Thread: GOP Hispanics Slam Barletta Invitation

GOP Hispanics Slam Barletta Invitation


September 14, 2007
Dave Pidgeon -- Intelligencer Journal Staff

Leaders from two statewide groups of Latino Republicans are criticizing the Lancaster County Republican Committee for inviting Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta to speak today at a donor luncheon.

Robert S. Nix, chairman of the Pennsylvania Hispanic Republicans, and Luis Mendoza, chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly's Pennsylvania chapter, slammed the local GOP, accusing it of acting against Latino interests.

The two groups shared their concerns with the local GOP this week.

"Personally, being of Mexican descent, I find a lot of (immigration reform) rhetoric really offensive, and I feel increasingly backed into a corner in my own party," Nix said Wednesday during an interview.

The county GOP, however, said the invitation of Barletta is not an endorsement of the mayor or his controversial Hazleton ordinance that would have punished people for doing business with illegal immigrants.

"It's an opportunity to bring in a person who is a newsmaker, to hear what he has to say, and to see if there aren't some discussions that can occur from something like this," Dave Dumeyer, chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee, said Wednesday. "But it does not represent any endorsement of his viewpoint."

The luncheon - at the Pressroom Restaurant, Lancaster city, at noon - is by invitation only. Invitees are donors who gave at least $500 to the county GOP.

Mendoza, a former Lancaster city councilman, said Barletta's ordinance was inherently racist, and having the Republican mayor appear in Lancaster was a "slap to the face" of local Latinos.

Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act, passed by City Council and signed by Barletta, called for fining people who rented property to illegal immigrants and suspending the permits of businesses that hire them. It caused intense national interest to focus on the small coal-region town of 23,000 people.

A U.S. District Court in July struck down the act as unconstitutional, holding in part that it was an illegal infringement of federal responsibilities.

The city is appealing.

Nix said he opposes the ordinance because he agrees with the court that illegal immigration is a problem for the federal government to solve.

To allow municipalities to enact their own illegal immigration policies would create "hostile and non-hostile" areas not only for illegal immigrants but lawful immigrants, too, he said.

"We should all be working together to force our Congress to get a backbone and address this issue," Nix said.

Nix and Mendoza said to tackle illegal immigration, they support better border security and the plan put forward by President Bush and a bipartisan Congressional team that would have provided a mechanism for the estimated 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States to become citizens.

Opponents labeled the program "amnesty" for people who broke the law. Nix, however, referred to the program as something else. "Nobody is saying amnesty, but what we are saying is something like a plea bargain," he said.

Opponents ultimately derailed the plan in June.

Both said the county GOP, by welcoming Barletta to the luncheon, was pushing Hispanics away from joining the ranks of Republicans.

"The concern we have is these kinds of moves makes it so hard to bring Latinos to the party to join us," Mendoza said.

Dumeyer said he didn't see the situation that way.

"I don't know that to be true or not," he said. "I don't know that to be the case."

Mendoza was unmoved.

"Lou Barletta doesn't necessarily represent the values of the Republican Party," he said.

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/ne ... olitics%2F

"Lou Barletta doesn't necessarily represent the values of the Republican Party," he said.

...yeah but he does represent the values of Americans!

If Nix and Mendoza don't like Barletta, they should join the Democratic Party.

It's sad that so many people - politicians included - insist on seeing people as hyphenated-Americans, vs. just "Americans".

I personally don't agree with viewing people as <ethinicity-qualified> Americans. You're either an American or you're not.

We know-we know. Enforcing the law is racist. You don't need to tell us again- we have heard it the previous 10 million times

Originally Posted by PhredE

It's sad that so many people - politicians included - insist on seeing people as hyphenated-Americans, vs. just "Americans".

I personally don't agree with viewing people as <ethinicity-qualified> Americans. You're either an American or you're not.

I agree. I view that as just another way to try and divide everyone.

Contact and offer support to Mayor Barletta and to other politicians who take a stand for America and Americans. Contact this group if possible.

Take a stand against any politician that assists or panders to illegal alien lawbreakers and their support groups. Speak out against those who fight against our laws, our government and our sovereignty.

Psalm 139:14

It's unfortunate that these GOP Hispanics are acting so petty and ethnocentric. Barletta is against illegal immigration, not Hispanics. Huge difference.

Seperatists never want to assimilate.

I am frustrated also with the hyphenated americans. i do not know why we need a hispanic republican organization. Don't they realize that most of those illegals don't want to become citizens. They are perfectly happey living their lives like in mexico. They can get more benefits by being illegs and they know it. i am tired of these "groups" separating our country. It should be just one organization. The repubican or democratic etc. not the hispanic repblican party, the hisapnic legal and educational organization, the puerto rican organization. not that i agree with the KKK views, but why can't they express their view just like the hispanic organizations. if we had a not so radical white organization we would still be considered racist. like only white people are racist.