Jill Lawrence of Politics Daily takes an interesting look this morning at the politics of Hispanics and immigration reform. It includes this passage, which starts with a reference to President Obama's speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute last week:
in a speech punctuated with the phrase "todos somos Americanos" (we are all Americans), Obama also reiterated his commitment to fixing what he called a broken immigration system. If anything, he said, the health debate "underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all."
The two commitments amount to a strategy: Prove you're tough on enforcement before asking Congress to approve a path to legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants. There's every probability that most conservatives will resist that idea in 2010 as mightily as they have for the past few years. But if comprehensive immigration reform passes with few or no GOP votes, Obama and his party will have a lock on the Latino vote at least through 2012. If the immigration debate inspires anti-immigrant sentiment or candidates, congressional Democrats could benefit from heightened Latino turnout in 2010.
Latinos still rate Obama very high in polls, suggesting they understand his reasons for delaying action on immigration. But 2010 is their limit. "The disappointment of Latino voters will be profound" if immigration reform doesn't happen next year, NDN president Simon Rosenberg, whose group studies the Latino vote, told me. If Obama and his party delay the bill further, or their efforts look half-hearted, he added, "there will be costs. It will not be pain-free."
A Census worker was found dead earlier today, hanging, with the word "Fed" on his chest. He was just a Census worker, a productive member of society, and NOT a minority. Thanks to the insane fear mongering causing disturbing levels of paranoia against "Obamacare" and "the government," we can add hate crimes against government workers to the list.
Over the last few days, our campaign to DropDobbs.com has taken off, and the media has taken to covering campaigns against Dobbs and other "MadMen" of tv like him. These men do not argue based on reason, one cannot have a debate with them, and when impartial data is brought up to disprove their theories, they dismiss it as an "attack" on their first amendment right.
Many have asked us what they can do to help, you can Watch the video, Sign the petition, and Share the site!!
Watch, Sign, Share.
After having over 50,000 views to our video soon after launch, we are excited about what this campaign will accomplish once it's really in full gear. Just this week, one mad man, Glenn Beck, was featured in Time magazine, and countless articles in media outlets and the HuffPo have covered our DropDobbs campaign. Additionally a story broke over Lou Dobbs' discussion of secession from the Union on his radio show.
I enjoyed this excerpt of a posting by Roberto Lovato in HuffPo:
Not surprisingly, Dobbs is waving the First Amendment flag to change the subject, which is not about disagreement on immigration policy, and has nothing to do with free speech.Dobbs has the right to his opinions; but there's nothing in the Constitution that says he deserves a "news" platform to disseminate hurtful and dangerous myths about immigrants.
Dobbs' suggestion...is both sad and comical given what passes for facts and ideas on his show. For Dobbs, immigrants are "invaders," and he regularly uses debunked statistics to paint them as disease-carrying criminals. He reports on conspiracy theories like the "Reconquista" and the "Birthers" as if they were legitimate topics of discussion. And worst of all, he provides a regular platform to the most extreme anti-immigrant groups like FAIR and the Minutemen, trotting them out as experts.
I am writing to you in regards to your recent column in “The Americano” titled “The Misguided Drop Dobbs Now Latino Campaign.” It is amazing to me that a Latino who chooses to work for an outfit funded by Newt Gingrich would call any other Latino efforts “Misguided.” In case you have forgotten, Newt Gingrich had one of the worst records in supporting Latinos during his tenure in Congress. In fact, during his last term in Congress, he received a score of 0% by the nonpartisan National Hispanic Leadership Agenda Congressional Scorecard.
You also mention that our efforts are “another tactical mistake just like they did a few years back when they organized major street protests.” How funny! Let me enlighten you again. The major protests that occurred during the heated immigration debate led to the largest increase in citizenship applications by Hispanic immigrants, and then translated into record turnout by Hispanic voters in the 2008 presidential election. You can learn all about it in our report Hispanics Rising II. The only tactical mistake going on here is that Newt thinks that simply by taking Spanish lessons and starting this website, that he will be able to deceive Hispanics into supporting his presidential bid.
“I am sure he would be more than happy now to have a leading Latino from La Raza come on his show so he could try to show them up.” What???? It seems as if you have no knowledge of anything that has been occurring in the Latino community for the past several years. Then again, that would make you a perfect choice for Newt’s new publication. Tell you what Ricardo, I would be more than happy to have you come to an NDN event so that you can try to show me up. If you are going to come after our efforts, you are going to have to come at us with more than that. Talk about misguided efforts.
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.
Las Vegas, NV - John Brummett published an interesting column on the debate regarding coverage of immigrants in the healthcare reform package.
Whether we should erect a border wall or execute a roundup of illegals or establish a path to earned citizenship -- these are important matters to debate. But whether it's better for the people working and living here to have health insurance while they're here so that we can spread our costs and limit our collective exposure, which is the very point of universal coverage -- that's an entirely different question and one not at all hard to answer vigorously in the affirmative.
Especially when the guy just wants to pay for it himself.
Las Vegas US Representative Shelley Berkley also joined the discussion being quoted in the Review Journal as stating:
"It is very insulting when the finger is pointed at you. All of a sudden it is demanded you show your citizenship before you get health care," she said. "What if you can't get your hands on it? What form of identification would be adequate."
She said it's especially exasperating when reform opponents demand the inclusion of restrictive amendments without any intention of ever voting for a bill.
Indeed, it is disconcerting to see so many Congressional leaders seek to appease radical legislators who dont have any interest in supporting a bill on Healthcare Reform. Operation Obstruction wins again.
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.
Over Labor Day Weekend, news broke covering a series of airport workers in Puerto Rico who were helping undocumented immigrants enter the United States. This once again highlights the flaws in an "enforcement-only" system, and showcases the need for a comprehensive strategy to fix the current broken immigration system.
In other news, with E-verify becoming mandatory for all government contractors this week, Congress will have to decide on how it takes up this issue againas the program is scheduled to expire on September 30. By dealing with this sub-issue through comprehensive immigration reform legislation, we could finally take this debate off the table.
Several outlets also covered the Hispanic National Bar Association's annual convention in Albuquerque, NM this past week. I attended as a panelist to discuss immigrant rights.Many judges, including Chief Judge for the U.S. Circuit in NM, Martha Vazquez, agree that the current broken immigration system is one of "de facto criminalization" of immigrants.
Latino lawyers can do much to help advise immigrants of their rights, and they can do much to help advocate for reform. However, we have serious obstacles to overcome in having more Latinos - particularly Latinas - represented in the profession, as illustrated by an HNBA study.
And today Simon highlights a very disturbing and concerted anti-immigrant campaign. These videos are extremely well done; while the arguments are factually incorrect and based on no empirical evidence, the ads are incredibly effective. Clearly these guys are elevating their game in preparation for a fight. What are you doing to prepare?
Albuquerque, NM - Reflecting on the 2009 Hispanic National Bar Association's (HNBA), it is of note that public policy and social justice issues (primarily immigration) were such prevalent topics during this conference, aptly themed, "Opening Doors." And open doors we have, with the first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court soon to hear arguments in that chamber. However, a report released this week by the HNBA based on a nine month study of Latinas in the profession uncovered some disturbing facts that show how far we still have to go.
During the opening day of the conference Governor Bill Richardson reflected on how Latino lawyers have opened doors for so many to come, and on the importance of this demographic as a group and as an electorate. In the same fashion, he touched on the responsibility of Latinos to influence younger generations to be involved, to do more.
For his part, Attorney General Eric Holder recognized the role of Hispanics as he addressed the conference:
The founders of the HNBA used the law to change lives for the better. For in the final analysis, the law serves as the great equalizer of our society – and it is still our job to make it so. As we gather for your 34th annual conference, your membership rolls are larger – and your influence is greater – than ever before.
In light of some of the most shocking displays of racism in a generation against Hispanics in the context of the immigration debate, health care debate, etc. and given the dramatic increase in hate crimes against Latinos (which are not always punished or adequately persecuted), Attorney General Holder highlighted the importance of DOJ and particularly the "crown jewel" of the Civil Rights division:
We seek diversity not just for its own sake, but because our nation is stronger when people from all backgrounds participate in the administration of justice. When I was confirmed as Attorney General, I made it clear that during my tenure, we would restore luster to the Justice Department’s “crown jewel” -- our Civil Rights Division. I promised that the Civil Rights Division would fight discrimination as fiercely as the Criminal Division fights crime -- and that we would once again honor the spirit of the movement that inspired its creation. Let me say this very clearly: The Civil Rights Division is once again open for business.
Senator Bob Menendez also spoke as eloquently and passionately as always at the Conference, but I should highlight his less-known contribution - of all the panels occurring during Friday afternoon (all important topics) he quietly stepped into the panel on the findings of a report just released by the HNBA "The State of Latinas in the Legal Profession." Dressed down in kakis, with no staff and no fuss, he quietly stepped in through the back of the room, sat down and listened intently to the panel as they revealed the findings of the HNBA Commission on Latina Lawyers. As a Latina and as a woman lawyer, it meant a heck of a lot to me that the Senator 1) made time to attend the conference and, 2) chose to spend his time in that panel of all panels.
This report was 100% a labor of love by these Latina lawyers and other collaborators, as the HNBA did not have a grant to cover costs. At the end of the presentation, as questions surfaced and discussion ensued, Sen. Menendez raised his hand, inquired as to whether the government had supported this important endeavor. It did not, and so he pledged his help to this group of Latina lawyers to guide and support this Commission as they seek to obtain grants and assistance from the federal government.
And we need all the help that we can get. This report uncovered a drastic situation;despite the appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor (who sent a moving videotaped message to the HNBA) and the nation’s growing Hispanic population, Hispanic women make up only 1.3% of all lawyers in the United States. That is the lowest representation of any racial or ethnic group (overall and within their own gender) as compared to their overall presence in the nation - Latinas make up over 7% of the country's population. Justice Sotomayor shines as a beacon of light to the Judges who served on the bench with her, and/or lawyers who argued before her and can now clearly envision new possibilities in their profession and in themselves, but the reality of today is that Latina lawyers are only a few hundred of the over 1 million lawyers currently in the U.S.
Albuquerque, NM - At the Hispanic National Bar Association's 34th Annual Convention, I just presented on the issue of "Immigrant Rights." So I was going to just show a blank screen since immigrants don't enjoy the most basic due process rights in immigration proceedings. Actually, I provided an overview of the latest actions taken in this area by all three branches of government and and I made the case for passage of immigration reform this year. My first impression: very encouraged by the fact that the decent size room we were provided was completely full, not one empty seat. Now, keep in mind that most HNBA members are in private practice and "public interest" law is not exactly part of the day to day work of the pool of mostly corporate litigation, corporate transactional, and criminal lawyers. So I was encouraged at the sight of a full room, and at hearing our topic discussed over and over at breakfast plenaries, during lunch key note speeches, and even in the corridors of the convention hall. This tells me that the violations of basic due process and human rights under the guise of immigration law have so permeated our society - particularly our demographic - that even "unusual" suspects, corporate lawyers who have not had immigrants in their families for centuries, are in tune and outraged at some of the most shocking violations of the Constitution in the name of "enforcing immigration law."
This elite group of Hispanics could all report having clients who have suffered due to the broken immigration system, people who through no fault of their own have been discriminated against as "illegals" merely for the color of their skin, and some reported even being the object of this persecution themselves. It is clear that the toxicicity of the issue of immigration has spilled over even into our judicial system. There was a great deal of consensus among judges that the sharp rise in Hispanic defendants sentenced before them is largely due to Hispanic legal residents and undocumented immigrants that are caught in immigration enforcement efforts.
Judge Martha Vazquez, Chief Judge for the U.S. Circuit Court of New Mexico, called the current immigration broekn system a "system of de facto immigrant criminalization," and highlighted the excessive penalization of immigrants in sentencing because illegal entry is an offense that calls for sentencing enhancement for past offenses. And U.S. citizens might be guilty of illegal entry - she highlighted the case of a U.S. citizen who travelled to Mexico and while there was robbed of all his documents and wallet.
This defendant decided to just walk back into the U.S., but upon crossing back, he failed to go through customs inspection, which constitutes illegal entry. Over a decade earlier he had been sentenced for assault and had served his time. He committed a subsequent offense years later, and because of his "illegal entry," record of prior sentences must be taken into account to enhance a subsequent sentence by several years. Judge Vazquez's point is that this person was essentially doing time twice for the same offense - he had already been judged for the original offense and carried out his sentence. But the second sentence forces the judge to have this person serve time again for the prior offense.
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