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Latino Union
The Latino Union has received $480,000 since 2009 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, including its most recent grant (FY 2020-2021) of $45,000.
The Latino Union has been involved in the push for abortion, homosexuality, Marxism and a member of several pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ organizations for a very long time. In 2012, the Reform CCHD Now coalition put together a damning report on the Latino Union regarding these activities, including its memberships in Jobs with Justice and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the Latino Union has never lost a dime of funding for it.
Membership in those two organizations alone oblige the CCHD to refuse funding to the Latino Union, and yet the funding continues. Now, we have discovered that the current executive director of the CCHD is a member of a local Socialist Political organization and Latino Union’s memberships have expanded to two other organizations that are just as bad, if not worse, than the previous two.
Executive Director is a Socialist
The Executive Director for Latino Union is Miguel Alvelo Rivera.
The thing is, Rivera is a member of the thoroughly Marxist Chicago Movimiento Socialista de Trabajadores (MST), which means, “Workers’ Socialist Movement.”
In August of 2014, Chicago MST posted the following photo of Rivera (linking directly to his facebook page) wearing an MST t-shirt. Commenting on the photo, MST wrote:
“This morning our colleague Miguel Alvelo-Rivera (Chicago MST) participated in the panel “International Solidarity” at the Summer School 2014 of Solidarity- Chicago. In it we discussed the historical changes of the international solidarity movements for the independence of Puerto Rico and what those changes represent. Earrings to our video.”
In August of 2016, MST posted a picture of Rivera giving a talk, saying:
“Our compa Miguel Alvelo speaking a bit of historical context in the discussion Understanding Puerto Rico Humanitarian Crisis with Chicago Boricua Resistance.”
On July 30, 2017, Rivera is identified as “Comrade” by MST, which says: “Our Comrade Miguel Alvelo Rivera speaking about Promise, the evictions and gentrification of our neighborhoods in Chicago and on the Island.”
On Sept 20, 2017, Rivera posted on his own facebook page, “Long live free and socialist Puerto Rico.”
It’s important to note just how Marxist MST-Chicago truly is. Given Rivera’s membership in MST and his leadership at the Latino Union, there is zero doubt that the Latino Union is being run by a committed Marxist.
For instance, MST posted this picture of a little girl hugging Lenin’s book titled “The Emancipation of Women,” with the words below saying, “The Revolution Begins at Home.”
In this post, MST published a picture of Karl Marx with the words, “For this Christmas we do not want gifts, we want the means of production.”
There are dozens of pictures and posts along these lines, but this suffices to make the point; MST is a Revolutionary and Marxist organization, and the head of the Latino Union is a member.
Latino Union is a member of several Pro-abortion, Pro-LGBT, Marxist Organizations
The CCHD absolutely forbids organizations from membership in organizations acting against Catholic teaching. In an FAQ on the USCCB website, the CCHD directly answers the question about whether grantees may be members of coalitions that oppose Catholic teachings. In answer, the CCHD firmly stated, “CCHD will not fund groups that are knowingly members of coalitions that have as part of their organizational purpose or coalition agenda, positions or actions that contradict fundamental Catholic moral and social teaching.”
Despite this requirement, however, the Latino Union is a member of four organizations that are actively promotion abortion, homosexual and transgender ideologies, and Marxism: Jobs with Justice, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Hispanic Federation.
Latino Union Membership in Jobs with Justice
The Latino Union is a member of the Chicago chapter of Jobs with Justice.
According to Chicago Jobs with Justice’s tax form 990, JwJ collects membership dues, which strongly suggests that TCWC is financially supporting JwJ.
Both the National Jobs with Justice and the Chicago chapter of Jobs with Justice are pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ organizations.
On June 26, 2022, two days after the day the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Chicago JwJ posted an article about unions ripping the “vile and discriminatory” abortion ruling.
On June 26, 2016, Chicago Jobs with Justice hosted an event, supporting involvement in the LGBTQ Pride Parade.
On June 24 of 2022, the National JwJ issued a public statement as an organization, slamming the decision as “reprehensible.”
In August of 2020, JwJ’s executive director, Erica Smiley issued a statement on the JwJ website regarding Joe Biden’s pick of Kamala Harris as his running mate, demanding that “the campaign must fight for access to reproductive health care, including abortion.”
Also in 2020, JWJ announced that it was joining a massive abortion effort called All Above All. In an article for Women’s Media Center, JWJ executive director Erica Smiley was interviewed. She stated in this article, “Demanding abortion coverage and overturning Hyde is step one for us,” Smiley says, also noting that abortion coverage advances racial justice too. “That’s essential for women of color to actually be supported and get the resources they need to thrive.”
The article goes on to state, “Jobs with Justice’s key demands of the Biden administration and Congress, as both try to move forward on a relief package, include lifting the Hyde Amendment, a policy that restricts Medicaid coverage of abortion care.”
All* Above All’s website confirms that JWJ is a coalition member:
JWJ’s recent social media is rabidly pro-abortion. Take, for instance, this January 22, 2021 JWJ Facebook post calling for “fighting for Abortion Justice for all of us.”
Also, this May 10, 2021 Facebook post from JWJ calls for the end of Hyde restrictions on federal abortion funding:
This example from JWJ’s Facebook feed on September 1, 2021 decries the Texas abortion restrictions and states that “reproductive justice IS economic justice.”
Latino Union Membership in the Hispanic Federation
Latino Union is a member of the Hispanic Federation, which says on its membership page, “Together with our Member Agencies, these community-based organizations help us reach Latinos across the country to provide impactful and long-lasting support.”
The Hispanic Federation is not only pro-abortion, but its promotion of homosexuality and transgenderism borders on the pornographic.
On the Hispanic Federation’s website is a list of advocacy programs engaged in by the Federation itself. One of those program areas is “health,” wherein the Hispanic Federation states its goal to advocate for sexual and reproductive health “and rights.”:
“Hispanic Federation has taken a national leadership role in raising awareness of Latino health disparities and promoting strategies to improve Latino health as well as increasing Latinos’ access to affordable and quality healthcare.
Our portfolio is anchored by three central goals:
Scrolling down to the “Advocating for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights” portion of this page reveals that Hispanic Federation is explicitly working to promote unrestricted access to abortion, contraception, and comprehensive sex education.
The Hispanic Federation’s advocacy for abortion goes back to at least 2016, when it published an article titled “Latina Reproductive Health on Trial.” In the article, Hispanic Federation complained about medical quality standards being imposed on abortion facilities, saying that such legislation would “make it impossible to secure an abortion in” Texas. The president of the Hispanic Federation, José Calderón, commented on the attempt by Texas to restrict access to abortion, saying:
“The fact is that anti-choice activists are getting bolder and savvier in their attempts to curtail how women control their bodies … Reproductive health is critical to our families and communities and we can’t allow legislatures to circumvent the law of the land.”
In May of 2022, the Hispanic Federation directly called on Congress to pass pro-abortion legislation. In the press release, the current president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation said:
“Hispanic Federation calls on Congress to pass legislation that will uphold our reproductive rights and represent the majority of American voters who believe that access to reproductive abortion healthcare should be legal. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it will cause immeasurable damage to our civil rights. … Hispanic Federation will continue to fight for access to comprehensive reproductive care with dignity and justice for everyone in our communities, regardless of what the Supreme Court decides.”
On June 24, 2022, the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Hispanic Federation “Vowed” to fight for women’s “right” to have an abortion. Stated in the first paragraph of the press release the “Hispanic Federation condemns this decision and once again calls on Congress to immediately pass federal protections for abortion rights.” The opening line of Hispanic Federation president Frankie Miranda’s statement declares:
“We are outraged by the Supreme Court’s decision today, which ended nearly 50 years of federal constitutional protections for abortion rights.”
In addition to fully committing itself to the promotion and decriminalization of abortion, fighting to create absolute, unrestricted access to the murder of preborn children, the Hispanic Federation is also deeply committed to the promotion of the vilest forms of sexual debauchery. The Hispanic Federation runs an annual LGBTQI+ festival called “Fuerza Fest,” which is full of the most disgusting displays of degeneracy imaginable. On the Fuerza Fest website, in the upper left corner is a logo showing that it is a project of the Hispanic Federation. And on the bottom of the page, it shows that the website is the property of the Hispanic Federation and indicates the Hispanic Federation as the contact point for the program.
The “About” page for Fuerza Fest says that the annual festival was created by the Hispanic Federation in 2016.
A few screen captures from the Fuerda Fest “memories” page (which contains video of various performances throughout the years) is enough to illustrate just how thoroughly disgusting this activity is. Some of the images contained in these videos were so bad, we couldn’t put them in this report.
Latino Union Membership in the National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Latino Union is a member of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON). This network is an alliance of organizations dedicated to helping day laborers, and Latino Union is clearly identified as a member on the NDLON website.
In order for an organization to be a member of NDLON, the organization is required to pay dues. Organizations with an operating budget of less than $100,000 pay $150 in annual dues, whereas organizations with an operating budget of more than $100,000 are required to pay $300 in annual dues. According to Latino Union’s latest tax form 990, their annual expenses are well over $100,000, meaning they pay $300 in annual dues.
Ever since the June 24 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, NDLON has been on a tear, vowing to fight for abortion as a “right,” and denouncing any restriction on the legalization of or access to abortion. On the same day Roe was overturned, NDLON posted a picture of a tattooed middle finger saying “F*** SCOTUS, FUND ABORTION.”
On July 15, 2022, NDLON called for people to register for “Operation Save Abortion.”
On June 26, 2022, NDLON fully advocated for organizing and mobilizing for “abortion rights.”
On June 27, posting a picture of the “Green Scarf” pro-abortion movement in Argentina with the caption “In front of the US Embassy in repudiation of the ruling against abortion,” NDLON formally declared: “The Reproductive Justice movement is international! We must act in solidarity across borders. Only through collective action and solidarity, can we win.”
In addition to bring radically pro-abortion, NDLON has a clear and public position promoting homosexual and transgender ideologies..
On its “Alliance Building” page, NDLON lists numerous areas of partnership, including LGBTQ. The intended result of such partnerships is “deepening our understanding of internal structures of oppression based on sexual orientation and gender identification.”
In a press release from October 11, 2011, NDLON expressed its concern over LGTBQ immigrants who might be affected by the Se Communities deportation program. The release quoted Monica Enriquez-Enriquez of Streetwise and Safe, an LGBTQ activist organization, “On this National Coming Out Day, we recognize that LGBT immigrants need more than acceptance from family, schools, and neighbors to be “out”: they need to be free from profiling, detention, and deportation.” The release celebrated “a historic confluence of movements for LGBTQ rights and migrant rights.”
Another press release published October 1, 2014, advocated use of executive action to protect LGBTQ immigrants. The article criticized then-President Obama for not doing so, and quoted a spokesperson from NDLON as saying “We welcome Congressional support for the inclusion of protections for undocumented LGBTQ immigrants in executive immigration action and more voices pressing the President to act.”
Latino Union Membership in the National Domestic Workers Alliance
The National Domestic Workers Alliance identifies Latino Union as one of its affiliates. Even though the “Chapters and Affiliates” page contains a disclaimer which says that the “views expressed on this website or otherwise by the National Domestic Workers Alliance do not necessarily reflect the views, positions or policies of NDWA affiliates,” the disclaimer does no good to protect the organization from the CCHD guideline prohibiting membership in such groups.
All organizational affiliates of NDWA are required to pay annual dues, meaning that organizational membership in NDWA includes financial support for NDWA activism. According to NDWA’s Affiliate Manual, affiliates with an operating budget below $250,000 pay $50 every year. Affiliates whose operating budgets are between $250,000 and $500,000 pay $100 every year. Affiliates with operating budgets between $500,000 and $1 million pay $150 every year, and all others pay $250 per year. In 2020, Latino Union’s operating expenses were listed at $723,000, meaning it’s annual dues paid to NDWA would have been $150.
With this in mind, there is no mistaking the fact that NDWA is a radically pro-abortion organization, which makes it impossible for any CCHD grantee to be a member.
And to show that NDWA’s promotion of abortion well pre-dates this grant, NDWA tweeted in 2016 its solidarity with Poland in standing AGAINST abortion bans.
In 2018, NDWA tweeted “Rise up for Roe!”
In June of 2019, NDWA said that abortion bans harm women’s health and their dignity.
In June of 2020, NDWA publicly supported the fight against Louisiana’s anti-abortion law saying, “The right to reproductive care means nothing unless ALL women can live full self-determined lives.”
On June 24, 2022, the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, NDWA published a tweet calling for readers to donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds to “show solidarity” by providing “direct financial support for abortions.”
That same day, NDWA issued a vision statement regarding its entire alliance, declaring that “the domestic worker movement will continue to fight for a world where everyone has access to the full spectrum of health care, including abortion.”
On June 28, 2022, NDWA claimed that “Abortion is healthcare.”
On July 11, 2022, NDWA called abortion a “fundamental right.”
But NDWA’s activities in fighting for access to abortion isn’t limited to mere social media screeds. NDWA has taken active initiatives in support of abortion. At some point, NDWA created a pledge card for people to sign saying, “Stop the Abortion Bans!”
During the Trump administration, NDWA created a petition to stop blocking immigrants and refugees from accessing abortion.
In 2021, NDWA sign onto a letter calling for protection of access to abortion.
Conclusion
The Latino Union represents everything that is wrong with the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. It is run by a committed Marxist who is tied in with the MST socialist organization, and it is a member of four national organizations that are 100% committed to expanding the grave immorality of abortion, homosexuality and transgenderism.
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