Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke coming to Mississippi after ICE raids
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke is coming to Mississippi Friday, according to his campaign.
O'Rourke, a former U.S. representative from El Paso, Texas, had taken a break from campaigning after 22 people were gunned down in a Walmart at the city on the U.S.-Mexico border.
O'Rourke's campaign said he will "offer the Jackson, Mississippi, immigrant community support" after federal agents raided chicken processing plants in Morton, arresting nearly 700 people suspected of being in the country illegally.
In a Thursday speech, O'Rourke said immigrants had been "terrorized" in recent days —both by the El Paso shooting, and during the federal raids in Mississippi.
"Six hundred people who came to this country for the privilege of working the toughest, s---tiest jobs, that no one else here would allow their children to work — in chicken processing plants, in picking cotton, in working in the gym, working two or three shifts, maybe making a minimum wage, if they are lucky," O'Rourke said. "Far too often, their immigration status is used as leverage against them to pay them something far less or nothing at all. The kind of modern day bondage that is taking place right now in America."
Details of the visit
According to an email from his campaign, O'Rourke will visit a Hispanic grocery store in Canton at 10:30 a.m.
There had been a second event planned for the afternoon at a Hispanic outreach center run by the Methodist church, but that event was canceled.
"Due to security concerns, Beto will be meeting with families in private," said Lauren Hitt, a campaign spokeswoman.
The raids detained mostly Latino workers in what marked the largest workplace sting in at least a decade. Of those, about 300 were given future court dates and released, but they can't return to work.
O'Rourke, who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2018, has struggled to break into the top tier of Democratic candidates for President.
The New York Times reports that O'Rourke is now framing his campaign "as a moral crusade against" President Donald Trump.
OTHER WAYS TO HELP:After ICE raids: How to help or get help in Mississippi
Contact Giacomo "Jack" Bologna at 601-961-7282 or gbologna@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @gbolognaCL.