America's Voice Blog

Posted 02/10/12 at 03:37pm By Van Le

Local Children Travel to Capitol Hill, Ask Senators to Reconsider Positions on Child Tax Credit

child tax creditWe've got an update on Congress’ proposal to fund a payroll tax cut on the backs of immigrant families by changing eligibility for the Child Tax Credit.

As we wrote last week, Congress is currently considering eliminating access to the Child Tax Credit for taxpayers who use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN), the overwhelming majority of whom are Latino.  Yesteday, activists and children from CASA de Maryland, the Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School, and Mary’s Center traveled to Capitol Hill to visit a number of senators who will cast deciding votes on the proposal.  The event was coordinated by NCLR and First Focus Campaign for Children, and the children delivered drawings illustrating what this money means for their families.

As Leticia Miranda, Senior Policy Advisor of the Economic and Employment Policy Project at NCLR, said in a press release. 

The typical family who would be affected by this cut earns only $21,000 a year and would see their taxes go up by 8 percent, resulting in a loss of $1,800 in take-home pay.  This is money that parents need to keep food on the table and electricity and water running.

Wendy Cervantes, Vice President of Immigration and Child Rights at the First Focus Campaign for Children, echoed:

Any restriction to the Child Tax Credit would hurt kids and threaten to drive up child poverty.  Our children are counting on our nation's leaders to make decisions on their behalf, and eliminating access to this important credit for any child is simply bad policy. We urge Congress to listen to the voices of children and make the right choice.

For more information on the Child Tax Credit, please view NCLR’s fact sheet here. 

Posted 02/09/12 at 06:52pm By Maribel Hastings

In Colorado’s close races, the Hispanic vote is key

voz y votoNote: America's Voice's Maribel Hastings, who wrote this post, is in Colorado covering the GOP caucus. She'll be filing regular reports on the campaign as part of our "Voz Y Voto 2012" series.

DENVER-They may be undocumented, naturalized, or first- second- or third-generation citizens, but if one thing unites many Hispanics in Colorado it's their discontent with the anti-immigrant rhetoric coming out of the Republican primary.

To David Ramírez, a fourth-generation Hispanic in Colorado, the tone and proposals of the Republican candidates on immigration are "insensitive, insincere and insulting." And they're a decisive factor in how he plans to vote. "The whole issue is very important to all Hispanics. It doesn't matter if you're Mexican, Mexican-American, South American, if you were naturalized or fourth-generation. We're all part of the same history and this issue affects us all," he said. He called Mitt Romney's "self-deportation" idea "bizarre."

"It doesn't make any sense. Proposing that ignores the contribution that millions of immigrants make to our economy, and is dismissive of the Latino vote," he added.

The tone and policies on immigration can be so important that they've led some Hispanic Republicans to switch parties.

Olivia Mendoza, executive director of the Colorado Latino Leadership Advocacy and Research Organization (CLLARO), and her family were legalized with the amnesty signed by Republican President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Her parents remained loyal Republicans "until 2008, when they were watching Univisión and John McCain came out talking about his opposition to immigration reform, changing his position completely."

"For Latinos, an insult is a very personal thing," Mendoza declared.

Along with the economy and jobs, immigration is one of the most important issues to Colorado's Latino voters. In 2008, Latinos in Colorado gave 61% of their support to Barack Obama, swinging the state to the Democratic column after victories there by George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Unlike 2008, Romney lost the Republican caucuses in Colorado on Tuesday, but he remains in the lead in the battle for the Republican nomination and the opportunity to face Obama in November.

Once again, Colorado is looking like one of the key swing states where the Latino vote might make the difference in a tight race.

President Obama is counting on the support of Latino voters in Colorado. Hispanics represent 21% of the state's population, and 13% of its eligible voters; a plurality are registered Democrats.

The question is whether, in November, they'll show up at the polls in sufficient numbers to guarantee that Colorado remains a blue state.

The economy and immigration, in that order, are the central issues for Latino voters in Colorado, according to Robert Preuhs, an adjunct professor of political science at Metropolitan State College in Denver.

Immigration is a mobilizing issue for the community, as demonstrated by the statewide debate over the bill SB 126, known as Colorado ASSET, which would allow undocumented students to pay the same tuition rates as legal Colorado residents, Preuhs explained. They were also motivated by the campaign to pressure the only Latino Republican in the state House of Representatives, Robert Ramírez, to reconsider his opposition to the bill.

Dominating the Republican debate over immigration in Colorado, meanwhile, have been anti-immigrant figures like Tom Tancredo, the former congressman who ran for governor in 2010, but lost to Democrat and DREAM Act supporter, John Hickenlooper. That same year, another DREAM Act supporter, Senator Michael Bennet, won re-election by a mere 15,000 votes against Republican Ken Buck. Bennet got 81% of the Latino vote.

Preuhs recognizes that there's frustration among Latino voters in Colorado over "the lack of movement at the national level" on immigration reform, but at the same time, he indicates that the Republican message doesn't appeal to them.

If Romney sticks to his position on "self-deportation" and vetoing the DREAM Act, "he loses a lot of the Latino vote," Preuhs said.

That said, he warned that among the state's electorate as a whole, "some of these positions are popular among non-Latino voters, so I think you still have a relatively tight race in a competitive state here in Colorado."

The organization Mi Familia Vota, which promotes voter participation and registration, recognizes that in this electoral cycle they will face a number of obstacles to mobilizing voters.

One of these obstacles was presented by Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who, citing concerns about voter fraud, created the category of "inactive voter," encompassing anyone who voted, for example, in 2008 but not 2010. The issue is currently being challenged in court and is considered an attempt at voter suppression, particularly of minority voters like Hispanics, explained Grace López Ramírez, state director of Mi Familia Vota.

Another obstacle is the dissatisfaction among certain Latino voters over the failure to pass immigration reform and the effects of the current policy of deportations.

"It's hard to mobilize voters when your friends or your family members are in deportation proceedings," said Julie Gonzáles of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, although she added that the anti-immigrant rhetoric Republicans are spouting might be a motivating factor.

Mendoza said that "when you do your duty to someone, people vote." She admitted that there's a great deal of disillusionment over the lack of reform, but that other factors seem to be mobilizing Latino voters: "the economy is getting better, people have found jobs, and the revision of deportation policy has brought hope to a lot of people."

In a Mexican market in Denver, we spoke with undocumented women who'd lived in the United States for 22 years, 14 years and 12 years, respectively. They, too, gave Obama the benefits of the doubt, and hoped that those who were able to vote would give him a second chance.

"If immigration reform had been solely in Obama's hands, it would have happened already. It's a process. It's like a house that's been destroyed, you can't rebuild it in a day," one said.

"Everybody needs to be patient," another concluded.

Posted 02/09/12 at 03:02pm By Pili Tobar

On Romney Supporter Pete Wilson, Latino Voters, the Politics of Immigration

students fight 187Earlier this week, Mitt Romney’s campaign unveiled the endorsement of former California Governor Pete Wilson (R), a.k.a. El Diablo, the champion of California’s Proposition 187 in 1994.  Proposition 187 was the precursor to the anti-immigration laws passed this decade in Arizona, Alabama, and other states that have inspired nationwide outrage from the Latino community.  Wilson’s backing of Proposition 187 is widely credited for pushing Latino voters away from the GOP in California and turning what was once a swing state solidly blue. 

With Wilson joining Alabama/Arizona “papers, please” law architect Kris Kobach, and congressional mass deportation champion Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) in backing Romney, many observers are left wondering what the campaign is thinking.  Embracing these anti-immigrant hardliners will make it more difficult, if not impossible, for the candidate to appeal to Latino and immigrant voters, putting the 40% support he needs to win in the general election far out of reach.    

On a press call today, pollsters and political experts talked about how the politics of immigration have developed since passage of Proposition 187, and what Republican candidates competing in new swing states with growing Latino populations, like Nevada and Colorado, have to learn from the California experience. 

According to Gary Segura, Professor at Stanford University and Principal of Latino Decisions, Pete Wilson’s endorsement is likely to have serious ramifications for Romney’s campaign come November:

Pete Wilson is, in a strange way, a hero of the Latino community.  It is fair to say that he has contributed to registering and mobilizing more Latino voters than any other person in history.  It is a complete mystery to me why Governor Romney would seek the public endorsement of a retired politician, who has not held public office in 14 years, and who is so toxic to a voter bloc with which Romney already faces serious challenges.  It is hard not to conclude that Romney has given up making anything more than a symbolic play for Latino vote.

As Robert Preuhs, Political Science Professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver, pointed out:

While a preference for Democrats within the Latino community was in place in Colorado well before Proposition 187 and the explosion of state-level anti-immigration initiatives, the Latino vote has solidified around the Democratic party in recent years.  Colorado's experience with the immigration debate has undoubtedly pushed Latinos even further toward the Democratic Party--a trend that seems likely irreversible given the Republican Party's allegiance to its current stance on immigration policy.

Said David Damore, Political Science Professor at the University of Las Vegas:

Last weekend’s Nevada Republican caucus suggests that there is little interest among Silver State Latinos in the GOP nomination campaign. While as compared to 2008, participation in 2012 decreased by 26% for all Republicans, the decline in Latino participation was nearly 40% despite the fact that Latino voter registration in Nevada has increased significantly in the intervening four years.

Incredibly, Romney is repeating mistakes made as recently as 2010 by his friend and supporter Meg Whitman, California’s most recent Republican gubernatorial nominee, whose hypocrisy on immigration caused her to overwhelmingly lose the Latino vote on her way to losing the election.  Pete Wilson was the Chairman of Whitman’s 2010 campaign. As a candidate, Whitman made repeated extremist and hypocritical remarks on the issue of immigration reform as she struggled to move from the Republican primary to a general election battle. 

According to Eliseo Medina, International Secretary-Treasurer, Service Employees International Union:

Pete Wilson is the best organizer of Latino voters I've ever known. He has done more to motivate Latinos to become citizens, to register to vote, and to actually turnout on Election Day than anyone before or since. The light at the end of the tunnel is not daylight in Mitt Romney's presidential race; it is a Latino train coming right at him. We know now the real Mitt Romney and what he is selling and Latinos are not buying. Come November, to paraphrase his fellow Republican ex-governor, it will be hasta la vista Mitt.

Frank Sharry, Executive Director at America’s Voice, summed up the call, noting:

The use of immigration as a wedge issue was originated by Gov. Pete Wilson. Considering Mitt Romney’s recent endorsements by such figures as Pete Wilson and Kris Kobach, it is remarkable that he continues to paint himself into a corner at a time when he needs at least 40% of the Latino vote to even have a shot. He seems intent on writing off Latino-heavy battleground states like Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

For more information on Latino voters, the politics of immigration, and key battleground states. see:

Posted 02/09/12 at 01:51pm By Van Le

Backlash against Kris Kobach Grows as Support for Alabama’s HB 56 Anti-Immigrant Law Wanes

kris kobachAs HB 56, the notorious Alabama anti-immigrant law, faces more scrutiny, the backlash against its architect, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, continues to grow.

The state legislature which passed HB 56 has returned to session in Alabama, only to find a new study which posits that the law could end up costing the state $10.6 billion, activist groups  bent on recruiting the state’s powerful auto manufacturing industry to their anti-HB 56 cause, and a new bill from one of their own—State Sen. Gerald Dial, who originally supported HB 56—which would repeal many of the law’s provisions.

People are fed up with HB 56, and they know Kris Kobach is the one to blame.

From Mary Sanchez at the Kansas City Star:

The rebukes aren’t coming from his usual critics, those who display sanity about the federal reforms needed to effectively deal with illegal immigration.

No, Kobach’s supporters are barking back now. The legislators and taxpayers who bought into his schemes to make the lives of illegal immigrants so hellish that they “self-deport.”

The editorial board of the Press-Register in Mobile, Ala., accused Kobach of banking on exactly what happened there — costly court challenges and a wide-range of unintended consequences for legal residents.

“Alabama allowed itself to be used as a guinea pig on illegal immigration so that a Kansas lawyer could build his political career,” the editorial said.

So Alabama’s legislature has gone to work, figuring out how to rewrite or repeal the damage done by Kobach’s handiwork, measures passed in 2011.

On Monday, the Immigration Policy Center released “Discrediting ‘Self Deportation’ As Immigration Policy.” Yes, you can make life harsh for immigrants, but everyone else suffers, too. Economists predict Alabama’s gross domestic product will lose up to $10.8 billion as a result, and $57 million to $264 million more in state income and sales tax collections could evaporate.

Ouch. 

Furthermore, since GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney was so quick to embrace Kobach’s endorsement earlier this year, we predict that it’s only a matter of time before this blowback starts falling on him and his “self deportation” shenanigans, as well.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Posted 02/08/12 at 02:19pm By Frank Sharry

The Incredible Shrinking Rep. Lamar Smith

Lamar SmithDoes anyone (besides Mitt Romney) listen to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee anymore?

This week, Rep. Lamar Smith is looking especially desperate. He's taken to the pages of Roll Call and National Review Online to try to garner some attention on one of his favorite subjects: immigrant bashing. In Roll Call, Smith launched what amounts to another fact-free attack on President Obama.  Smith claims the President is ignoring immigration laws.  In reality, as immigrant communities and advocates are painfully aware, the Obama Administration has deported more undocumented immigrants than any other in history.

Smith is upset because last year Obama ordered the Department of Homeland Security to do what every local, state and federal law enforcement agency in the nation does: establish priorities and focus resources on dangerous criminals.  Coming from Smith, the criticism is sheer hypocrisy.  Back in 1999 Smith asked then-Attorney General Janet Reno to use the same kind of prosecutorial discretion he's now railing about. But Lamar isn't deterred by consistency or reality. 

Nor is his political judgment so sharp.  Last summer, Smith's leading witness at a hearing to denounce the prosecutorial discretion policy was Senator David Vitter.  Yes, the same Senator who has his, um, own unique history with prosecutorial discretion. It didn't work out so well.  

You know time are tough for Lamar when he has to resort to that right-wing bastion, National Review’s "The Corner,"  to whine about -- can you guess? Yep, the liberal media.  The first line of his screed is so outlandish, it's laughable:

"It’s hard to imagine a worse example of media bias than the national coverage of illegal immigration."

Really?  Just because reporters require you to have actual facts behind your arguments, and just because most have come to realize that the nativist case has been propped up for years by junk science peddled by faux think tanks such as the Center for Immigration Studies and Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) doesn’t mean they are biased.  It means that most have figured out that your rants aren’t anchored in reality.  

Of course, somebody has to take the blame for Chairman Smith’s less than stellar legislative record this Congress. Besides the Vitter debacle on discretion, Smith's signature piece of anti-immigrant legislation is a bill called mandatory E-Verify.  According to Smith and his running buddies Steve King (R-IA) and Elton Gallegly (R-CA), the bill would free up good-paying jobs for Americans.  It tanked after small businesses complained the bill would create an unworkable and expensive bureaucracy; tea party types and libertarians complained the bill would grant the federal government the authority to approve or disapprove every new hire in America; agricultural growers predicted crops would rot on the vine; and the labor movement pointed out that it would actually cost Americans jobs. It would also force vulnerable workers further into the hands of unscrupulous employers. 

So, why the sudden uptick on immigration by Smith?  Perhaps he is looking to change the subject after he suffered a huge loss on another of his signature pieces of legislation, SOPA. That stinging defeat further damaged his already diminished status. 

Bottom line: the notoriously thin-skinned Lamar Smith is flailing. But he shouldn’t get so down.  There is one person who is listening to Smith these days: Mitt Romney.  Just like Lamar, Mitt wants to stop comprehensive immigration reform proposals at every turn, ramp up deportations even further, put in place a federally-run E-Verify system, fight off the DREAM Act (a popular bill that enables undocumented youth who came to the U.S. as children to attend college or serve in the military) and have states pass laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 and Alabama’s HB 56 that purge Latinos from their states.  They call it “attrition through enforcement”  or “self-deportation,”  presumably in hopes of making it sound humane. 

But attempting to make life in the U.S. so unbearable that 11 million undocumented immigrants – a population the size of the state of Ohio – are harassed into leaving the country is not only inhumane, it’s insane. First, it wouldn’t work. But if it did somehow, it would undermine our recovering economy, our global reputation, and our moral compass. 

Lamar and Mitt don’t seem to care.  Both are catering to the far-right nativist wing of the Republican Party, Lamar for ideological reasons and Mitt for political reasons.  And that slice of the GOP electorate doesn’t much like immigrants and doesn’t much care for facts.  Well, here’s a fact that might give them all pause: the GOP presidential candidate needs 40% of the Latino vote to win in key swing states like Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and even Arizona. But with Romney talking up self-deportation, promising to veto the popular DREAM Act and embracing anti-immigrant zealots like Pete Wilson, Lamar Smith, and Arizona and Alabama law author Kris Kobach, no wonder in head-to-head match ups with Obama he draws no more than the 25% of Latinos who reliably vote Republican. 

Well, if he loses, Mitt can always take another page from his friend Lamar.  He can blame the media.

Cross-Posted at Huffington Post and Daily Kos.    

Posted 02/08/12 at 01:38pm By Pili Tobar

Amid Miramonte Elementary School Sex Abuse Tragedy, Immigrant Families Afraid to Turn to Police

miramonte schoolAs the story of sexual abuse at Miramonte elementary school in Los Angeles continues to shock the nation, Spanish-language media is reporting another tragic development.  Parents of some Miramonte Elementary School children are afraid to go to informational meetings or talk to the police because they worry that contact with the authorities could lead to deportation.

According to the Associated Press, “Parents of Miramonte school students . . . told The Associated Press that they aren’t talking to authorities because they are afraid that the Sheriff’s Department, which is in charge of the investigation, will refer them to immigration through the Secure Communities program” (translated from the Spanish by America’s Voice Education Fund).  Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is a vocal supporter of Secure Communities, a controversial federal program that facilitates the deportation of some immigrants who come into contact with state and local police.  According to the AP, the school is 98% Latino, and many of the children come from immigrant families.    

The parents and children of Miramonte are going through an unspeakable nightmare.  The fact that many of them are afraid to work with law enforcement only adds to their tragedy.  This is exactly why programs that blur the line between police and immigration enforcement are dangerous.  They put enforcement of paperwork violations ahead of protecting the community from real crime.

Although it was supposed to focus on deporting dangerous criminals, the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Communities program has actually resulted in the deportation of tens of thousands of people who have committed no crime.  As of December 31, 2011, 26% of the people deported via Secure Communities (43,028 individuals) were non-criminals, and 57% (92,544) had either committed no crime or were guilty of only a minor offense, including traffic violations.  In Los Angeles County, 22% of these deportations consisted of non-criminals and fully 44% were either non-criminals or had minor violations.  In addition, a recent Warren Institute/Cardozo report revealed that Latinos are disproportionately targeted by the program.  It’s no wonder that immigrants fear law enforcement in their community and see Secure Communities as a deportation dragnet sweeping up innocent people—because it is.      

Community and business leaders across the country, as well as law enforcement experts, say that the program is hurting public safety by destroying the relationship between police and the community that is no vital to reporting, investigating, and prosecuting real criminals.  Last year, the governors of New York, Illinois and Massachusetts attempted to pull their states’ participation in the program because of these concerns.  But not only has the Department of Homeland Security not allowed these states to opt out (despite earlier promises), it has continued its effort to bring Secure Communities to every corner of America by the end of this year.

For more on Secure Communities and its impact on public safety, see:

Posted 02/08/12 at 12:40pm By Van Le

Valentine’s Day in Montgomery: One Heart, One Alabama Rally to Repeal HB 56

repeal hb 56In Alabama this Valentine’s Day?  Help us take a stand against HB 56, Alabama’s immigration law.  The state legislature returns to session this week and we need to show them that there is NO love for HB 56 in Alabama.

Here’s the post from the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice:

One Heart One Alabama: Rally and Lobby Day to Repeal H56

February 14 is the kick-off of a series of lobby days to show legislators that Alabamians want HB56 to be repealed immediately. We cannot continue to let our state suffer under this economic, moral and civil rights crisis. WE LOVE ALABAMA!

Tuesday, February 14

11:30 am -3:30 pm

Alabama State House, 11 South Union Street, Montgomery, Alabama

For more information, email acijteam@gmail.com or call 312-593-6411

Spread the word on Facebook.

The Valentine’s Day event is just the first in a series of rallies pushing for the end of HB 56, and pushing for the promotion of immigrant and minority rights.  On March 4, activists will begin a five-day march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where civil rights marchers were famously gassed and beaten by state troopers in 1965.  That rally will bring civil rights, labor, and immigration activists together to protest state laws they say will dampen black and brown voter participation.

Posted 02/07/12 at 05:07pm By Pili Tobar

Major Changes Needed as Alabama Legislature Considers “Tweaks” to HB 56 Anti-Immigrant Law

hb 56As the Alabama state legislature begins its new legislative session today, the costs and consequences of the state’s “papers, please” anti-immigration law is the hottest political topic in the state.  In light of the many controversies and unintended consequences related to the law’s provisions, including the sticker shock of up to $11 billion the law would cost the state’s GDP, changes to the immigration law are likely during the legislative session.  While some of the law’s original backers are calling for minor tweaks to the law, a chorus of voices is highlighting the costs and consequences of the law and making a strong case for its wholesale repeal:

Editorial in Mobile’s Press-Register Highlights Role of Kris Kobach in Law Debacle:  The editorial in the Press-Register, entitled “Alabama Paying for Failed Experiment,” highlights the role of the law’s architect, Kansas Secretary of State and Mitt Romney immigration advisor Kris Kobach (R), in shaping the costly and unworkable law: “Alabama allowed itself to be used as a guinea pig on illegal immigration so that a Kansas lawyer could build his political career. The unintended consequences of the new law, proclaimed as the nation’s toughest, are legion: It has embarrassed the governor, discouraged industry, scared legal immigrants and, according to a recent report, been a drag on the state economy it was supposed to help… Meanwhile, the immigration law has been a serious distraction for a state that has too many problems to solve — a budget shortfall, low test scores and high poverty — to shoulder a national issue like immigration. And why Alabama, anyway, where immigrants make up a very small percent of the population?  Maybe because we said yes.  In return, what have we gotten for playing the guinea pig? Crops rotting in the field, a net loss to the economy, higher racial tensions and a PR black eye, to boot.  Does any of this matter to an up-and-coming politician in Kansas?  Sure doesn’t sound like it. Anyway, it’s just part of Mr. Kobach’s Alabama experiment.”

Call for Foreign Auto Makers to Join the Effort for a Full Repeal of the Law:  Foreign automakers have already felt firsthand the consequences of the anti-immigrant law, as a legal German executive from Mercedes-Benz and a legal Japanese plant worker for Honda were each taken into custody under provisions of the law.  Many business voices have expressed frustration with how the law has damaged the state’s reputation as a “new” Alabama, and has dragged the state back to its older, intolerant roots – and scared away business in the process.  Now, a number of leading national civil rights, human rights and worker rights organizations including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Council of La Raza, NAACP, Service Employees International Union, United Auto Workers and Southern Poverty Law Center are calling on the three major foreign car companies with manufacturing plants in Alabama to join the full repeal effort.  Said Wade Henderson, the President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, "The truth is, there is no fix for (the law)…The only option that makes any sense — and the only option that will help Alabama restore its reputation in the U.S. and with the international business community — is for the Legislature to approve a complete repeal of this obnoxious law."

Protestor Against Law Tells NPR, “You Can’t Tweak Hate”: A story in National Public Radio (NPR) highlights organizing that is happening locally to push back on the law, and the effort by some lawmakers to tweak the bill.  Our good friend, William Anderson, a University of Alabama at Birmingham student, had the best response: “Everybody that voted for HB 56 should be ashamed of themselves…They should all be pushing for full repeal, not tweaking anything – you can't tweak hate."

In addition to these voices, the cost-benefit analysis of Alabama’s “papers, please” anti-immigration law from University of Alabama economist Dr. Samuel Addy is still making waves.  Dr. Addy, the director of the University’s Center for Business and Economic Research, estimated that implementation of Alabama’s anti-immigrant law would shrink the state’s GDP by “possibly as much as $10.8 billion.”  Dr. Addy concluded that “Instead of boosting state economic growth, the law is certain to be a drag on economic development even without considering costs associated with its implementation and enforcement...While the law’s costs are certain and some are large, it is not clear that the benefits will be realized.” 

Posted 02/07/12 at 04:42pm By Mahwish Khan

Dear Mitt: Not That You Care, But to Latino Voters, Pete “Prop 187” Wilson Is Still “El Diablo”

Pete WilsonCalifornia Proposition 187 was a 1994 ballot initiative to prohibit undocumented immigrants from health care, public education, and other social services.

At the time, Gov. Pete Wilson was its most ardent supporter. And now, former Gov. Pete Wilson is Mitt Romney's. 

Yesterday, the Romney press camp sent out a statement touting the endorsement from the latest member of Mitt’s anti-immigrant task force:  

“I’m honored to have Governor Pete Wilson’s support, because he’s one of California’s most accomplished leaders,” said Romney.

And the feeling between the two is mutual. In the same press statement, Wilson waxes poetic about the former governor of Massachusetts, claiming that only Mitt has the qualities to “restore America's strength and credibility, and win back respect for America from both our friends and our enemies.”

Maybe not from your enemies, Wilson. Peter Wilson, who will serve as honorary chairman of Romney’s California campaign, is well known in the Latino community as “El Diablo,” which translates quite literally to “the Devil.” So hated was he that the bill he championed mobilized enough Latino voters to vote Democratic. California has been blue ever since.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

An analysis today on Univision, the Spanish-language network, passed around by the Democratic National Committee, speculated that the Wilson endorsement “could further wreck (Romney’s) reputation with Latino voters, the fastest-growing voting bloc, in the general election.”

Latino voters will play a key role in new battleground states like Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and Arizona.  On a press call, this Thursday at noon EST, pollsters and political experts will discuss how the issue of immigration has influenced politics since the days of Proposition 187; the numbers behind the Latino vote in key states like Nevada and Colorado; and the impact Latino voters will have on the general election. 

Will Mitt Romney’s embrace of Pete Wilson, Kris Kobach, and other luminaries in the anti-immigrant movement help him or hurt him in the general election?  What lessons do Republicans in these purple states need to learn from the California experience?  What does the name “Pete Wilson” mean to entire generation of Latinos—and how personal is the issue of immigration to Latino voters? 

The answer to these questions and more, here, on Thursday. Follow us on twitter for a live-tweet of the call. 

Posted 02/07/12 at 12:31pm By Van Le

Immigration Policy Center Report Investigates Consequences of “Attrition Through Enforcement”

going out of businessThe hot new immigration buzzword these days is “self-deportation” (recently made popular by Mitt Romney), also known as “attrition through enforcement,” and the Immigration Policy Center has a new report this week explaining the full, frightening reality of what it is. 

As the introduction to the report reads:

The plan is called “attrition through enforcement” (sometimes called “self deportation”) and the groups behind it have created a web of federal and state legislative proposals that seek to reduce illegal immigration by making it difficult, if not impossible, for unauthorized immigrants to live in American society. While individual proposals may appear to be relatively benign, they are part of a larger systematic plan that undermines basic human rights, devastates local economies, and places unnecessary burdens on U.S. citizens and lawful immigrants.

IPC’s blog at Daily Kos has more:

They say they’re just enforcing current law, but in reality, they are creating new laws new penalties for violating those laws.

While attrition through enforcement might, at first, seem more reasonable than mass deportation, the goal is the same—make sure all unlawfully present immigrants leave the US, regardless of how long they’ve been here, how rooted they are in their community, and how many US citizen family members they have. The result has been undermining human rights, devastating families and communities, hurting local economies and placing unnecessary burdens on all Americans.

While not every state legislator who is legitimately concerned with unauthorized immigration or who introduces an immigration-related bill is promoting a national strategy of attrition through enforcement, it’s not too hard to see that some state laws are part of an organized strategy. Arizona’s SB1070 says right in the law that the “intent of this act is to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona.”  State Senator Scott Beason of Alabama stated that his recently passed law “attacks every aspect of an illegal alien’s life” and is “designed to make it difficult for them to live here.”  Alabama’s state Representative Mickey Hammon said his law “was not designed to go out and arrest tremendous numbers of people. Most folks in the state illegally will self-deport and move to states that are supportive of large numbers of illegals coming to their state.”

Read the report here.

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