On Thursday President Biden commemorated César Chávez Day, a day first observed at the federal level by former President Barack Obama in 2014, and which is also observed each year on March 31 by a number of states — including California.
But both Biden and Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., demonstrated that their proclamations amount to mere empty words.
Born March 31, 1927, Chávez was an American civil rights activist and labor leader who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association.
No matter what your opinion of labor unions in general, or Chávez in particular, he was a real force in mid-to-late 20th century American politics, and seemed to be custom-made for recognition by liberal politicians like Newsom or Biden.
But it didn’t quite work out that way — at least not this year.
Like Biden, Newsom proclaimed Thursday César Chávez Day 2022. But while he was happy to publish a few flowery sentiments (perhaps written by a junior staffer?), he said he couldn’t actually meet with representatives of farm workers.
The official reason for Newsom unavailability was that he was headed south of the border for a much-needed vacation.
But the real reason may be that "the governor has been on the outs with the United Farm Workers union over his unexpected veto of a bill last year that would have allowed mail-in ballots for farmworker union elections," according to columnist Anita Chabria, writing for the Los Angeles Times.
She also observed that the snub was especially bitter given that UFW members knocked on doors on behalf of Newsom during his recent recall election. That election, by the way, was plagued by reports of voting irregularities, in part stemming from its high percentage of mail-in ballots.
But as bad as the optics were for Newsom, they were even worse for Biden.
The crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border began escalating at noon, Jan. 20, 2021, the moment Biden was sworn in.
And this week he announced that it’s about to get worse — a lot worse.
On Wednesday, just in time for César Chávez Day, the administration announced that it would lift the Title 42 restrictions implemented by the Trump administration to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Title 42 was a public health policy that prevented immigrants from entering the United States to claim asylum. That policy had prevented more than 1.7 million asylum-seekers from crossing the U.S.-Mexican border since its implementation in the spring of 2020, according to NBC News.
But that’s all about to come to an end. On César Chávez Day — one day after the announcement the Title 42 would be dropped — a new caravan left Tapachula, Mexico for the trek north to the "Land of Milk and Honey."
So how does that dishonor César Chávez Day?
Despite the Hispanic name, Chávez was a U.S. citizen, born in Yuma, Arizona. And he was no fan of illegal immigration — he didn’t much care for fence-jumpers.
Chávez was aware of something that seems to have gone right over the head of the 46th president: illegal immigration hurts the poor and middle class the most by taking jobs away that otherwise would have been theirs, and handing them to illegals willing to work for lower wages.
Other results of Democratic policies that disproportionately hurt the poor and the middle class include:
- Energy costs at an all-time high
- Consumer-level inflation at a 40-year high
- A green energy policy, which would drive energy costs even higher, while making it less dependable
- A rising crime rate that disproportionately affects the poor
- A supply chain crisis, making even everyday items difficult to find
And we can thank Biden administration as well as state and local Democratic policies for all this and more.
Had Chávez been alive in 2020, there’s every reason to believe he would have been seen sporting a bright red "Make America Great Again" cap.
And Biden wouldn’t have been commemorating César Chávez Day. Trump would have.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter who can often be found honing his skills at the range. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.