Thread: CHC at impasse over Democrats’ approach to immigration ref

CHC at impasse over Democrats’ approach to immigration reform
by Jared Allen
05/22/08


The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) appears to be at an internal impasse over whether to finally embrace the House Democratic leaderships approach to immigration reform or continue to criticize it openly.

For the better part of a month, the all-Democratic CHC has taken the leadership of the House to task for encouraging hearings on piecemeal immigration bills focused on enforcement issues while ignoring broader proposals that deal with increasing the number of visas awarded, creating guest-worker programs and adjusting the status of the current illegal population.

But in the wake of a press conference last week in which the CHC and House Democratic leaders joined to celebrate an unprecedented investment in nutrition for minority communities that was included in the farm bill, members of the Hispanic Caucus quieted down even as multiple hearings on bills to mandate employment verification and enhanced border security continued unabated.

On Tuesday CHC Chairman Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) went a step further, saying the House Democratic leadership was on the ball regarding immigration, and added that the ongoing hearings even on employment verification bills were, at the end of the day, positive.

Because ultimately what these hearings show is that our immigration system is broken, Baca said. And with these kinds of hearings people are finding out that you just cant deal with this piece by piece as weve been doing.

In the end, this will all lead us back to the need for comprehensive immigration reform, Baca said.

Baca also significantly tamped down his earlier criticism of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) for pursuing only what he less than a month ago called a Band-Aid approach to immigration reform.

We really appreciate the leadership from Speaker Pelosi, he said Tuesday. I think leadership has been there on comprehensive immigration reform Its the Republicans who keep blocking it.

Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Pelosi, said the Speaker is committed to balanced, fair and bipartisan immigration reform legislation, but unless the president and the Republican leadership engage Democrats in a positive way instead of using this issue to score partisan political points, members will only grow more frustrated with the process.

On Thursday just as the House Homeland Security subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism was holding another hearing on Rep. Health Shulers (D-N.C.) legislation calling for mandatory employment verification and enhanced border security it emerged that Baca may not have been speaking for his caucus.

Rep. Rubn Hinojosa (D-Texas) on Thursday said that the CHC had just met in executive session to consider what to do about the lack of hearings on so-called comprehensive immigration reform which includes the worker programs and legalization proposals.

Hinojosa declined to comment on the specifics of the discussions.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), however whom other CHC members said had been tasked with communicating the caucuss message on the issue pulled no punches when talking about Pelosi, Hoyer and the immigration strategy being employed by House leaders.

Even though a majority of the majority supports comprehensive immigration reform, Gutierrez said, the Democratic leadership only wants to appease this radical enforcement crowd by giving them hearings.

Why cant we have hearings on comprehensive immigration reform? Gutierrez asked. My opinion has always been if you cant speak to the most vulnerable in our society, then just be quiet.

Gutierrez said he remains highly skeptical and highly critical of additional hearings on any legislation that deals only with pieces of the immigration problem, including Shulers enforcement-only bill.

Late Thursday, the CHC sought to temper any notion of an internal divide by talking up the fact that the caucus remains united behind a comprehensive-only immigration reform platform.

The CHC remainsremains steadfastly committed to enacting a comprehensive system that is predicated on security the security of our borders, the security of our homeland and the security of our families, read part of a statement sent by Baca Thursday evening.

The CHC remains united in our commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, read the statement. If any good is to come out of recent hearings on piecemeal and enforcement-only policy, it is to highlight that only a comprehensive approach will be effective in mending our badly broken immigration system.


http://mobile.thehill.com/leading-the-n ... 05-22.html

Is not the Congressional Hispanic Caucus promoting discrimination against anyone who is not Hispanic, working for one special interest group and attempting to force an apartheid-like form of government on us?


"For an American citizen to vote as a German-American, an Irish-American, or an English-American, is to be a traitor to American institutions; and those hyphenated Americans who terrorize American politicians by threats of the foreign vote are engaged in treason to the American Republic." -- Theodore Roosevelt

Late Thursday, the CHC sought to temper any notion of an internal divide by talking up the fact that the caucus remains united behind a comprehensive-only immigration reform platform.

Well, the majority of voters want ENFORCEMENT that's already the LAW. Comprehensive will no longer work, it has failed before and we're not going there again. We were promised no more amnesty and we're sticking to it! The IAs have got to go.

...The CHC's stubborn refusal to represent AMERICAN citizen/constituents is astonishing ...it's as if they do the work for the Mexican government and the illegal alien advocacy cartel...forgetting and ignoring the fact that they took an oath of office to uphold and defend our system of laws. Every one of them has proved that they are not fit to represent the interests of the American people. They are doing everything in contravention of that...this isn't about "workers' or "immigrants" ....their job makes them public SERVANTS to U.S. Citizens. Plain and simple.

If anyone would like to contact the CHC and let them know what traitorous, anarchist, despicable pond scum they are (in a professional manner, of course ) here is their website page. If you wish to send an e-mail, click on each member's name at the left and then drill around a bit to locate their e-mail form.
http://www.house.gov/baca/chc/contact-us.shtml

They are an ethnocentric radical racist group entrenched in our U.S. congress....they are no different than LaRaza, LULAC etc. they fight for one race and not our country...... and their is too much of this happening in our country.