NHMC Condemns FCC Commissioners’ Xenophobic Statements

Federal Communications Commissioners Nathan Simington and Brenden Carr have used their positions as leaders of a federal agency to dehumanize and disrespect the immigrant community. At the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), we believe that no human is illegal and that every person deserves dignity and respect. As such, we condemn the Commissioners’ comments and statements following the release of the Affordable Connectivity Program rules and call for higher standards of morality, empathy, and humanity from those who sit on the FCC. The Commissioners’ statements carried a clear anti-immigrant connotation, insinuating that undocumented or differently documented people are to blame for alleged waste, fraud, and abuse in the Emergency Broadband Benefit program (EBB). Contrary to the Commissioners’ politically charged commentary, the technical rule of the new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)–an extension of the EBB program–allowing alternate forms of identification (in addition to Social Security Numbers) is an equitable practice. NHMC does not take it lightly that both Commissioner Carr and Commissioner Simington used the immigrant community as a scapegoat for their political comments, advocating to make it harder for all consumers to access the ACP. All consumers who can be verified as eligible through the existing rules should have the opportunity to access the critical ACP subsidy.

[Brenda Victoria Castillo is President & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition.]