SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
April, 11 2018, 01:00pm EDT
Contact:
Sam Singleton-Freeman, 414-469-9206, sfreeman@vdlf.org
Ryan's Departure is an Opportunity for the Immigrant Rights Movement
On Wednesday morning, US Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced he would not seek re-election in November and would retire from Congress at the end of his term. Ryan joins at least 42 Republicans in the House and Senate who are not seeking re-election in 2018. Voces de la Frontera issued the following statement:
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin
On Wednesday morning, US Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced he would not seek re-election in November and would retire from Congress at the end of his term. Ryan joins at least 42 Republicans in the House and Senate who are not seeking re-election in 2018. Voces de la Frontera issued the following statement:
"In September 2017, I was one of five people who went on hunger strike for five days in front of Paul Ryan's office to demand he protect immigrant youth," said Fernanda Jimenez, 17, a DACA recipient and member of Voces de la Frontera's student arm Youth Empowered in the Struggle from Racine, Wisconsin. "Paul Ryan said that he supported us and would defend DACA, but he never did one thing for the 800,000 families protected by the program. Ryan has been a liar and a hypocrite when it comes to defending undocumented families and workers. We are still hungry for justice, and while we haven't won the clean Dream Act yet, Paul Ryan's exit means we are one step closer today."
"Paul Ryan read the writing on the wall," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. "He is facing sustained protest from the immigrant rights movement and progressives, as well as strong opposition in November. He has been running away from his constituents and refusing to hold town halls. As Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan has refused to allow a vote on the clean Dream Act, and just passed a disgraceful tax bill that further concentrates wealth at the top. Ryan's retirement provides an opening for a champion for working people to take his place. While he is still in office, our pressure will have more impact because Ryan has nothing to lose. Ryan still has political ambitions, and as a movement, we will continue to call on him to use his time in office to hold a vote on the clean Dream Act, provide relief for refugees stripped of TPS protections, and block Trump's increased funding for escalated deportations. Just last week, ICE arrested 97 people in a military-style raid on a factory in Tennessee. We are witnessing a relentless increase in the persecution of immigrant communities. Ryan's departure is a victory for our organizing, but we have to keep stepping it up, because the times demand it."
"Paul Ryan has enriched himself at the expense of working peope," said Al Levie, a Racine teacher and voter in Ryan's district. "Thanks to the massive uprisings across the country, including the vigorous protests led by workers and immigrants in Ryan's district, people are waking up to who he really is. He is getting out before the people of his district put him out. Goodbye and good riddance."
Voces de la Frontera is Wisconsin's leading immigrant rights group - a grassroots organization that believes power comes from below and that people can overcome injustice to build a better world.
LATEST NEWS
EU Readies to Aim Economic 'Bazooka' at the US Over Trump Tariff 'Blackmail,' Greenland Threats
"The EU cannot simply move on to business as usual," said one member of European Parliament.
Jan 19, 2026
The European Union appears to be done trying to appease US President Donald Trump over his demands to be given control of Greenland.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the EU is considering deploying what has been described as an economic "bazooka" at the US after Trump threatened European countries with new tariffs because of their refusal to cede Greenland, which has been part of the Danish kingdom for hundreds of years.
Specifically, the EU has an "anti-coercion instrument" that the Times writes "could be used to slap limitations on big American technology companies or other service providers that do large amounts of business on the continent."
Enacting this policy would dramatically escalate tensions between the US and its European allies, but some international relations experts think the EU might have little choice given Trump's fixation on seizing the self-governing Danish territory.
"This is just all brute force,” Penny Naas, an expert on European public policy at the German Marshall Fund, told the Times. “The president really wants Greenland, and he's not backing off of it.”
Bernd Lange, a German member of European Parliament, said in a social media post that European leaders could no longer try to appease Trump with concessions given his overt aggression and urged the EU to respond with maximum retaliation.
"New US tariffs for several nations are unbelievable," he wrote. "This is no way to treat partners. A new line has been crossed. Unacceptable. POTUS is using trade as an instrument of political coercion. The EU cannot simply move on to business as usual."
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil also signaled on Monday that European nations are at the end of their rope when it comes to Trump's relentless threats against them, reported Bloomberg.
“We are constantly experiencing new provocations, we are constantly experiencing new antagonism, which President Trump is seeking, and here we Europeans must make it clear that the limit has been reached," said Klingbeil. "There is a legally established European toolbox that can respond to economic blackmail with very sensitive measures, and we should now examine the use of these measures."
European officials said in a report published by Politico on Monday that they were considering fully breaking with the US over Trump's demands of territorial concessions, as they no longer feel that the US can be a trusted international partner.
"There is a shift in US policy and in many ways it is permanent," said a senior European government official. "Waiting it out is not a solution. What needs to be done is an orderly and coordinated movement to a new reality."
Europeans aren't the only ones criticizing Trump's latest actions, as Melinda St. Louis, director of Global Trade Watch at US-based government watchdog Public Citizen, said the president's latest tariffs over Greenland show that he has never cared about protecting American jobs, but only about exerting power.
"Misusing tariff authority over his wildly unpopular and head-scratching imperial claim of right to Greenland shows just how little he cares for the everyday struggles of Americans and undermines the legitimate uses of tariffs," said St. Louis.
Keep ReadingShow Less
As Communities Say 'ICE Not Welcome,' Maine Halts Undercover License Plates for Federal Agents
"Maine is our home," said Democratic US Senate candidate Graham Platner, "and we’re not going to let ICE agents terrorize our communities without resistance."
Jan 19, 2026
As residents of Maine continue to prepare for and speak out against an anticipated surge of federal immigration agents operating in their communities, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows over the weekend suspended the issuance of undercover license plates requested by the US Border Patrol.
With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and others continuing to terrorize Minneapolis, people in Maine have been on high alert since last week, when reports indicated that Maine was next on the target list of President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“These requests in light of rumors of ICE deployment to Maine and abuses of power in Minnesota and elsewhere raise concerns,” Bellows said in a written statement on Saturday.
"We have not revoked existing plates but have paused issuance of new plates," she added. "We want to be assured that Maine plates will not be used for lawless purposes."
"Those wielding Trump's fascist agenda to divide us will fail because in Maine we stand with and will always protect our immigrant neighbors." —Shenna Bellows, Maine Secretary of State
Use of unmarked vehicles has been a hallmark of ICE and Border Patrol operations during Trump's second term, with agents—many of them masked—using the cars to swoop into work sites, bus stops, retail locations, and residential neighborhoods to target people they claim are in the country unlawfully.
"ICE’s lawless tactics are not welcome in Maine," Bellows said in a social media post last week. "In the United States, people cannot be taken off the street by masked agents, thrown in unmarked cars, and disappeared. That’s kidnapping, not law enforcement. Those wielding Trump's fascist agenda to divide us will fail because in Maine we stand with and will always protect our immigrant neighbors."
Ryan Guay, a supervisory deputy for the US Marshals Service District of Maine, told the Portland Press Herald he was surprised to learn of the change and warned that not having "covert status" would negatively impact the ability of federal agents to operate safely in the state.
“This is a drastic change from historical precedent that gives us great concern,” said Guay, who added that next steps were being explored. “I’m engaged with our national office and offices around the country to kind of figure out what to do, as this is not a common occurrence at all,” he said.
On Friday, the ACLU of Maine, where Bellows once worked as executive director, released guidance for community members fearful of the increased presence and harassment by federal agents.
“The ACLU of Maine condemns this agency’s brutal, unlawful, and unprecedented assault on communities across the country,” said ACLU of Maine executive director Molly Curren Rowles. “Every person in the United States has the fundamental freedom to speak out, move around our communities, and gather together. ICE’s reckless actions and lack of accountability are making all people less safe and threatening our basic constitutional rights. This should not be a politicized issue. The United States is not a place where civilians face masked, armed troops and agents in our streets. If we believe in the vision of this country as the ‘Land of the Free’ then we all must get involved to support the rule of law and demand that Congress stop ICE funding and bring the agency under control.”
Large protests against the arrival of more federal agents took place in downtown Portland, the state's largest city, on both Saturday and Sunday. Both Portland and Lewiston, the second largest city in the state, have large refugee and immigrant communities, putting residents in those communities on heightened alert.
Graham Platner, running in the Democratic primary for US Senate, said in a video posted to social media over the weekend that it's vital for Mainers to care for their vulnerable neighbors and understand their rights when it comes to interacting with federal immigration officials.
"Maine is our home, and we’re not going to let ICE agents terrorize our communities without resistance," said Platner.
Maine is our home, and we’re not going to let ICE agents terrorize our communities without resistance.
What to expect in the coming days, and what you can do about it: pic.twitter.com/9N1hIyvcug
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) January 17, 2026
Jacob Ellis, an organizer of weekend protests in Portland, said the message people in the city most want conveyed to ICE agents is this: “You are not welcome here. You will never be welcome here.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Oxfam Warns Record $18.3 Trillion in Billionaire Wealth 'Highly Dangerous' to Democracy
"Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable."
Jan 19, 2026
A report released Monday as global elites convened in Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum found that the collective wealth of the world's billionaires hit a record $18.3 trillion last year, a marker of supercharged inequality that is threatening democracy across the globe.
Oxfam International's report, Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom From Billionaire Power, found that the total number of billionaires worldwide surpassed 3,000 for the first time in history in 2025. Billionaire wealth rose by $2.5 trillion, over 16%, last year. That sum, Oxfam observed, would be enough to eradicate extreme poverty 26 times over.
The new report focuses on the dire political consequences of allowing a small fraction of the world's population to capture so much wealth.
As Oxfam put it:
It is one thing for a billionaire to buy an enormous yacht or many luxury homes around the world. This excessive consumption can be rightly criticized in a deeply unequal world where the majority of people have very little and our planet is suffocating from relentless carbon emissions and waste. But many would reject this criticism, describing it as the politics on envy.
Yet far fewer people would disagree that when a billionaire uses their wealth to buy a politician, to influence a government, to own a newspaper or a social media platform, or to out-lawyer any opposition to ensure they are above the law, that these actions undermine progress and fairness. Such power gives billionaires control over all our futures, undermining political freedom and the rights of the rest of us.
Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International's executive director, said Monday that "the widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable."
“Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable,” Behar said. “Being economically poor creates hunger. Being politically poor creates anger."
Oxfam's report notes that highly unequal countries are seven times more likely to experience forms of democratic backsliding, such as the erosion of the rule of law and the undermining of elections.
Both are currently taking place under President Donald Trump in the United States, which is home to more billionaires than any other nation.
That includes Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who reportedly just dumped a personal record $10 million into the US Senate race on the side of a pro-Trump candidate vying to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Musk was the largest single donor in the 2024 election, deploying his wealth to help propel Trump to the White House for a second term.
“No country can afford to be complacent. The pace that economic and political inequality can hasten the erosion of people’s rights and safety can be frighteningly fast."
Oxfam pointed out that billionaires also use their wealth to influence politics in ways other than bankrolling their preferred candidates. The group observed that "billionaires own more than half the world’s largest media companies and all the main social media companies."
Billionaires are also an estimated 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people, the report states.
"The outsized influence that the super-rich have over our politicians, economies, and media has deepened inequality and led us far off track on tackling poverty," said Behar. "Governments should be listening to the needs of the people on things like quality healthcare, action on climate change, and tax fairness."
Oxfam urged governments around the world to pursue a number of reforms aimed at redressing massive inequities in income, wealth, and political power, including "effectively taxing the super-rich," establishing "stronger firewalls between wealth and politics including by tougher regulations against lobbying and campaign financing by the rich," and creating "realistic and time-bound National Inequality Reduction Plans, with well-established benchmarks and regular monitoring of progress."
“No country can afford to be complacent," Behar said. "The pace that economic and political inequality can hasten the erosion of people’s rights and safety can be frighteningly fast."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular