In a letter to Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, a major ally of President Trump’s, who recently announced U.S. Postal Service operations would be completely transformed just in time for the 2020 presidential election, 192 House Democrats called for the reversal of the new policies.

Signers say the newly-implemented policies have worsened the financial crisis facing the Postal Service that has increased widespread delays and instances of undelivered mail.

And not just that, Trump has essentially admitted he is trying to do away with the USPS for his own political gain. To win by any wins necessary, even if it means derailing the system that a historic majority of people will use to vote this year because of  the COVID-19 pandemic.

But merely sending a letter his way is not going to change anything and Latinx leaders know this. 

The only way for the integrity of this election to remain intact is through widespread advocacy and raising awareness across all platforms.
 

Less than 100 days before the election, the U.S. president is saying he is unwilling to make a deal with Democrats to fund the USPS, because it will prevent universal mail-in voting.

“Now they need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting,” Trump said on Fox News Thursday.

So how will people vote?

On Thursday, Vice also reported the USPS is deactivating mail-sorting machines ahead of the election. The service is removing these machines from facilities all across the country “without any official explanation or reason given,” Vice reported.

“I’m not sure you’re going to find an answer,” Iowa Postal Workers Union President Kimperly Karol told Vice, “because we haven't’ figured that out either.”

This is sabotage at it’s finest, because the president is doing it in plain sight.

“Per usual, [Donald Trump] is saying the quiet part out loud,” wrote Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA).

Rep. Nanette D. Barragán (D-CA) brought to light more immediate issues that stem from the derailment of the USPS. Millions rely on the service for vital deliveries like medicine. The service also employs thousands of workers who rely on the USPS for their livelihood, and those who are paid via mailed checks.

“Trump cares about one thing.” Barragán  wrote on Twitter. “Himself. Hot the millions who rely upon the USPS for delivery of their medicine, their mail, their paycheck, military care packages, veterans who the Postal Service Employs & more. He will do anything to stay in office. Lie. Cheat. Sabotage.” 
 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went as far as directly challenging the president to fund the USPS, especially after he said AOC was a “poor student” and “not even a smart person,” again, on Fox News.

“You release your college transcript, I’ll release mine, and we’ll see who was the better student. Loser has to fund the Post Office.” AOC wrote. 

And while the tweet wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, AOC did make some poignant statements in a subsequent post on the USPS issue.

“It’s not just Trump that’s destroying the US Post Office. It’s the entire Republican Party. Senate & House GOP could easily override a Trump veto of postal funding and help oversight. Republicans are working with Trump to destroy the USPS and sabotage the delivery of ballots,” AOC wrote.
 

AOC is pointing-out the reason why Trump can get away with this blatant undermining, which, as Rep. Gomez mentioned, he’s doing “out loud.” 

Trump is able to do this because congressional Republicans are lined up behind him, reinforcing his corruption through silent support. 

As Rep. Barragán said, if you mess with the USPS, you are not just messing with the next four years of power, people’s lives are actually on the line. 

But also compounded with an abysmal response to COVID-19 on a national scale, the fact that the U.S. mail system is broken as a presidential election looms is embarrassing on a global scale too.