Chairman Ron Johnson
Ranking Member Gary Peters
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs
Dear Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Peters,
The AFL-CIO urges you to oppose to the nomination of Chad Wolf to be United States Secretary of Homeland Security. While unlawfully serving as Acting Secretary, Mr. Wolf has overseen a cruel, discriminatory and dehumanizing agenda that has increased pain and suffering for working families, violated core constitutional principles, and sown fear and violence in our workplaces and communities. Allowing him to continue to lead DHS would actively undermine our national integrity, security and standing in the world.
Mr. Wolf has been a key figure in this administration’s relentless effort to distract from real threats facing our workforce by scapegoating and vilifying immigrants and people of color. Instead of preventing foreign interference in our elections, he has dispatched armed federal agents to quell peaceful demonstrations against systemic racism in our country. Despite unprecedented natural disasters, Mr. Wolf has helped redirect vital FEMA and Armed Forces revenues to fund construction of an ineffective border wall. Rather than protecting essential workers, he has stripped status from TPS holders and disregarded the Supreme Court ruling that the DACA program should be reinstated. And despite alarming COVID-19 infection rates, Mr. Wolf ordered raids, family detention and deportation to continue.
Throughout his tenure at DHS, Mr. Wolf has failed to take the critical steps needed to keep all working people safe amidst the pandemic and failed to reform systems that, for too long, have made workers disposable commodities in the global economy. Instead, while our government shirks its core obligations, DHS has continued to criminalize and target working people based on their earnings, skin color, place of birth, and religious faith. We must not allow our country to go further down this divisive and destructive path.
The Secretary of Homeland Security should understand that real security can only be achieved through humane approaches that respect fundamental rights. The AFL-CIO urges you to vote NO on the nomination of Chad Wolf as DHS Secretary.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs