http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15979434

LULAC President: Discrimination persists
By Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 09/03/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

An anti-Hispanic movement is sweeping across the United States, the national president of LULAC said Thursday.

Arizona's immigration law, talk of repealing the 14th Amendment and other measures aimed at undocumented immigrants are part of a movement spreading state to state, said Margaret Moran, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

"It's a domino affect. It's all about targeting Latinos," said Moran, who is from San Antonio and was elected president in July.

Moran was in El Paso to formally announce the group's national convention coming to the civic center in 2013. LULAC, which just had is 80th anniversary, is the nation's oldest and largest Hispanic civil-rights organization.

Hispanics in El Paso may not see the discrimination that exists in other parts of the country because the city has a Hispanic majority, Moran said in an interview with the El Paso Times.

"We still don't know why some Latinos and why not others" are victims of discrimination, Moran said. "Is it because maybe they are impoverished? They are poor, not educated. They don't know their rights. It's there. The discrimination is still there."

LULAC filed a lawsuit against Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, which would require police to check the immigration status of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents say the law will lead to the racial profiling of Hispanics. Supporters say it is not about race but necessary to curb illegal immigration. The law is currently in litigation.

"Now, it's a wait-and-see issue and we are hoping to win," Moran said. "We will not stay quiet. We will continue. It is terrible. This governor (Janet Brewer of Arizona) is totally wrong."

There is talk among some conservatives about trying to repeal the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States, as a way to stop illegal immigration. "That is so absurd," Moran said.

Why are these measures popping up around the nation?

"Personally, I think that there is a worry out there because we (Hispanics) are the majority (in some areas). Many people think, 'Oh, my God, they are going to take over,'" Moran said.

There are 46.8 million Hispanics in the U.S., making it the nation's largest minority group, stated the Pew Hispanic Center.

Margaret Moran's husband, Oscar Moran, was LULAC national president in the mid-1980s. He said discrimination is not always overt.

"It's more latent," Oscar Moran said "They aren't hanging mexicanos from trees. They are not burning their houses. It's 'Come back tomorrow. We will let you know. Sorry, you can't qualify for this loan.'"

"It takes many forms, but it is not as obvious in the past that you had those signs 'No Mexicans allowed,' " he said.

Besides civil-rights issues, the Hispanic community faces myriad challenges, including a high number of high-school drop outs, lack of health-care access and poverty. There are 850 LULAC councils nationwide with programs intended to increase voter turnout, improve financial literacy and award scholarships.

"It all goes back to education," said Margaret Moran, who is the third female president of LULAC. The first female president was Belen Robles of El Paso.

LULAC is also pushing for reform of immigration laws and for passage of the DREAM Act, which would permit undocumented immigrants' children who have grown up in the U.S. the chance to apply for citizenship under certain criteria.

El Paso has a long history with LULAC, whose annual Fiesta de las Flores is this weekend. El Paso beat Houston, Dallas and Atlanta for the right to play host to the national convention.

More than 2,000 delegates and guests are expected to attend the convention July 9-12, 2013. The gathering will have entertainment, workshops and an expo with 400 companies, government agencies and nonprofit groups at the civic center in Downtown El Paso.

The Morans said some members had concerns about bringing the convention to El Paso because of the drug cartel violence in Juárez.

Having the gathering in El Paso is an opportunity to showcase a safe border city while raising awareness of the problems in Juárez, said Oscar Moran, who said he hoped the bloodshed will have ended by the time of the event.

"More than anything that gives us more reason to protect a community that is threatened," Oscar Moran said. "A threat to the community in Juárez is a threat to all of us. We are all Latinos."

More than 6,000 people have been killed in Juárez since 2008 when a turf war began between the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels.

"At the end of the day, if there is no market for drugs, there is no money for the cartels over there," Oscar Moran said. "The problem is here also. LULAC -- we have to do our part."
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LULAC is just as stupid as La Raza. Professional moaners and groaners.
Back in the 70's when I was in high school a friend of mine was shot and killed by a police officer who was under the impression that he was a fleeing robbery suspect. My friend was Latino. The next day, the LULAC idiots were downtown protesting all day claiming that my friend was shot because he was Latino. They drug the protest on for days and it totally pissed me off because none of them even knew my friend and the truth was...the officer who shot him was also Latino.