareness and intensely prosecuting traffickers.
Miyares raised the stakes after his successful first ever Virginia bi-partisan human trafficking summit, which was recently held in Richmond and attended by Governor Glenn and First Lady Suzanne Youngkin.
Last week in Tyson’s Corner and with the support of the Northern Virginia Chamber and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as well Fairfax Sheriff Stacey Kincaid and representatives from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Reset 180, Miyares encouraged partnership announcing his new 100% Business Alliance Against Trafficking.
Miyares’s trafficking identification training modules will now be available to Virginia businesses countering issues brought into focus by films like the Price of Freedom that chronicle these crimes against humanity and who to inform.
Responsible individuals can help by promulgating Miyares’s words protecting those sadly being trafficked in our midst by reporting “If you see something, say something.”
Yet what remains problematic are the whataboutisms the 4th Estate frequently uses in their attempt to stifle the actions of the conscientious — willingly extirpating individuals such as Miyares as he uses his civic platform in defense of the public trust.
Sadly, by focusing on cultivating votes rather than virtue, the political instead of the remedy, these enablers among the media demonstrably aid and abet the criminal and the undocumented who all too often are conduits to trafficking.
To that effect, a recent New York Times article Trump is Nothing without Republican Accomplices by Daniel Ziblatt, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University, showcases the lack of moral responsibility throughout history.
Ziblatt reminds us of the demise of interwar democracies in countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile as well as the actions of the French Nazi-sympathizing Vichy government during the German invasion of 1940 by relating conservative leaders lacking the integrity to accepting the outcome of Biden’s presidential election to individuals who could have stopped the February 23rd Spanish coup d’état during assault of parliament in 1981.
Though pointed, Ziblatt perhaps justifies his idea of acceptable activism.
Examining history’s foibles provides needed insight as to how societal breakdowns aid the $150 billion human trafficking syndicate exacerbated by forced Hispanic migration.
History of our southern hemisphere suggests the impact of the Flower Wars of the Aztec Empire and the invasion of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortez initiated the northern migration of the early Aztec called the Mexica.
Arguments can be made whose impact was more significant — was it the Flower Wars capturing hundreds of thousands for human sacrifice or servitude to appease Aztec nobility and their gods? Or their subsequent enslavement by Spaniards?
Nevertheless, the Hispanic community continues to migrate into the U.S. with a fervor. Today about 16.2 percent comprise our national workforce. According to the Department of Defense in 2021, Hispanics or Latinos also composed 17.7 percent of the nation’s active duty forces. Dating back to the Civil War, a total of 61 members of the Hispanic community have been awarded the nation’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Hispanics of note such as The Honorable Bob Unanue the CEO of GOYA foods who served on President Trump and Biden’s Hispanic Prosperity Commission and was co-producer of the child trafficking movie Sound of Freedom, like Miyares continues to make history with selfless actions to protect our youth, promote law enforcement and education.
Another notable Latino, Carlos Del Toro who founded the Virginia company SGB Technology Solutions served in the U.S. Navy for 22 years prior to being selected as nation’s 78th Secretary of the Navy. Del Toro — like other service secretaries — support the U.S. government’s zero tolerance policy on trafficking.
In spite of Ziblatt’s suggestions of irresponsible partisan failure, General Miyares’s actions partnering with law enforcement, business, media and Virginia’s private citizens can help eradicate the existing scourge.
His diligence forced the incarceration of immigrants from El Salvador found guilty in Williamsburg of trafficking Hispanics and minors into forced labor.
Thus the need for moral courage to truly examine the effects of our broken immigration system and the failure to insure all would be citizens are properly but compassionately vetted as Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated and shortcomings affecting democracy examined to protect our most vulnerable.