Latino groups say their not represented In Congress
Latino groups to release voting score card on immigration issues Turning up the political heat for immigration reform, major Latino organizations plan to unveil today a voting score card that found that 40% of California House members with a significant number of Latino, Asian and foreign-born constituents have not consistently supported what they view as pro-immigrant positions.
Nationally, the organizations that are part of the National Latino Congreso also found that 41% of House members and 25.9% of senators with a significant number of immigrant constituents did not consistently vote in ways they favored on key bills in 2007 and 2009.
The bills included those that would have granted legal status to students, expanded immigration enforcement to social service programs, denied automatic U.S. citizenship to children of illegal immigrants and granted immigration benefits to partners of gay and lesbians.
Congreso members stopped short of urging an ouster of those members, saying the interim score card was meant to alert the public to their representatives' voting records and allow a chance for change before the November election.
"This is a giant warning signal that many in Congress and the Senate are out of step with the interests of their districts," said Antonio Gonzalez of the William C. Velasquez Institute, a public policy organization that helped compile the data.
"Either they change their behavior or the constituents will change their representatives," Gonzalez said. "That's the nature of democracy."
The 22 California House members listed as "underperforming" by the institute included Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona). Calvert's district, which covers parts of Riverside and south Orange counties, includes 224,000 Latinos and 31,000 Asians, with 145,455 foreign-born, according to the analysis. But he voted against the Congreso's preferred position nine out of nine times, including supporting a bill that would deny U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.
"I have always supported the legal immigration process but during tough economic times and scarce resources my priority is to U.S. citizens and legal residents," Calvert said in a statement. "I will continue to support an enforcement-first approach to illegal immigration that ensures jobs and benefits go to Americans and legal residents."
The list of "underperforming" California House members included three Democrats.
One of them, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), was cited for votes to expand immigration enforcement to social service programs and to require those owning or renting publicly subsidized housing to prove their legal status. Harman's district, which covers the Westside and South Bay areas, includes 194,000 Latinos and 86,000 Asians, with 181,000 foreign-born residents, the analysis showed.
Harman was out of the country and unavailable for comment.
The score card found that congressional members in the South showed the least support for bills the Congreso favored while those from the West and Northeast showed the most.
Members of the Asian Pacific American, black, Hispanic and LGBT Equality caucuses voted most consistently in line with Congreso positions, while those from the Blue Dog Coalition, Congressional Prayer and Immigration Reform caucuses were the least supportive.
The score card is part of a broad national campaign to increase pressure on Congress to pass immigration reform legislation that would legalize the nation's 10.5 million undocumented immigrants, grant more family visas, provide temporary foreign workers where needed and step up enforcement against unauthorized immigration.
Many Latino activists are furious that the Obama administration has not pushed immigration reform despite promises to do so. Some say privately, however, that they will accept a "down payment" on reform before the November election with smaller bills to grant legal status to students or farm workers.
Without even that gesture, some Latinos have begun to consider withholding support from Democrats if they fail to push reform forward.
Thomas A. Saenz of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund said the 2010 census now underway is certain to show an even greater increase in Latino, Asian and foreign-born residents. Those who take positions perceived as anti-immigrant could lose political power, as occurred, he said, with California Republicans and then-Gov. Pete Wilson in the 1990s.
"We've always known failing to act on immigration reform was bad policy," he said. "This score card confirms that it's also bad politics."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 8999.story
teresa.watanabe@latimes.com
Re: Some replies to this column
Here's a few replies to this column.... :evil:
Times editors, take a look around your own comments section. No one seems to be supporting this ridiculous "Congreso," when the only reason for it's existence is to further the aims of illegal immigrants feom south of the border. Not Asian or European or even African immigratnts, only Mexican. Exclusively Democrat, they hope to amnestize these millions to secure their votes, at the expense of the entire state and country. And the Times, day after day, week after week, presents this nonsense as the voice of sweet reason, as the way all right thinking people would naturally think.
More blame for this falls on the Times, who really should no better. The Congreso is only looking out for the country they have allegiance to.
cheeba650 at 2:52 PM March 31, 2010
If the members of Congress don't vote for your illegal alien racist agenda then maybe you should go back to Mexico!
louweegie272 at 11:00 AM March 31, 2010
I'm amazed how out of touch the L.A. Times is with it's readers.