Thread: Letter to Obama In 2009 from La Raza

June 23, 2009
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We, the undersigned national Latino organizations, urge you to move forward on comprehensive
immigration reform this year. We welcome your meeting with leaders from the Senate and
House chambers and expect it to be the first in a series of steps toward laying the groundwork for
a successful legislative debate this fall.
Immigration is in reality a centrist debate in which there is much consensus. Poll after poll
demonstrates that the vast majority of Americans is in a much more pragmatic place than
Congress has been on this issue. They support a comprehensive overhaul of our broken system
in which the restoration of the rule of law includes legalization and smart enforcement. This has
been corroborated further in the last election cycles, during which voters rejected key leading
anti-immigrant candidates. And while this issue has not mobilized the general electorate against
candidates with moderate or pro-comprehensive reform views, as some wrongly predicted it
would, it has definitely rallied Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate, against
anti-immigrant candidates.
The reason is clear. Anti-immigrant rhetoric generates anti-Latino sentiment and thus carries
civil rights implications for the entire Latino community. In the last four years, coinciding with
the rise in vitriol in the immigration debate, the FBI has documented a nearly 40% increase in
hate crimes against Latinos, and the Southern Poverty Law Center attributes the 47% rise in hate
groups between 2000 and 2007 almost completely to the manipulation of anti-immigrant
rhetoric. We have seen the brutal, fatal beatings of Latinos in several communities an extreme
reminder of the intimidation to which far too many Latinos are being subjected. Such violence
has resulted from the demonization of immigrants on the airwaves and, sadly, in many elected
bodies, including Congress.
For far too long the voices of division and intolerance have been allowed to lead on this issue,
even though they do not represent the will of the American public. We have a moral imperative
to put hate in check by addressing immigration effectively and humanely. We have an urgent
policy need to fix a system that tramples our values and fosters illegality and exploitation. And
we have the public support to arrive at a solution. Now we need presidential and congressional
leadership to usher in a new kind of debate on this issue, one that delivers workable solutions and
moves us forward together.
Our organizations are ready to help you fulfill your promise to address immigration in your first
year. The country has waited too long, and the consequences of inaction are too great. As you
said in 2008, it s time to rise above fear and demagoguery and enact comprehensive
immigration reform.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Clarissa Martinez De Castro,
Director of Immigration and National Campaigns for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR),
at (202) 776-1561 or cmartinez@nclr.org.
Sincerely,
ASPIRA Association, Inc.
Cuban American National Council, Inc.
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
League of United Latin American Citizens
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives
National Association of Hispanic Publications
National Conference of Puerto Rican Women
National Council of La Raza
National Hispana Leadership Institute
National Hispanic Council on Aging
National Hispanic Environmental Council
National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Image, Inc.
National Institute for Latino Policy
National Puerto Rican Coalition
SER-Jobs for Progress National, Inc.
The Self Reliance Foundation
United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
United States Hispanic Leadership Institute
cc: Honorable Harry Reid
Honorable Richard Durbin
Honorable Charles Schumer
Honorable Robert Menendez
Honorable John McCain
Honorable Mel Martinez
Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Honorable James Clyburn
Honorable Steny Hoyer
Honorable Chris Van Hollen
Honorable Nydia Velázquez
Honorable Luis Gutierrez
Honorable Zoe Lofgren
Honorable Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Mel Martinez is no longer a senator which is good. I still can't get over Lincoln Diaz-Balart and his brother who was elected. Only in Miami can relatives of Fidel Castro get elected into office.

What it shows is that these organization and individuals are not Americans, because they see themselves as something else and openly and boldly promote a race-based ethnic-originating political agenda which is the epitome of institutionalized systemic racism which has been soundly and roundly rejected by the American People. And, correctly so.

In my opinion, these organizations and individuals are actually harming American Citizens of Hispanic and Latino descent because they are degrading them into a race-based political agenda that puts them on the outs with the principles of the United States.

Americans of Hispanic and Latino descent or heritage or origin or whatever need to tell these butt wipes, "not in my name", "not on my life", "not on my family", not on my heritage" and shut these organizations down and shut these individuals up.

If you're an American, you're just an American, and if you're just an American then you just want to uphold our laws to protect your job and business and tax monies and lives and family members and streets and roads and schools and hospitals just like every other American.

There is no one watching the backs of the America People and the United States, except Americans. It's time all Americans stood up for each other, one for all and all for one, because no one else ever has, is ... or will.

It's US against the world time we all united to stand up against the ravages of illegal immigration which has brought nothing to our country but unemployment, deflated wages, overpopulation, poverty and bankruptcy. Look around. These consequences are everywhere so thick they'll smother you.

We're a nation of equal rights, not special rights, so send these traitors packing to some country that wants to Heil Latino, because that country is not the United States.

The begging on the part of la raza is pathetic! You will NEVER get your amensty passed, not now and not ever!