Barrett constituents express concerns about immigration, wealth inequality

NAACP town hall draws overflow crowd despite congressman’s absence

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23 — There was a line out the door last night for a 7th Congressional District town hall hosted by the Lansing NAACP branch.

“As you are aware, we did invite Rep. Tom Barrett here tonight,” NAACP Branch President Harold A. Pope said in introductions at the United Association Local 333 Plumbers & Pipefitters union hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in south Lansing. “He did not come. But what is more important is that you came.”

Speakers touched on a number of issues, some addressing the empty chair left for Barrett, a Charlotte Republican, during a congressional break.

While he has held two structured telephone meetings attended by thousands of constituents, Barrett is one of many Republican representatives not holding in-person town halls. After a slew of angry constituents flooded them during the first congressional recess, Barrett has called out “organized agitators” who he claims have made public town halls unproductive.

One speaker, Mark Goldman from Okemos, suggested “that economic inequality is the root of about all our troubles,” to applause from the room. He suggested that Barrett support lower taxes on the working class and higher taxes on the wealthy.

“When the richest man in the world can influence elections with hundreds of millions of dollars, to me that’s a clear sign that he’s not being taxed enough,” Goldman said, referring to Elon Musk. “He’s not alone.”

Latino activist Lorenzo Lopez called on Barrett “to understand that immigration is not a Latino issue, it’s an American issue.”

“The second-largest American group in this country happens to be Latino Americans,” he said, “60.5 million of us. What we are exhausted about is criminalizing and demeaning our immigrants when, in fact, who is the criminal?”

“The person in the White House is the criminal.”

One speaker, a transgender man who did not provide a name, called out the cost and difficulty of a legal name change, including records like birth certificates. He also expressed concern that the SAVE Act, which Barrett voted for, would prevent him from voting because his legal name did not match his documentation.

“It is very hard to change your name,” he said. “A lot of us do not have money, and a lot of us are trying to support ourselves away from our parents. And I don’t know, if the SAVE Act goes through, if I will be able to vote, because my documentations do not line up.”

“I can’t even afford my student loans right now,” he said.

While Atkinson stressed that the event was intended to be “bipartisan,” the political sentiment in the room was clear: opposition to Barrett and President Donald J. Trump. Some accused Barrett of serving Trump blindly, rather than representing the purple district that elected him over Democrat Curtis Hertel by around 17,000 votes.

The event was also livestreamed on the NAACP Lansing’s YouTube page, where it can still be viewed.

While Barrett did not attend, he did express an interest in meeting with the local NAACP membership, according to Pope. Pope expressed that concerns heard last night would be relayed to Barrett “so that he can do the work in Washington.”

Barrett spokesperson Michael Gordon said this morning that Barrett “is always happy to speak with President Pope,” adding that “they’ve had numerous positive conversations, and President Pope has his direct cell.”

Barrett “hasn’t had a chance to watch the event yet,” Gordon said.