NDN has a demonstrated commitment to achieving a sensible immigration system. NDN began to fight for reform by spending the most resources of any organization - prior to the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign - on a Spanish-language radio and television media campaign designed specifically to counter anti-immigrant campaigns. Similarly, as a cornerstone of NDN's Hispanic Programs, NDN has regularly hosted forums with members of both chambers of Congress to discuss proposals to fix our current broken immigration system. Through its leading research and polling - conducted most recently among all voters in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico - NDN has found that a majority of Americans support a legislative overhaul to fix the broken immigration system, as opposed to limited enforcement measures. To follow our work on immigration, you can access the latest work written by our team: Simon, Andres, and Zuraya; and you can follow the most salient issues being discussed in the area of immigration reform by reading NDN's Weekly Update on Immigration.
Click here for NDN's presentation "Making the Case for Passage of Immigration Reform This Year."
This Monday, President Obama met with President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador to discuss trade, security, the environment - the three central elements of the administration's agenda for Latin America. President Obama commended President Funes for taking bold steps to "break down political divisions within the country and move it forward with a spirit of progress" and for his "pragmatic and wise approach to the situation in Honduras".
In his remarks following the meeting, President Obama commented that the positive relations between the countries is partially due to the 2 million Salvadorians working in the United States and sending remittances back to their country, stating that the ties "provide an outstanding foundation for continuing cooperation" between the two countries." President Funes replied, stating the need to generate more jobs in El Salvador because when "people have better jobs, health, and education, they will be able to remain in [their] countries and have a better life."
Obama also suggested interest in a multilateral project between the United States, Brazil, and El Salvador to pursue measures that would expand biofuels and energy development, which would benefit all three countries. He also touched on regional security issues, primarily surrounding drug trafficking and gangs, emphasizing the commitment to be supportive not only in addressing the symptoms, but also the root causes of the issues. The President closed by stressing that the relationship between the United States and El Salvador is one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, a sentiment echoed by President Funes in his remarks.
President Funes commended President Obama's new vision of how to deal with the hemisphere, and particularly Central America. President Funes closed by saying that he hopes to have a strong alliance and strategic, equal partner in the United States.
While some lawmakers formerly suggested that CIR would make it to the agenda in 2010, skepticism among the media increases. In the meantime, supporters continue to advocate the need for reform by quietly organizing today in a prayer vigil to urge lawmakers to not only seek Comprehensive Immigration Reform, but to also seek "compassionate" immigration reform.
An ecumenical prayer vigil for immigration reform will be held at 6 p.m. today at Las Americas Faith Community/Trinity United Methodist Church, 1548 Eighth St.
The vigil follows a National Day of Prayer coordinated by Interfaith Immigration. Similar prayer vigils are to take place nationwide.
The vigil will have prayers, songs and presentations, and those who attend will write postcards to legislators and call them during the service.
A few days ago, our DropDobbs coalition sent an appeal to our supporters asking them to engage CNN and address their Lou Dobbs problem. As CNN is set to air their series Latino in America, I think it is important for people to express what Lou Dobbs has done to Latinos in America. A copy of the letter is below, and I hope you will join us in this movement.
Dear Friend,
With your help, we've been forcing a national conversation about why CNN needs to drop Lou Dobbs. And the pressure is clearly getting to Dobbs himself, who has lashed out at what he calls "ethnocentric interest groups [who] are trying to destroy me." Now we have a golden opportunity to keep the pressure on and take that conversation directly to CNN.
Together with our allies over at BastaDobbs.com and Democracia Ahora, we're organizing an action to force CNN to publicly answer for its Dobbs problem. CNN is asking people to submit pictures and videos to its "iReport" website in response to its special, Latino in America. This gives us a chance to call out CNN for supporting Dobbs' dangerous rhetoric right on CNN's web site! If enough of us act, we can get other news outlets to cover the story, and keep the momentum against Dobbs going.
Will you submit a picture or short video demanding that CNN deal with its Lou Dobbs problem? With the simple online tool, uploading just takes a few minutes, and we've provided suggestions of what you can say:
http://bastadobbs.com/lia/org/dropdobbs/
Dobbs has long been known for his anti-immigrant hate speech, but his venom has not been confined to proponents of immigration reform. Just last week, he unleashed a rant against African-Americans in Chicago over recent horrific violence, saying that the "black community is not being responsible" and that "the black churches, the black school leaders, the black community leaders, the black community organizers, the black parents of that community" should "quit whining" and fix the problem themselves.
http://bastadobbs.com/lia/org/dropdobbs/
We really appreciate all you've done so far. But we can't rest now. Please join us in calling out CNN, and ask your friends and family to do the same.
Laura Esquivel and Andres Ramirez Drop Dobbs Coalition
As the US Senate gears up to vote on Vitter-Bennett SA 2644, NDN offers some key commentary and information regarding the intent of this amendment and the problems that could occur as a result of this amendment.
Earlier this year, several Republican senators expressed outrage over the perception that the new White House Administration was playing politics with the Census. The outrage was so deep that US Senator Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as US Secretary of Commerce citing concerns over this perception to politicize the Census. Now these very same Republican Senators are resorting to the very same techniques they decried earlier this year. This amendment only serve serves to politicize and delegitimize what is expected to be a very nonpartisan process. The result could cost billions of dollars, and will complicate efforts to inform and prepare state and local governments for the changing demography and characteristics of this nation.
You can watch Senator Bennett's making his case for adding an 11th question to the census here:
Las Vegas, NV - In a piece published in the Washington Post today, Senators Vitter and Bennett once again reveal their motives for their Census legislation.
“If the current census plan goes ahead, the inclusion of non-citizens toward apportionment will artificially increase the population count in certain states, and that will likely result in the loss of congressional seats for nine other states, including Louisiana,” Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said in a statement issued Thursday.
It goes on to say:
Though Bennett has no issue with the Census counting everyone living in the U.S. regardless of citizenship status, he does not want illegal immigrants to sway Congressional representation.
Las Vegas, NV - The United States Senate is getting enmeshed in a very serious conversation at the moment that may appear to be innocent and practical. The debate is over a proposed amendment, SA 2644, to the Commerce, Justice, & Science Appropriations bill that is under consideration in the Senate.
The amendment seeks to force the US Census to redo their questionnaire to include an 11th question that would require everyone to identify their citizenship or legal status in this country. The stated purpose of the amendment is to gather an accurate count of the undocumented population in this country so that they can be excluded from the population count in the reapportionment of congressional districts after the Census is concluded.
They make many flawed reasons as to why this should happen, but the reality is that this is just another trick out of the old GOP play book to strike fear into their base by using race and scapegoating immigrants. We have seen this tactic several times this year and throughout the GOP history over the past 50 years. Simon has talked about this tactic calling them proxy wars for the eventual debate over fixing our nation's broken immigration system.
I will take some time to dismiss some of their reasoning for supporting the amendment, but want to make sure that everyone is aware of what the real debate is about with this amendment. What Vitter/Bennett are asking Americans to do is to establish a society in which we value some people more than others based on their race. They would like America to revert back to a time in which not all people were equal. They ask us to consider moments in our nation's history in which we only counted African Americans as 3/5 of a person, and to a time in which Native Americans were still excluded from society. These chapters of American history are long in our past, and America has done much to overcome the injustices of these eras. This debate is not just about protecting electoral votes and federal funding for their home states, this debate is about persuading Americans to think that it is ok to discriminate and punish peoples.
Any US Senator that doesn't see this is simply not paying attention. There is a reason so many organizations are rallying against this proposal-- including the NAACP, an organization that is well-versed in fighting proposals of discrimination. I applaud US Senator Harry Reid and the Obama administration for taking this issue seriously, and working to eliminate it from the bill. If Senators Vitter and Bennett want to have a discussion about race and equality in this country, then let's have that debate, but let's not disguise the issue and pretend that we are having a simple debate about adding an additional question to the Census form. Man up, and let's have this discussion in its proper setting and its proper time.
Now, so that people don't think that I am evading their reasons, lets pick them apart right here. First, let's not forget that the GOP was attacking the Obama administration earlier this year for what they claimed was a power grab to play politics with the Census. The issue led Senator Gregg to withdraw as a nominee for Secretary of Commerce. Vitter/Bennett have made it very clear that their motives are purely political for this amendment: to exclude undocumented persons from the count for the reapportionment of congressional seats. Second, the GOP has attacked the Administration for not being fiscally conservative, yet they have no problem with wasting up to an additional billion dollars to enact this scheme. Talk about Hypocrisy! Third, they claim that our country has precedent for not counting all people. Again, do you really want to have this debate? Finally, they claim that the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that when drawing congressional districts, they should be comparable in number of voters according to Reynolds v Sims. Well Senator Bennett, you should hire a new legal counsel. The SCOTUS case regarding Reynolds v Sims was in relation to state legislative districts not congressional districts. That issue was dealt with a year later by SCOTUS in Wesberry v Sanders, in which they determined that congressional districts need to comparable in POPULATION.
So now that we got that over with, once again we will ask all US Senators to stand against this amendment. I understand that some members may see supporting this amendment as a short-term political gain for their states, but ultimately this is a long-term loss for America. Our nation has a great history of overcoming its past to build a better future, and I am confident that we can continue that tradition.
For more background on this subject, please read the following posts.
Last night was 9500 Liberty's Opening Night in the D.C. area - at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival - and the movie was entirely sold out. It was not only a proud night for Annabel Park and Eric Byler, the filmmakers, but for all who lived through the terrible fight on immigration in Prince William County, and for those of us who are directly or indirectly affected by the anti-immigrant sentiments seen on screen. As highlighted by Annabel in an interview with News 4, the film shows how, "There was a lot of misinformation - and at times it felt like it was a kind of hysteria." On that note, Eric Byler noted, "The same kind of politicized hysteria is now a national approach to issues like health care and climate change...it mirrors what we saw in Prince William County - in fact many of the same people are involved."
Click here to check out the News 4 interview with Annabel and Eric prior to the show.
There is no doubt that the film's message speaks to debate that is happening nationally on a slew of issues, and it will resonate with communities all over the country. If you'd like to see a very comprehensive 45 minute clip of the film and speak with the filmmakers at the next NDN screening, please contact me at: ztapia@ndn.org
Las Vegas, NV - I recently posted about the Census data that shows huge opportunities for millions of new Hispanics to register to vote before the next presidential. You can read the post here. It has been very clear that over the past couple of election cycles the GOP brand has been severely tarnished among Hispanic voters. This is an issue that we discuss in detail in our report Hispanics Rising.
The most recent poll by Research 2000 shows that the Republican Party is viewed favorably by just 8% of Hispanic voters. Yes that is correct 8%, and to further complicate the situation for Republicans another Hispanic elected official has quit the party. Ivan Marte who is the Chairman of the Rhose Island Republican Assembly quit the party as a result of US Representative Joe Wilson's infamous outburst duirng President Obama's address on healthcare reform to a joint session of Congress. We know that Representative Wilson's outburst was as much as an attack on Hispanics as it was on President Obama.
According to Research 2000, the Republican Party began the year with 20% favorability among Hispanic voters. During the past year, Republican leaders have sought to demonize Hispanic immigrants in the Economic Stimulus debate and the Healthcare debate, and they attacked Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for being too Hispanic. Which brings us to the current 8%. So has the Republican Party decided to abandon any efforts to pursue support among the Hispanic electorate, or have they just forgotten how to do that? The next election is slightly more than a year away, and I guess we will find out very soon.
It will be interesting to see what President Obama says this evening given the tension and confusion surrounding the health care debate, turned immigration debate. At the policy plenary discussion that launched the CHCI conference, on immigration reform, Sen. Bob Menendez hit the nail on the head when he said, "if we had passed immigration reform first, all these would have been moot points," referring to Mr. Joe Wilson's recent outburst and the anti-immigrant campaign that has taken the health care debate as their most recent tool through which to spew anti-immigrant propaganda. NDN has long talked about these "immigration proxy wars" and made the case that immigration reform would have left a clear playing field for the rest of the items on the domestic agenda.
Factually, what is included in the Senate health care bill in regards to immigrants is that a verification for eligibility for the exchange and other benefits would essentially be the same as those in existing law, i.e., proof of legal status, not citizenship (although even legal immigrants do have restrictions for certain programs, like Medicaid). There has been much confusion on this by the employment of the term "citizenship" verification. As you all probably know there is an ocean of LEGAL status possibilities that lie between "illegals" and "U.S. citizens." Sadly, these differences are not always understood, as we saw this week by the absence of an acknowledgement of legal immigrants during a White House press briefing, and even on news shows like that of Dylan Ratigan, who qualified those eligible as "American citizens," when in fact, "legal immigrants" who are not yet citizens are also eligible.
But these are all semantics. The bottom line about what has happened this week is that regardless of whether we want to be defined by race or by the issue of immigration on policy issues, we will be. Those who seek to divide the country and foster hate against a certain sociological other will not go away, so they must be preempted and defeated. As Sen. Menendez also stated at CHCI this week, "make no mistake about it, when they talk about 'those people', they are talking about you, about us." And until we recognize this, we will have no progress. For example, in the case of health care, from strictly a policy standpoint (not humanitarian or liberal, etc.) what if we DID cover the "illegals"? What if we suddently acknowledged that "those people" are actually part of all of us? That their kids go to school with our kids and get sick the same as our children? That they live next door? That they work in our offices? Please read this analysisin Newsweek of what could actually be achieved if we made a conscious decision onthe basis of a strategic, policy-oriented argument and covered "those people."
The tone taken by the debate this week is - to say the least - disappointing considering that the election of President Obama was supposed to be a sign of progress in America's attitudes towards race. But, we saw this coming. We saw it in the old woman who expressed how "afraid" she was because Obama looked likely to become president. And in the man who said he feared for his unborn children if Obama became president. We had a preview of this with the people who linked Obama to terrorism and terrorists, and in the suggestion that he was a foreigner and that he wasn't one of "us." All this did not suddenly disappear on November 4th last year, nor will it in a near future. No doubt, there are some who genuinely disagree with some government policies, the problem is that in light of the tone taken by the debate right now, it is hard to know who is who. Those who genuinely do disagree with the president should discuss their opinions based on policy, not on codes that appear to carry racist implications. But there is certainly something ugly going on. And that needs to be discussed - and most importantly, confronted. And the first major stand we can take on this front is to pass comprehensive immigration reform and take much of the air our of this balloon of hate.
I close by highlighting that these negative attitudes do not discriminate on the basis of party - hate and fear mongerers are both Democrat and Republican. On that note, I congratulate Sen. Judd Gregg who called this debate of immigration in the context of health care what it is - a "sideshow." And acknowledged that doctors will treat whoever walks into an emergency room, regardless of legal status (which, by the way, taxpayers are paying for - and thanks to not including "illegals" in reform, will continue to pay for).
The Politico published an article today regarding US Senator Reid's re-election efforts in Nevada. You can read the story here. Part of the article references my bid for Mayor a few years ago.
Four years ago in this sprawling desert town, a powerful labor union abruptly withdrew its endorsement of Republican Mayor Mike Montandon.
The reason, relayed to Montandon by a top union official: “Harry told us to.”
In an interview during a raucous labor union rally in Las Vegas, Reid said he couldn’t recall the union endorsement that went to his former aide, Andres Ramirez, instead of to Montandon. But he said that he pushes candidates like Ramirez who he thinks are best for public office.
Thanks for the support Senator. You can count on me being there for you.
This Monday, President Obama met with President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador to discuss trade, security, the environment - the three central elements of the administration's agenda for Latin America. President Obama commended President Funes for taking bold steps to "break down political divisions within the country and move it forward with a spirit of progress" and for his "pragmatic and wise approach to the situation in Honduras".
