America's Voice Blog

Posted 09/29/08 at 08:04pm By Lynn Tramonte

Menendez-Kennedy Bill Would Restore a Little Humanity to an Inhumane System

After the death of comprehensive immigration reform legislation last June, Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), called a bunch of immigration advocates and business lobbyists into a room to announce that he was about to unleash major pain on our communities.

Chertoff told us that the immigration bill's failure meant he was going to ratchet up immigration enforcement across the country. It was clear to me that he blamed the advocates-not the Republican Party-for the loss in the Senate, and was out for revenge.

Chertoff made good on at least half his promise, and over the last year he launched a major offensive against immigrants in their homes and workplaces. The Administration has won big headlines for arresting record numbers of immigrants in worksite raids, while comparatively few employers have felt the heat and serious labor law violations have gone unpunished. Immigration SWAT teams have blanketed communities across the nation, pounding on doors and arresting anyone they find who is undocumented. Many times, children are the ones who answer the doors, only to see their parents treated like criminals and taken away.

Every time I read about another raid, my heart sinks a little lower. This is not the country I love; this is not the United States of America. We see broken laws and we fix them. We don't turn up the pain on our own communities-our own families-in retaliation for politicians' failure to pass a badly-needed reform law.

Last week, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) introduced the "Protect Citizens and Residents from Unlawful Raids and Detention Act," S. 3594. Building on the Menendez-Lofgren "Detainee Basic Medical Care Act" (S. 3005/H.R. 5950), the new Menendez-Kennedy bill would make a number of changes to the way ICE manages immigration detention and conducts raids in workplaces, homes, and communities. It includes common sense provisions like ensuring U.S. citizens are not arrested during immigration raids, social services personnel are ready to help children whose parents are taken by ICE, and exploited workers are not deported before they can testify against their abusive employer.

The bill does not call for an end to immigration raids, although we all know the Administration's raids policy is not going to fix illegal immigration or get the system under control. As Secretary Chertoff's remarks last year betrayed, these raids are more about cowboy politics than effective policy. No, the Menendez-Kennedy bill is simply about reigning in the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) handles its business. It is a very modest measure that asks ICE to exercise a bit of humanity, and a bit of common sense, as it goes about its campaign of immigration enforcement.

A few months ago I was in Postville, Iowa, talking with local families and residents impacted by the now-infamous immigration raid at the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse in May. Women who were arrested during the raid told of being surrounded by ICE agents carrying guns, screaming at them and calling them rats. Children described how they felt hearing the insect wings of ICE helicopters flying over their school. They knew it was Immigration, coming to take their parents, and there was nothing they could do. Months later, they are still sifting through their emotions from that fateful day and trying to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Is this what Secretary Chertoff had in mind when he called us in last year? I hope not. I hope he will search his soul and find the will to support the Menendez-Kennedy bill. But given what I've seen, and the way ICE and DHS have reacted to any suggestion that they treat immigrants like humans-even as they enforce the law-I'm not holding my breath.

 

 

Posted 09/26/08 at 10:33pm By Paco Fabian

With Massive Push, New Citizens Register to Vote in Record Numbers

Immigrants are preparing to turn out like never before. This time, they will not be marching. They will be exercising their right to vote as newly minted Americans, US-born sons and daughters of immigrants, and long-time citizens of immigrant origin.

Immigrant voters are concerned about the same issues as most Americans- the economy, healthcare, and education, to name a few. However, for many of these new voters, the looming issue of immigration reform remains a litmus test as to whether or not to trust a given candidate.

The surge of the immigrant vote may come as a surprise to many, but not to the dozens of organizations that form the We Are America Alliance (WAAA). The Alliance is driving the largest coordinated effort in our nation's history to increase immigrant civic engagement. In a push to commemorate National Citizenship Day (September 17th), Alliance members held events that successfully registered 20,000 new Latino, Asian, and immigrant voters.

Just this year, WAAA partners together have registered total of 372,591 immigrant voters, and they are set to mobilize one million voters to the polls this fall.  Their combined effort is taking place in 13 different states with large immigrant populations, several of which will play a key role in deciding the outcome of this year's election.

 

STATE                       NEW REGISTRATIONS
Arizona                       12,934   
California                    66,442   
Colorado                     34,160   
Florida                         77,101   
Illinois                         23,465   
Michigan                      8,000   
Nevada                        51,021   
New Hampshire          Not available   
New Mexico                36,153   
New York                     14,640   
Pennsylvania               32,228   
Texas                            16,000   
Virginia                             447   
TOTAL:                   372,591 

 

These impressive efforts are not happening alone. Unprecedented radio and television mobilization efforts to register and engage the Latino vote are taking many forms in key battleground states. The Wall Street Journal highlighted the efforts of the NALEO Educational Fund to drive a million new Latino voters to the polls.

The "Ya es Hora! Ve y Vota!" (Now is the time! Go vote!) campaign, supported by State Farm, Univision, and the largest Spanish-language publisher in the U.S., ImpreMedia LLC, could "create a surge of Latino voters, especially in several swing states," and, according to new polling figures, "would likely benefit Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Between the "Ya es Hora!" Campaign and the $10 million effort led by the We Are America Alliance in 13 key electoral states, a record number of immigrant and Latino voters are being mobilized to get out and vote.

The immigration marches of 2006 and 2007 took the American public by surprise, but there should be no surprise this November, when this historic push to engage and mobilize eligible immigrant voters in battleground states results in the massive participation of a new and growing demographic.

When the political pundits begin to assess what took place in the 2008 elections, as they did in the 2006 marches, the role of the immigration debate in turning out the immigrant and Latino vote will be undeniable. All those new voters, in favor of sensible and humane immigration reform, will look to the newly-elected to recognize the role immigration played in the election and seek a fair and long-overdue immigration policy reform.

 In the absence of reform, however, we can only imagine what the 2009 marches would look like. 

Posted 09/25/08 at 02:03pm By Paco Fabian

Immigrants to blame for Wall Street meltdown!  Really?!?

Just when we thought we already had enough problems with the Wall Street fiasco, in walks Michelle Malkin. The right-wing blogger and television loudmouth has given us a new group to point fingers at. That's right, the current Wall Street meltdown has nothing to do with government ineptitude or failure to stem corporate greed... "It's the immigrants, stupid!"

In her syndicated column yesterday, Malkin stated "The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers...But there's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis."

It's hard to be surprised by Malkin's "theories" anymore, but this really is a hysterical low.

Unfortunately, Malkin's claims are part of a broader trend involving right-wing media, think tanks, and anti-immigrant organizations. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), known for publishing less-than-credible research, recently released a report blaming immigrants for global warming. Then they claimed immigrants were conspiring to steal elections. What's next in the anti-immigrant blame game? Immigrants responsible for rising gas prices? Immigrants to blame for hurricanes?

Organizations and journalists advocating these claims are only making fools of themselves in the long run. Malkin is not going to convince the American public that immigrants are responsible for this financial meltdown. The CIS study doesn't even use real math. We think these claims speak for themselves.

What the Malkins of the world might not realize, however, is how their words will soon come back to haunt them.

Latino voters are poised and ready to be key players in the November election. Articles like Malkin's are fueling immigrant voters nationwide to get out to the polls with unprecedented force. Immigrants, and Latino immigrants in particular, are tired of immigration being used as an excuse for every problem imaginable.

Latino voters are ready to make their voices heard this November, to drown out the Michelle Malkins of the world who are just looking for the next big thing to blame on their communities.

Note: To view other installments of the anti-immigrant blame game and to vote on what the right-wing will try to pin on immigrants next, go to:

http://www.AmericasVoiceOnline.org/BlameTheImmigrants.

 

Posted 09/22/08 at 03:35pm By Web Team

Responding to Rush: How Do You Say “Invasive Species” in Spanish?

After finding himself in the middle of a fight between John McCain and Barack Obama on immigration reform, conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh decided to broadcast some of his immigration views en Español on today’s show. Click here to check out our response to Rush (in Spanish).

Posted 09/21/08 at 09:13am By Web Team

Savage on Muslim immigrants: 15th-century “throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists

Note: Authored by and cross-posted at Media Matters.

During the September 16 broadcast of The Savage Nation, host Michael Savage discussed what a caller described as "the garbage that comes in here legally." The caller stated, "[W]e talk about illegal aliens, but we tend to forget the garbage that comes in here legally. Like, I just moved to D.C., and all these Muslim fundamentalists, I mean, they walk around Northern Virginia as if they own the place." Savage responded: "All right, well, they do own the place -- they spit on Americans. They look at you with hatred if you're not wearing 14th- to 15th-century garb." Savage went on to add: "Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century? Now you have to ask yourself, what's the benefit? What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?"

As Media Matters for America noted, on the August 4 broadcast of The Savage Nation, while discussing the Italian government's decision to deploy soldiers on city streets to combat violent crime for which, according to The New York Times, "illegal immigrants are broadly blamed," Savage stated: "Things are so bad in Europe that the Italians have put soldiers, military on their streets. Now, you have to understand what it means by things are so bad. The illegal immigrants, mainly Muslims and Africans, are out of control." He then added: "So they've done there what we need to do here. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work."

More...
Posted 09/19/08 at 05:13pm By Frank Sharry

Memo to the Candidates: Immigration, Seriously?

Seriously, it’s about time the candidates started talkingabout immigration again.  But now, can wetalk about it seriously?

A New York Times editorial published Fridaytook both Sen.John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama to task for the way inwhich they’ve approached the issue of comprehensive immigration reform inSpanish-language campaign ads this month. 

John McCain started the back-and-forth bickering.  In Spanish, he accused Obama of killing lastyear’s attempt at immigration reform by voting for a series of “poison pill”amendments, a claim the New York Times called “a jaw-dropping distortion. Thebill wasn’t killed by any amendments. It was killed by a firestorm oftalk-radio rage and a Republican-led filibuster. The very bill that Mr. McCainnow mourns is the one he sidled away from as his own party weakened and killedit. It’s the one he says he would now vote against.”

It’s really too bad that John McCain has backed away from his earlier leadershipon immigration reform. Unfortunately, he felt that he had to pander to theanti-immigration elements of his own party to become their nominee. But to turnaround and try to blame Obama and the Democrats for the failure of reform—afterhis own party blocked the bill in 2006 AND 2007—is breathtakingly false.

Unfortunately Obama’s response ad, also in Spanish, raisessome credibility concerns of its own. The Obama ad tries to link John McCain toright-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, a foe of immigration reform, and uses somesalacious quotes from Limbaugh to stir the pot. Though over-the-top, the quoteswere taken out of context, and many pundits and truth-squaders are chatteringabout the ad.

But if the Obama campaign had done just a little more research,they would have found a “treasure trove” of quotes from anti-immigrant conservatives,including Limbaugh, that show why the GOP has tacked hard right on the issueand abandoned Latino and immigrant families in the bargain. Clearly they arescared of the angry and vocal anti-immigrant fringe that is making a move on theGOP, and so far succeeding. Take a look at these quotes:  

·        “So invasive species like mollusks andspermatozoa are not good, and we’ve got a federal judge say, ‘You can’t bringit in here,’ but invasive species in the form of illegal immigration is fineand dandy ‑ bring ’em on, as many as possible, legalize them wherever we can,wherever they go, no matter what they clog up. So we’re going to break thebank; we’re going to bend over backwards. The federal judiciary is going to doeverything it can to stop spermatozoa and mollusks from coming in, but otherinvasive species? We’re supposed to bend over and grab the ankles and say,‘Deal with it.’ … We’re not going to be able to bring ’em in now, but invasivespecies that, say, on their own power and of their own desire and volitioncross the border and come here, we can’t say diddly-squat about it.” – RushLimbaugh, “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” April 1, 2005

·        “On theother side, you have people who hate America, and they hate it because it’s runprimarily by white, Christian men. Let me repeat that. America is run primarilyby white, Christian men, and there is a segment of our population who hatesthat, despises that power structure. So they, under the guise of being compassionate,want to flood the country with foreign nationals, unlimited, unlimited, tochange the complexion ‑ pardon the pun ‑ of America. Now, that’s hatred, too.”‑ BillO’Reilly, “Bill O’Reilly” radio show, May 29, 2007, speaking aboutpeople who wanted to ease restrictions in a Senate immigration bill

·        “The American majority is not reproducingitself. Its birthrate has been below replacement level for decades. Forty-fivemillion of its young have been destroyed in the womb since Roe v. Wade,as Asian, African, and Latin American children come to inherit the estate thelost generation of American children never got to see. . . . our minoritypopulation rose 2.4 million to exceed 100 million. Hispanics, 1 percent of theU.S. population in 1950, are now 14.4 percent. Since 2000, their numbers havesoared 25 percent to 45 million. The U.S. Asian population grew by 24 percentsince 2000, as the number of white kids of school age fell 4 percent. Half thechildren five and younger today are minority children….The Anglo population ofCalifornia is down to 43 percent and falling fast. White folks are now aminority in Texas and New Mexico. In Arizona, Hispanics account for more thanhalf the population under twenty. The America Southwest is returning to Mexico.”‑ Pat Buchannan, “Day of Reckoning: HowHubris, Ideology, and Greed Are Tearing America Apart”

·        “The Statue of Liberty is crying, she’s beenraped and disheveled ‑ raped and disheveled by illegal aliens, and ourpoliticians do nothing except give themselves big fat checks and big fat jobs.”– MichaelSavage, “The Savage Nation,” Aug. 4, 2008

But setting aside the he said/he said, here’s the real deal.Two aggressive immigration ads later, we’re no closer to talking about realsolutions to the broken immigration system. As stated in today’s New York Times editorial, “Meanwhile, the Bushadministration keeps raiding factories and farms, terrorizing immigrantfamilies while exposing horrific accounts of workplace abuses. Children toil inslaughterhouses; detainees languish in federal lockups, dying without decentmedical care. Day laborers are harassed and robbed of wages. An ineffectiveborder fence is behind schedule and millions over budget. Local enforcers dragcitizens and legal residents into their nets, to the cheers of the Minutemen.”

We at America’s Voice would like to offer thischallenge to both candidates: Be honest with us. Use the time remaining in yourcampaigns ‑ and the upcoming Presidential debates ‑ to tell us your plan forimmigration reform. How will you design it, how will you pass it into law, andhow will you implement it, so that we can once again be both a nation ofimmigrants and a nation of laws? 

We’ll be watching.

Posted 09/12/08 at 09:28am By Web Team

NDN Poll: In Battleground States, Overwhelming Support for Comprehensive Reform

This week our Immigration08.com partner NDN released the results of a new set of polls that evaluate where voters in the key battleground states of Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada stand on the issue of immigration reform. An executive summary of the poll's findings is available here, and the complete presentation is available here.

Like dozens of national polls before them, the NDN poll results show that voters in these states overwhelmingly support comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. They blame the federal government for inaction on the issue, and prefer the policies of candidate Obama and the Democratic Party to those of candidate McCain and the Republican Party.

Despite overwhelming data to the contrary, some candidates seem to think that cowering to the restrictionists, personified by Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh, on the immigration issue is a safe or even wise electoral strategy. NDN's results in key battleground states-states that will determine who is the next President of the United States--prove conventional wisdom wrong once again.

 

 

Posted 09/11/08 at 07:34pm By Web Team

In Their Own Words: Key Developments in the Immigration Debate

Despite efforts to downplay the importance of immigration in this election cycle, the debate continues across the country. Here is a round-up of recent key developments in the immigration debate, presented "in their own words":

  • Speaking before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Senator Barack Obama said: "This election is about the 12 million people living in the shadows, the communities taking immigration enforcement into their own hands. They are counting on us to stop the hateful rhetoric filling our airwaves, and rise above the fear, and rise above the demagoguery, and finally enact comprehensive immigration reform...we cannot deport 12 million people. Instead, we'll require them to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for citizenship - behind those who came here legally. At the same time, we'll secure our borders and crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers. That's how we'll reconcile our values as both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws."

  • NDN released the results of their eagerly-anticipated poll of how immigration is playing out in critical "battleground states" (Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New Mexico): "In each of these four states, voters: Overwhelmingly support what has been called Comprehensive Immigration Reform, including a "path to citizenship" for undocumented immigrants; Have a positive view of undocumented immigrants, believing that they have come here to work and seek a better life, are not taking jobs from American citizens and are not interested in receiving public handouts; Blame the federal government and business for the broken immigration system, and do not blame the immigrants themselves."   

  • Bishop John Wester, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) committee on migration condemned recent immigration raids, saying: "The humanitarian costs of these raids are immeasurable and unacceptable in a civilized society. I call upon the Department of Homeland Security and President (George W.) Bush to reconsider the use of these worksite enforcement raids, and without the implementation of necessary human rights protections, to please abandon them. We ask them and the country, including the presidential candidates, to again turn their energies for building support for a comprehensive overhaul of our broken immigration system."

  • Johnston County, NC Sheriff Steve Bizzell, who was featured prominently in the first general election advertisement for Senator Elizabeth Dole, caused a wave of controversy by: condemning "illegal immigrants for ‘breeding like rabbits'," calling Mexicans "trashy," claiming that "illegal immigrants ‘rape, rob and murder' American citizens," and asking "How long is it going to be until we're the minority?" Sheriff Bizzell, who was the President of the N.C. Sheriffs Association, also has promoted harsh policy crackdowns, helping to "make North Carolina one of the most aggressive states in the nation for deporting illegal immigrants."  

  • The Washington Post highlighted that a status report assessing another notable local immigration crackdown location, Prince William County, VA, found "Fewer than 2 percent of people charged with crimes in Prince William County since the well-publicized crackdown on illegal immigration began in March have turned out to be undocumented, Police Chief Charlie T. Deane told county supervisors yesterday." The article also highlighted a plummeting lack of trust in the local police department among the Hispanic population, reporting that "97 percent of Hispanics were satisfied with police in 2005. This year, Hispanic satisfaction with police has decreased to 73 percent."

Posted 09/10/08 at 08:32pm By Web Team

Hate Group Holds Own Feet to Fire

Cross-posted on AlterNet

In an unusual move, the hate group FAIR denounces itself for using "inflammatory language" to "silence proponents of immigration reform." That's right, hold onto your hats, the Lou-natics © (TV pundit Lou Dobbs aficionados) and anti-immigrant activists are at it again. This time, however, they're directing their vitriol… at themselves?

Let's back up.

A recognized hate group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has been busy rallying its army of anti-immigrant activists to descend upon our nation's Capitol this week as part of its annual 'Hold their Feet to the Fire' Lobby Days. The group's 'HTFTTF' (worst acronym ever?) Lobby Days promise to be a big draw for Lou-natics©, grumpy retirees, and folks who just can't seem to keep their fingers off the Caps Lock key (if I say ILLEGAL ALIEN in all caps, it's even scarier!), alike.

In fact, today 'HTFTTF' Lieutenant General Lou will host the CNN 'Lou Dobbs Tonight' show live from the FAIR grounds, alongside Radio DJ's that have been imported from across the country to drive home an extremist, anti-solution message on immigration.Yet even as FAIR and Lt. Dobbs try, through HTFTTF, to bully members of Congress into chickening out on common sense immigration reform, the group has begun to feel their own share of the heat.

Yesterday a Coalition of concerned organizations, including America's Voice and SEIU, launched a campaign to call attention to what FAIR is really about. They unveiled full-page ads in newspapers on the Hill, which were written up in the Washington Post and circulated on the internet to spur action. The ads present disturbing quotes from the hate group's founders and leaders and ask a very simple question: "When Did Extreme Become Mainstream?"

Well, FAIR responded immediately with one of its signature, grammar-impaired press releases, in which it vaguely but categorically denies any ties to racism or extremism. Next FAIR attempts to brand the organizations who dare to question its motivations as constituting an "open-border lobby" (we've yet to encounter this open-border lobby, but we're sure it exists- really, they swear!)

Let's take a quick look at the FAIR release:

Each of the organizations responsible for placing the ads invested heavily in failed lobbying efforts to pass the 2007 Senate amnesty bill. In the first half of 2007, America's Voice alone spent $420,000…

The thing is… America's Voice didn't exist in 2007. But if FAIR wants to cut us a check for back pay, we'll take it!

The tone and content of these ads demonstrates that their strategy to silence proponents of immigration reform has resulted in the ugliest and most negative public relations campaign in the history of American politics.

Really? The ugliest in American history? Wow! Well, the thing is, the tone and content of these ads was made up of the quotations from FAIR founders and leaders, which is to say, FAIR's tone and FAIR's content.

As cited in the Washington Post:

The ad includes three racially explosive quotes; one from John Tanton, founder of FAIR, saying, "As whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?"

Now, we know that's ugly, but we are a little surprised FAIR is so eager to agree and to later go so far as to call the language "vitriolic."Perhaps we should adapt those HTFTTF Lobby Days to be 'HOOFTTF' Days (unfortunately the acronym isn't much prettier).

HOOFTTF—that's 'Hold Our Own Feet to the Fire,' which is precisely what the hate group is doing by critiquing it's own "tone, content," and "vitriol."