Thread: Pearce hits new low on immigration

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Pearce hits new low on immigration

Oct. 3, 2006 12:00 AM

The Latino community responded with outrage when state Rep. Russell Pearce called for a return to a 1950s deportation debacle to deal with illegal immigration.

That wasn't enough.

The outrage should have come from the entire state of Arizona. It should have been heard from all ethnic groups and races. From people of all faiths. From people of every political persuasion.

Pearce offended everyone.

Criticism from Democrats was appropriate. But it can be too easily dismissed as self-serving. Republican Party leaders in particular should have immediately decried Pearce's comments. They are being diminished by what this man says. Yet the state's Republican Party "is not issuing a statement," says spokesperson Garrick Taylor.

It should issue a condemnation.

The rank violations of civil rights that happened as a result of the deportation program, called "Operation Wetback," are a disgraceful part of America's history.

To call that program "successful," as Pearce did, is an insult to everyone who values the progress toward civil rights this country has made in the past half-century.

The mass deportations half a century ago set terror loose in Latino neighborhoods - terror based on the knowledge that anyone who looked Latino was at risk.

In five years, 3.8 million people were sent to Mexico by that program. Many of them were U.S. citizens.

The offenses of that program against the rights and dignity of human beings happened in less enlightened times. They happened in an era when skin color and ethnicity were the sole basis for far too many judgments.

Even the program's name, which incorporates a reprehensible slur, reflects a time when prejudice was widespread and generally accepted by the majority community.

Sadly, the debate over illegal immigration has fallen to such a low, low level that Pearce, R-Mesa, could hail such a program without being immediately condemned by members of his own party.

Calling for a return to a program in which people of Mexican descent were rounded up by police and military officers and forcibly, summarily deported is not part of any legitimate debate about illegal immigration.

We need much, much better from elected officials. And we've needed it for a long time.

Illegal immigration isn't just a problem, it is a crisis. It produced a population of 11 million to 12 million illegal residents. It cost the lives of hundreds of people and savaged the borderlands. It helped create criminal gangs of mounting cruelty and viciousness. It gave rise to counterfeit documents and stolen identities. It undermines order and security.

Illegal immigration has to be stopped.

But stopping it demands clear-headed, respectful debate, not demagoguery. Those with a public pulpit should be calling for reason and making appeals to the highest - not the lowest - that human nature, intelligence and good will can produce.

That might be too much to ask of Russell Pearce.

But it should not be too much to ask that Republicans who lead his party make it clear he is not voicing their thoughts.

Unless, of course, he is.

It should not be too much to ask that if he is returned to the Legislature, he no longer enjoy the honor of chairing the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

It should not be too much to ask that all Arizonans demand the debate about illegal immigration be conducted on a level that reflects an understanding of history's mistakes, not a desire to repeat them.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... i1003.html

Mass-deportations remark scares only ‘sissies,' Pearce says

Oct. 3, 2006 12:00 AM

State Rep. Russell Pearce can't understand all the fuss over his suggestion that the U.S. government embark on a mass-deportation program of undocumented immigrants similar to one called "Operation Wetback" that was undertaken during the 1950s.

"My critics don't like history," Pearce told me Monday. "They want to rewrite history. I didn't use the term (wetback). I quoted a successful program. The far left always tells you, Russell, you can't deport 12 million people. I say, yes you can, if you have the will. But I never used the term or referred to anyone like that."

It's not just the far left that is criticizing Pearce, however. Fellow Republicans have backed away from the terminology.

Republican Len Munsil's gubernatorial campaign spokesman, Vernon Parker, said, "The word is offensive and it is not a word that Len Munsil uses or would ever use."

Parker also pointed out that while Pearce served as a senior adviser to the Don Goldwater campaign, he is playing no role in the Munsil campaign.

Concerning Republicans who question his blunt language, Pearce said, "These are the same sissies that backed away from Proposition 200. People are tired of that. They're tired of the games. (Politicians) don't even know their own constituents. It's about time somebody started stepping forward and recognizing the damage to America. The rule of law has to count for something."

Pearce opposes any plan that includes a "guest-worker" program or a "path to citizenship" for those who are in the country illegally. He calls it amnesty. Unlike others who claim to oppose amnesty, however, he really means it.

That's why he doesn't like the plan proposed by U.S. Sen. John McCain or one that was pushed by U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl.

Kyl co-sponsored a proposal that would increase border security and require undocumented immigrants to sign up for a "mandatory departure" program. By signing up, the immigrants would be allowed to remain in the country for several years, but they would have to leave at the end of that time and apply to re-enter.

Pearce said that Kyl spoke to him about this proposal, asking for his support. Pearce said he responded, "Senator, give me a break. They already broke into our country illegally. You're going to give them six more years, then they're going to leave on their own? After they have four or five more kids? What kind of insanity is that? That is so ludicrous to think that those people who have broke the law, came in here illegally and then you give them six more years and then they're gong to go home? I said, I don't know what you're taking but this is just silly stuff."

Pearce can't understand how a politician who says that he is against amnesty can shy away from mass deportation. He believes that if the government goes after employers and what he calls "sanctuary cities," that many of those who are here illegally will "self-deport."

"Disneyland taught us that if you shut down the rides people leave the amusement park," he said.

Pearce said that if bringing up "Operation Wetback" gets people talking about immigration, he's willing to take any abuse.

"If I have to be the punching bag to get the issue to the top, I'm willing to do that," he said. "I make no apologies."

As long as the argument we have is over an actual policy like deportation, he said , and "not over semantics."

Because, after all, an "Operation Wetback" by any other name . . .

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8978. Read his blog at montiniblog.azcentral.com.

This man should be our next president. He would definitely have my vote.

The Latino community responded with outrage when state Rep. Russell Pearce called for a return to a 1950s deportation debacle to deal with illegal immigration.

The Latino community would have no reason to be outraged had their people entered the country legally or not overstayed their visa's. Obey the law and then you won't have to defend yourselves as being criminals that should be deported. Leave and re-enter legally and then there will be no problems.

To Russell Pearce:

I just wanted to commend you for saying what I've been saying for the last few years. Finally a politican that I can identify with that represents my views on immigration. I totally agree that we should deal with illegal immigration exactly how we dealt with it in the 50's. I'm so sick of these limp wristed, cowardly politicans who are so abound by political correctness that they are afraid to say a damn thing because of fear of being called a name and more importantly to them losing out on the big business bribes they get for their reelection campaigns. I'm sick of these half baked measures the government uses to combat this crisis. All illegals need to be deported swiftly and the employers who hire them and those that support them including the politicans need to be imprisoned.

It's so good to know that there are still politicans (albeit few and far between) out there that have the guts and integrity to stand up for America and what she stands for and doesn't either accept bribes to shut up or cower under the veil of political correctness. I agree that only sissies are offended by your remarks. Those that protest too much are the ones that have the most to lose because they are the ones that profit from illegal immigration and they are the traitors.

You are a hero in my book and even though I don't live in AZ, you'll always have my support and you'll have the support of a group called Alipac who has 3,000 plus members and growing from all over the country. You keep standing up for us and if you decide to run for president you definitely have my vote.

BTW Go Randy Graf!!!

What, now one can't even refer to, by name, an actual deportation effort that took place in beginning in 1954? I have seen the term "Operation Wetback" printed in my local newpaper, in TIME magazine, and other publications. I have heard it spoken by talking heads on the television as well. Unless the government came to Rep. Pearce in 1954 and asked the then 7 year old to personally name that repatriation operation, he, and everyone else should be able to refer to it, by name, in a historical context.

These PC deflection efforts are getting really, really old.

Pearce offended everyone.

Nothing could be futher from the truth.

What a guy, go Rep Pearce!

Pearce said that Kyl spoke to him about this proposal, asking for his support. Pearce said he responded, "Senator, give me a break. They already broke into our country illegally. You're going to give them six more years, then they're going to leave on their own? After they have four or five more kids? What kind of insanity is that? That is so ludicrous to think that those people who have broke the law, came in here illegally and then you give them six more years and then they're gong to go home? I said, I don't know what you're taking but this is just silly stuff."

I'd like to know what Sen Kyl's response to this common sense.

Ironically, even the Tucson Republicans meeting at the Republican club lunch today told Channel 4 news they were not happy Pearce used the term "Wetback." I know he used it in it's historical context and I have no problem with it. I think the people who call everything racist have given the word such a negative connotation. When I first got involved in law enforcement in the early 80's, a lot of people still used the term or called illegals "wets."

So how come the Arizona Republic can print the word Wetback but we can't?

The Latino community responded with outrage when state Rep. Russell Pearce called for a return to a 1950s deportation debacle to deal with illegal immigration.

Lately, anything that outrages the illegal immigrant portion of the Latino community and pro-illegal advocates is probably good for America.