America's Voice Blog

Posted 09/27/11 at 12:51pm By Mahwish Khan

Will the GOP Stand By Chris Christie’s Immigration Record?

Here’s a question: Which GOP presidential candidate stated that “being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime.”

The answer? None. Well – none yet.

But if major Republican pundits and donors who continue to call on Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) to enter the 2012 Republican presidential race get their wish, all that could change. And Christie’s pro-immigration stance will stand in sharp contrast to the rest of the GOP field’s positions on immigration.

On an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” in July 2010, Governor Christie said: 

[Immigration] is a federal issue that should be handled by the feds and should be fixed finally. As a former United States attorney, I had to deal with these issues for seven years, and we simply didn't have the resources to deal with them effectively.  So the president and the Congress have to step up to the plate, they have to secure our borders, and they have to put forward a commonsense path to citizenship for people.  And until they do that, states are going to struggle all over the country with this problem, and so is federal law enforcement, who doesn't have the resources to do it effectively.

We're not hearing the words "path to citizenship" from any of the other Republican candidates. In fact, front-runner Mitt Romney is leading the candidates towards the opposite extreme.

Christie has received an F  from the anti-immigrant organization NumbersUSA – and outraged Lou Dobbs. If he jumps into the mix, the immigration hawks will no doubt savage his views on immigration.

The speculation about Gov. Christie Entering 2012 Presidential Race raises key questions about immigration and the GOP. Will the conservative pundits and Christie’s supporters stand by his views and take on the nativists? Or, will they stand by and remain silent? Will Christie stick with his pro-reform positions or flip-flop, like Romney?

While the loud voices of the extreme anti-immigrant crowd are being heard these days, the vast majority of Republicans support Christie’s path to citizenship.  In May 2011, the Pew Research Center released a poll that asked:

Thinking about illegal immigration in the United States, do you favor or oppose providing a way for illegal immigrants currently in the country to gain legal citizenship if they pass background checks, pay fines, and have jobs?

By a 72%-24% margin overall, voters supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. When broken up by political typology, Main Street Republicans supported a path to citizenship 58%-39% and Libertarians supported it 66%-32.  Among Republican voters, only Staunch Conservatives failed to demonstrate majority support, although they split on the issue 49%-49%. 

Other recent polling has also shown that Republicans are favorably inclined toward practical comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. 

Posted 11/10/10 at 02:33pm By Jackie Mahendra

Rupert Murdoch Welcomes Lou Dobbs to FOX (Will Fox Latino Report?)

This just in: turns out all those rumors about Dobbs heading to FOX were true.

Any guess as to whether Rupert Murdoch, who supports immigration reform, will be announcing the news on his newly-launched Fox News Latino?

The LA Times Blog has the story in, Lou Dobbs joining Fox Business Network:

Just about a year to the day that he left CNN, Lou Dobbs is returning to cable news, this time as host of his own show on News Corp.'s Fox Business Network.

After being paid $8 million to leave CNN about a year ago, the hardline immigration-obsessed host became embroiled anew in scandal last month, when a year-long investigation exposed his own immigration hypocrisy (allegedly employing undocumented workers on his multi-million dollar estate).

Click here to read more.
Posted 10/07/10 at 09:37am By Jackie Mahendra

Lou Dobbs Rebukes Meg Whitman, But His Own Immigration Hypocrisy Is Exposed

Wow. Wow wow wow.

This tweet is just too much, given the undocumented labor scandal Lou Dobbs is now embroiled in:

Meg Whitman had an illegal immigrant maid for 9 yrs and fired her when she found out? She didn't try to help her get legal status? Not good 2:20 PM Sep 29th via web from Midtown Center, New York

Now, he may be right about Whitman, but talk about casting the first stone... Today Lou Dobbs becomes the latest uber-wealthy public figure to shamelessly flog the immigration issue while simultaneously benefiting from undocumented labor in his home (or rather, estate).

The Nation has a devastating report out today, the result of a year-long investigation, on Dobbs' use and abuse of undocumented workers. Five of Dobbs' workers stated that the ex-CNN anchor knew that they lacked papers but looked the other way as they tended his multi-million dollar estate.

Watch the take-down video:

The reporter, Isabel McDonald, spoke to one immigrant worker, who she identified as Marco Salinas:

An old friend of Salinas's worked as a groom with some of the horses owned by Dobbs, and he had sent word that Salinas could be hired on as a groom at the Vermont stable contracted to care for the Dobbs Group horses.

Salinas got the job, he said, and worked at it for more than two years without documents until he was finally able to obtain a guest-worker visa designed for seasonal foreign workers (the same kind of visa denounced as a form of "indentured servitude" on Dobbs's CNN show).

I asked Salinas, still clad in his work clothes--a polo shirt and jeans--about Dobbs, the owner of the horses he cared for. But the father of three simply flashed a disarming grin, let out an easygoing laugh and politely declined to comment.

In addition to Salinas, the reporter interviewed a man named Rodrigo Ortega who worked in Dobbs' gardens. Dobbs introduced himself in Spanish as "Luis" when he met Ortega and stated that Dobbs "knew very well that the majority of us didn't have papers," but that this "was never a problem."

Click here to read more.
Posted 01/28/10 at 07:19pm By Adam Luna

Senators Reiterate Plan For Immigration Reform—Including Lou Dobbs?

ReidToday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reiterated their commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform.  After the President's low-fidelity mention of immigration reform in the State of the Union address last night, the Senators' clearly articulated commitment and bipartisan framework to get reform done was a welcome message.

It will be their job, after all, to bring immigration reform to a vote in the Senate, as Representative Gutierrez outlined today.

But during the Q & A at today's press conference, Senator Schumer said that he also met with Lou Dobbs yesterday to talk immigration.  Say what? 

Seems a bit hasty to be bringing Dobbs into the backroom. After all, Dobbs' expertise in immigrant leprosy prevention or Presidential birth certificate verification has been called into question more than once.

Hopefully, this was a PR ploy gone awry and not a serious strategy.

As Andrea Nill points out at Think Progress:

Schumer most likely met with “Mr. Independent” in an effort to use Dobbs’ appeal to attract more supporters from the center and center-right of politics. However, that strategy could backfire. To begin with, the majority of independents already support comprehensive immigration reform. Also, many of Dobbs’ most loyal supporters are right wingers who abandoned him as soon as he turned away from the hardline approach to immigration he advocated on CNN. And while a self-described “wiser Lou Dobbs” who favors an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants has emerged since he left CNN, the Latino and immigrant community is still largely skeptical about his change of heart. Many Latinos and immigrants are already disappointed by President Obama’s passing mention of immigration reform in last night’s State of the Union address.

If you need evidence about that "skeptical" part, click here.

Few think that Lou Dobbs is the credible spokesperson we need on immigration right now. I, for one, think President Obama might be a tad better at convincing the American people why immigration reform lifts wages and increases tax revenue. And yes, that could require more than 38 words.

Posted 01/08/10 at 03:06pm By Jackie Mahendra

TGIF Immigration Tidbits: Dobbs No Longer (Railing) Against Immigration Reform—UPDATED

Here are some of the best immigration tidbits from around the internets today -- oh, and leave us some Friday comment love if you get a second.

Okay --  a couple more TGIF tidbits to round out your week: (UPDATED)


http://www.campusprogress.org/page/community/post/erosa/C2X5
Posted 12/04/09 at 12:07pm By Adam Luna

Lou Can’t Get No Love

How's this for irony: the extremist group behind the drive to recruit Lou Dobbs into a presidential run has yanked support for their one-time champion.

While bloggers debated whether Dobbs was too mean to be President, it came out that he was no longer mean enough for the extreme base he's cultivated all these years. The Plum Line's Greg Sargent writes:

Wow. Lou Dobbs, putative presidential candidate, just can’t catch a break.

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), one of the most extreme anti-immigrant groups out there, isn’t happy with Dobbs' recent statement that creating a way for hard-working, undocumented people to regularize their status and become legal citizens might not be such a bad idea. Not only that, but Dobbs made those comments on Telemundo, a network that broadcasts in Español (gasp!).

Understandably, the reaction from Dobbs' extremist base was essentially, “OMG!! WTF!?! Why Lou Why!”

Or, to be precise:

Who are you and what have you done with Lou Dobbs?
Click here to read more.
Posted 12/02/09 at 10:38am By Jackie Mahendra

Dobbs Headed to CNBC? No, Gracias, Says the Network

Yesterday the New York Times reported that Dobbs was in conversation with CNBC, and many of us asked the question, "Is CNBC ready for Dobbs?" Looks like the answer is a resounding, "No, gracias!"

Network executives didn't give us much time to put pressure on them, announcing by the end of the day yesterday that talks were over:

Lou Dobbs won’t be talking to CNBC again anytime soon.

The business news network said Tuesday evening that it was no longer talking to Mr. Dobbs, the former CNN anchor, about a potential job.

The statement came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday morning that Mr. Dobbs had “held talks with the business news network CNBC in recent weeks.” A network spokesman did not deny the report about the talks, but said: “We are not in talks or negotiating with Lou Dobbs. He is not going to work for CNBC.”

Mr. Dobbs abruptly exited CNN in mid-November.

While Mr. Dobbs contemplates a run for public office, he is also said to be keen on having a new television platform. (He also is host of a syndicated radio show on weekday afternoons.) He could conceivably join a cable outfit like the Fox Business Network or become an commentator for another news division.

On the running for office front, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez' spokesperson has essentially shrugged off the news that Dobbs may seek a NJ Senate seat in 2012, arguing:

“Senator Menendez has his nose to the grindstone to help create an economic recovery for New Jersey families and will not be distracted by an election three years away,” said the spokesman, Afshin Mohamadi. “I’m sure that he would relish eventually having an opponent from so far out of the mainstream and who has never done a thing for the hard-working people of New Jersey, but the senator’s focus is on jobs, not Dobbs. The senator has developed a record of delivering job-creating programs and tax relief, and as he builds upon it, 2012 will in large part take care of itself.”

Posted 12/01/09 at 02:42pm By Jackie Mahendra

Is CNBC Ready For Dobbs?

Media Matters asks the question today, "Is CNBC prepared to invest in Dobbs and his record of conspiracy theories and inflammatory rhetoric?" They cite recent reports that CNBC is in conversation with the ousted anchor:

A December 1 New York Times blog post reported that Lou Dobbs "has held talks with the business news network CNBC in recent weeks" and that he "could conceivably host a prime time program for CNBC" or "become a commentator for the business news network." 

They continue with a recap of Dobbs' greatest hits, under the heading, "Is this the kind of brand CNBC wants to be associated with?" Here are the main points they hit on (get the full scoop here):

Dobbs repeatedly advanced false conspiracy theories about Obama's birth certificate. 

Dobbs used CNN to elevate wild conspiracy theories and legitimize hate groups.

Dobbs had close ties to "hate group" FAIR. 

Dobbs smeared U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as sympathetic to "Mexico's export of drugs and illegal aliens."

Dobbs declared, "Mexico has become our enemy."

 

Posted 11/23/09 at 02:41pm By Jackie Mahendra

Help Us Celebrate One Less Turkey on TV: Lou Dobbs

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and now is the time to reflect on all we have to be thankful for.

Here’s one for the books: Lou Dobbs is off CNN! And you made it happen.

It’s time to share the good news: Lou Dobbs is one less turkey on TV this Thanksgiving. That’s one big step toward bringing our country together to debate real solutions on immigration. We’ve created a fun Thanksgiving e-card you can share with your family and friends, so take a look, have a laugh, and pass it on.

We all know that the bigger the movement grows, the stronger each of our voices are.

This victory didn’t happen by accident. One person, then another, and eventually hundreds of thousands of others, joined together-- and didn’t stop until the loudest immigration propagandist in America lost his primetime platform.

So check out our e-card, and then forward it to 10 people—together we can create immigration policy that lives up to our best values as Americans.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at America's Voice!

Posted 11/23/09 at 11:37am By Jackie Mahendra

Lou Dobbs Newsflash: Dobbs Was “Great Friend” to Latinos, Despite Leprosy Claims

dobbs protestNewsflash: Forget all that controversy surrounding CNN's Latinos in America series earlier this fall (CNN came under heavy fire for keeping incendiary host Lou Dobbs as a mainstream news anchor while trying to reach out to Latino audiences). Apparently, Lou Dobbs should now be known as Latinos' "great friend," according to... well, Lou Dobbs.

To give Lou some credit, he did find a way to incorporate Latinos, especially Latino immigrants, into just about every "Lou Dobbs Tonight" broadcast, even when the topic was completely unrelated. Heck, Dobbs even gave Latino immigrants credit for a new wave of leprosy in the United States.

What a guy.

Andrea Nill of Think Progress has the story, in "Dobbs Calls Himself Latinos’ ‘Greatest Friend,’ Denies Tying Leprosy To Undocumented Immigrants:"

Today in an interview with Maria Celeste on Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo, ousted CNN anchor Lou Dobbs denied ever erroneously claiming that undocumented immigrants are bringing leprosy to the United States. Instead he attacked Celeste for bringing up reports that he aired on his show in the past. From interview (translated from Spanish):

DOBBS: Let’s be very clear: I did not support that report, in fact we corrected that report. And secondly, in fairness to me, I never said a word about leprosy and undocumented immigrants as you call them. My correspondent on our broadcast ad-libbed…obviously she was wrong. My only declaration in response to that report was one word: “incredible.”

CELESTE: You were also confronted with this erroneous information by Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes and you said that you supported 100% of what you had said on the show, and that you were the managing editor of the program, and in your show, everything that was said was factual….

DOBBS: Maria, in the interest of fairness, would you like to tell your audience how long ago that report was?

CELESTE:That was a few years ago…

DOBBS: No, Maria, that was four years ago…

CELESTE: It doesn’t matter how many years ago, you never retracted…This is your opportunity to clarify that and once and for all put it to rest doing whatever you choose to do — an apology, a retraction — whatever you feel most comfortable with.

Watch it:

 

Nill continues by reminding Think Progress readers that Dobbs never retracted his statement, nor did he take the opportunity on Telemundo to apologize for demonizing immigrants in such an egregious manner:

Despite the fact that Dobbs did in fact state that “the invasion of illegal aliens is threatening the health of many Americans,” he refused to issue a retraction or apology on Telemundo.

However, Dobbs did tell the Latino community that he is one of its “greatest friends,” and he wants to work with them. He defended himself on the show by explaining that he is not “an enemy of Latinos,” but rather that the far-left has characterized him as such with its propaganda. The CBS website shows the 60 Minutes segment that aired in 2007.

That sleight of hand, I might add, is what is truly "incredible."

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