Betsy DeVos Watch: Secretary of Education speaks at the Young America’s Foundation – an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, pro-capitalist and principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement

On Friday, US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos once again spoke to an audience that shares her ideological positions, the Young America’s Foundation (YAF).

The speech that DeVos delivered was held at Rancho del Cielo, formerly known as the Ronald Reagan Ranch or the Western White House. 

DeVos didn’t really share any new ideas or thoughts, since she mostly talked about freedom, God and again used the phrase “education Cabal” in referring to teacher unions and other organization committed to protecting public education. DeVos also talked about the Education Freedom Scholarships, which is federal education funding that states can apply for and can be used for Charter Schools and other education systems outside of Public Education. 

Beyond the repetitive comments in her speech, what is most important to talk about was who the Secretary of Education was speaking to. The Young America’s Foundation not only embraces deeply conservative values, it actively promotes them on campuses across the country. 

Founded in 1960, at the home of William F. Buckley Jr., YAF has been a leading entity in promoting US imperialism around the world and far right domestic principles. The Young America’s Foundation has been a leader in the anti-Muslim movement even before 9/11, helping to craft the Anti-Muslim playbook.

YAF has always embrace deeply nationalistic and xenophobia values, as is evidenced in their recent statement on President Trump’s immigration reform plan: 

The President’s plans for immigration reform will:

• Fully secure the border
• Protect American wages
• Attract and retain the best and brightest talent
• Prioritize immediate families
• Strengthen our workforce
• Preserve our humanitarian values

The President’s proposal will protect our nation by continuing to add to the 400-plus miles of border wall underway in key locations. 

The proposal will empower immigration officials to protect American communities, increasing their ability to remove criminal aliens and alien gang members. It will also restore integrity to our asylum system and expedite the asylum review process for immigrants.

The President’s proposal will stop the deluge of child smuggling and quickly reunite unaccompanied children with their families back home.

The President’s proposal will put our country’s interest first—like so many other nations do for their own citizens—moving to a merit-based immigration system to protect American workers.

Today, vulnerable Americans are the ones hurt the most by the current immigration system, which undercuts wages and drains our social safety net programs.

The President’s proposal includes the “Build America Visa,” which selects immigrants based on high-skill categories: extraordinary talent, professional and specialized vocations, and exceptional academic track records.

The Young America’s Foundation provides a who’s who list of speakers that students can bring to campus. The list includes John Ashcroft, Ward Connerly, Steven Crowder, Dinesh D’Souza, Newt Gingrich, Jonah Goldberg, David Horowitz, Michelle Malkin, Oliver North, Ted Nugent, Karl Rove, Rick Santorum, Jeff Sessions and John Stossel……just to name a few. These speakers represent the worst of the far right and include war criminals and white supremacists among them.

If it hasn’t been clear to people before, it should be clear that in addition to radically restructuring the US education system in America, Betsy DeVos makes it a point to address organizations that embrace far right politics in order to reassure these entities that she is equally committed to the far right agenda and to rally the base of the far right and white supremacist organizations that are absolutely necessary for the capitalist class (like the DeVos family) to remain in power.