Thread: Renewed Immigration Legislation Alarms Hispanic Community Le

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news...%2Fpolitics%2F
Renewed Immigration Legislation Alarms Hispanic Community Leaders

September 29, 2006

By Hildy Medina

Alarmed by what they see as the House rehashing anti-immigrant legislation, Hispanic leaders and community groups across the country are launching voter-mobilization campaigns and holding press conferences urging the Hispanic community to make its voice count in the November elections.

"The most important message is to go vote and mobilize your families and your organizations," said Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza, during a Spanish-language telephone conference Friday. "You have to have a powerful and united message and that's where we are in this campaign."

Organizers of the Latino Congreso held a press conference Wednesday in Los Angeles to oppose what they say is Congress's last-minute attempt to pass enforcement-only immigration legislation.

The calls to action come on the heels of what opponents say is the Republican-controlled House's recent attempt to pass piecemeal the controversial immigration reform package it passed last December but which later stalled.

"They've been approving the (Judiciary Committee Chairman James) Sensenbrenner bill piece by piece," Ms. Murguía said. "We need to send out the alarm to the Hispanic people and we need to make sure that our voices are heard. It's crucial that we send a message to Congress that these Sensenbrenner (provisions) are not acceptable."

The NCLR specifically asked voters to call their senators, since the Senate, which has generally been seen as taking a less enforcement-heavy tack on immigration reform, must also pass any legislation. The GOP has been trying to ensure the measures are not amended in the Senate, so if they pass they can head straight for the president's desk.

The pieces of the immigration package are being attached to unrelated bills, presumably for easier package. For example, House Speaker Dennis Hastert seeks to attach the Community Protection Act, which includes provisions on detention and deportation, to the Defense Department's authorization bill.

The bills include indefinite detention of some illegal immigrants seeking asylum, making it easier to deport people without judicial review, requiring voters to prove citizenship before participating in federal elections, and a provision that would give state and local police agencies authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

At $2 billion, among the costliest provisions would be building a 700-mile fence along the Mexican border. This week the House approved spending $1.2 billion on more fencing and other border obstacles, along with 1,500 more border guards.

"They're only trying to pass laws that only deal with enforcing the law and are dangerous to the Latino community," Cecilia Muñoz, vice president of the NCLR told listeners at Wednesday's telephone conference.

The groups feel public pressure does matter, both now and at the ballot box, and they're working on a nonpartisan message. "Because of the community's involvement, and because of the staunch advocacy of several senators from both political parties, most of the immigration enforcement-only language was not attached to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's appropriations bill pending in Congress," reads one statement from the NCLR. "Of all the immigrant-related measures that could have been attached, only the bill criminalizing the building tunnels (H.R. 4830) has been attached so far."

In a separate statement, U.S. Representative Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) blasted the fencing plan, calling it "inhumane" and "ineffective."

Partisan opponents, including Rep. Serrano, claim this latest push to pass the border fencing provision is the Republicans Party's way of giving voters an impression that they are hard at work fixing the flawed immigration system.

Although the GOP is not completely unified on the issue -- the Senate's Arlen Specter is one big opponent of the punitive approach -- some Republicans are touting the enforcement effort. "We have made giant steps in terms of our ability to control illegal immigration," House Majority Leader John Boehner has said.

"Yet again the Republicans are putting their electoral ambitions ahead of the national interest," Rep. Serrano said. "No amount of fencing will keep immigrants who want a better life for themselves and their families from coming to our nation. Instead, this boondoggle will waste more taxpayer dollars and in the end prove itself ineffective at keeping people out. It will also force immigrants to try even more harsh and remote entry points, causing more needless suffering and death."

Rep. Serrano said he plans to vote against the final passage of the bill as he has in previous occasions.

"Only comprehensive immigration reform with a clear path to citizenship for all immigrants will solve the problem," he said.

The voter-mobilization campaign, known as "It Starts With You" or "Empieza Contigo," is designed to educate voters and encourage the Hispanic community's voter participation in the upcoming November election.

The campaign's organizers said without the votes and the collective effort of the Hispanic community, Congress leaders "will get the message that they're right on track and will not try to pass comprehensive immigration reform."

"It's very important that our community respond in a powerful manner and send the message that this anti-immigration attitude is not acceptable," Ms. Muñoz said.

Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2006. All rights reserved.

"They're only trying to pass laws that only deal with enforcing the law and are dangerous to the Latino community," Cecilia Muñoz, vice president of the NCLR told listeners at Wednesday's telephone conference.

Golly. They should get busy passing laws to allow continued ANARCHY?

That would be true if the Latino community is an OUTLAW community. Is it Ms. Mulenoz?

How come I don't have a community that wll get outraged for me?

I feel left out.

Rep. Serrano said he plans to vote against the final passage of the bill as he has in previous occasions.

"Only comprehensive immigration reform with a clear path to citizenship for all immigrants will solve the problem," he said.

Oh, sort of like the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986? The IRCA was a supposedly one time amnesty granting comprehensive plan that was suppose to cure our illegal immigration problems. Flash forward 20 years later, now we have 12-20 million illegal immigrants. Well, it doesn't look like the comprehensive plan worked so well! Perhaps it is way past time that we did an enforcement only plan. Of course there was an enforcement plan in the 1986 IRCA, but due to congressional pressure, the enforcement portion vanished. So, since history has proven the comprehensive plan didn't work, it is time to try an enforcement only plan. Of course I'm talking about real enforcement, not smoke screens and empty promises.