Thread: Rubio spokesman compares plight of illegal immigrants to slavery

Rubio spokesman compares plight of illegal immigrants to slavery

12:49 AM 04/22/2013

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The battle within the Republican Party over the so-called Gang of Eight’s 844-page immigration bill has often been contentious, but in recent days it has escalated.

Despite his plea for cooler heads to prevail in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing last, Alex Conant, press secretary for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, likened the current plight of illegal immigrants to that of slaves in 19^th century America.

Conant made his remarks in a Twitter argument with the Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll, who accused the Florida Republican of “selling lies.” Conant replied by asking Carroll for suggestions.

After Carroll suggested scrapping a proposed assimilation bureau, cutting grants to leftist groups and other changes, Conant rebutted those suggestions by saying Americans have not “had a cohort of people living permanently in US without full rights of citizenship since slavery.”

Exchange as follows:



Conant has yet to respond to The Daily Caller’s request for comment.

UPDATE — Conant responds with statement on Monday at 8:55 am ET:

“I regret evoking slavery in the context of the current debate because obviously there’s no comparison between the plight of slaves and today’s illegal immigrants. The point I was trying to make (in 140 characters) is that allowing immigrants to apply for permanent residence, but not eventually be able to apply for the full benefits of citizenship, has been tried and failed, and has had disastrous social consequences in Europe today.”

(h/t A.J. Delgado, Mediaite)
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Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/22/ru...#ixzz2RE82ca74

So now he is comparing America's illegal immigrants to the ones that have been burning the streets of France for the last 5 years!

W

Hey Alex..............dig a hole much?

To begin with it was their choice to come here illegally. Second I see these poor people are driving around in 20-60,000 dollar cars, Taxpayers are becoming the slaves and our children, grandchildren who will be paying for their free healthcare, education, children, food stamps and the cost of having them in our prisons, on our highways, and raping and killing citizens...and not to mention the cost added to our deficit for decades to come. So who are the real slaves?

By Victor Davis Hanson
April 22, 2013 3:54 PM
National Review

Marco Rubio’s press secretary, Alex Conant, might wish to cease his demagoguery when he’s behind. After replying to a skeptic of “comprehensive immigration reform” with ahistorical nonsense like, “We haven’t had a cohort of people living permanently in US without full rights of citizenship since slavery,” he compounds his problems with his “clarification:” “The point I was trying to make (in 140 characters) is that allowing immigrants to apply for permanent residence, but not eventually be able to apply for the full benefits of citizenship, has been tried and failed, and has had disastrous social consequences in Europe today.”

Millions of visitors of all statuses are already quite free to apply for both permanent residence and citizenship. It is called going into the immigration office, and beginning the process by applying for a green card. Today’s illegal immigrants were not braceros, who were brought in officially by the U.S. and Mexican governments as permanent guest workers, but rather on their own volition chose to come into the United States — and in at least 11 million instances to do so illegally. At any time in their unlawful residency, they had the choice to rectify that lapse and apply to become legal residents and eventually citizens, in the way that millions of others worldwide, who are not so close to our borders, now wait patiently and legally for just that opportunity. The problem was not apparently the freedom to apply, but the uncertainty whether such applications would always be approved.

Mr. Conant in his “140 characters” managed to use the accustomed linguistic gymnastics to cloud the issue at hand. The issue is not “immigrants” but dealing with “illegal immigrants”; the question is not “allowing immigrants to apply,” but whether or not to change federal law to suit illegal immigrants who in the past have not chosen to apply for legal residence.

And under current law, every legal resident (apparently even the Tsarnaev brothers) are quite free to “apply for the full benefits of citizenship.” That again is not the question; the real issue hinges once more on what sort of exemptions should be granted to millions who broke federal immigration law but who now constitute a powerful enough political force to have the law changed for their own benefit. Should we weep or cry when Conant says that “allowing immigrants to apply for permanent residence, but not eventually be able to apply for the full benefits of citizenship, has been tried and failed, and has had disastrous social consequences in Europe today” — given that a “guest worker” provision is often floated as a key component of “comprehensive immigration program” and is about as close to the European notion of Gastarbeiter imaginable, and surreal in an economy of chronic 7.5-plus percent unemployment, a rate that is far higher among minority and youth, who would be most affected by importing millions of “temporary” and largely unskilled foreign-national job seekers.

The strange thing about the Republican members in the Gang of Eight debate is that to ram through immigration legislation, they and their supporters are beginning to adopt the same sort of tactics that we have seen used by the Left during the fights over Obamacare and gun control: obfuscate the issue by imprecise vocabulary and ahistorical allusions; demonize your opponents with all sorts of crazy accusations of quasi-tolerance of “slavery” to abortion; create a false sort of urgency (we are supposed to pass this very minute the huge and mostly unread immigration bill in the manner of the huge and unread Obamacare bill); and speak loftily of principles and humanitarianism when the issue is mostly driven by electoral politics and demography.

Finally, given the language of Conant and others, they are managing to turn off their own reasonable supporters, who are more than willing to consider a “pathway to citizenship” for those who are free of a criminal past, are not on public assistance, and are long-term residents — if only the assurances to enforce those provisions and ensure border security were believable. The present hysteria, invective, and mass rush to legislate suggest that they might not be.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner...avery%E2%80%99

Note to Senator Marco Rubio’s Spokesperson: An Illegal Immigrant Isn’t A Slave

Crystal Wright
Apr 23, 2013

Enough with Republicans invoking analogies to slavery and plantations to make their case for conservative policies or attract minority voters. News flash: it doesn’t work! Not only is it offensive and distasteful but also shows a complete disregard for an AWFUL, painful part of our US history.

Alex Conant, spokesperson for Senator Marco Rubio, has stooped to the new low of comparing illegal aliens living and working in this country to the institution of slavery.

“@AlexConant @ConnCarroll We haven't had a cohort of people living permanently in US without full rights of citizenship since slavery.”

Conant apologized after he was exposed on Twitter. But his remark begs the question, are Republicans so desperate to grant amnesty to an estimated 11-20 million illegal immigrants in this country that they will abuse the history of slavery? And in doing so ensure 100% of blacks eventually vote for Democrats?

Conant’s remarks are the height of insult to black Americans whose ancestors endured decades of slavery. Also, if immigration “reform” happens, it’s very doubtful Hispanics and Latinos, who make up a large number of America’s illegal immigrant population, would become Republican voters. Why? Because Republicans have forgotten how to build meaningful relationships with minorities.

Back to the slavery comment. When was the last time you saw a slave ship full of illegal immigrants shackled to each other, arrive to the United States, and then have slave traders auction them off to the highest white bidders to work for them for free? Show me illegal immigrants whose modern day “slave masters” don't pay them, rape them, tar and feather them, whip them or cut off their body parts for trying to run away from their plantation or America.

None of the above has ever happened to illegal immigrants in America because illegal immigrants are NOT slaves but criminals who broke laws to be here. Washington Times senior editorial writer Conn Carroll noted in his twitter exchange with Alex Conant, “slavery wasn’t a choice.”

“@ConnCarroll @AlexConant my policy would give those here illegally a choice. Brush up on your history. Slavery wasn't a choice.

“African-Americans originally came to America unwillingly, having been stolen and sold by Muslim slave-catchers in Africa to Dutch traders journeying to America in 1619,” (Forward to American History in Black and White). Once in America, black slaves were forced to work without pay to build plantations owned by great men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, build national buildings such as the US Capitol and universities and colleges such as the University of Virginia, William and Mary, Harvard, and Brown University. Yes, indeed we blacks built it! For free!

Last time I looked, I didn’t see illegal workers in the U.S. doing construction work for free. They are performing work for depressed wages and illegally but they aren’t doing it for free like slaves did in America.

As any person with common sense well knows, slaves couldn’t return to Africa anytime the mood hit them. Illegal immigrants on the other hand willfully and knowingly break laws to enter our country, live and work here and they can choose to go home anytime. But the problem is illegal immigrants aren’t choosing to go home. Instead Hispanics and Latinos, who represent the majority of the estimated 20 million illegal immigrants in America, are defiantly refusing to leave and demanding America give them amnesty for their sheer numbers and the fact they’ve been here for so long.

In his twitter exchange with Carroll, Conant asked:

“@AlexConant @ConnCarroll What is your suggestion for improving our proposal? Just curious. You seem to be defending broken status quo.”

Senator Rubio can improve his immigration plan by enforcing current laws, including deportation; then mandate all businesses use E-verify to determine a person’s legal status and fine businesses heavily for hiring illegal workers. But most importantly, Rubio should advise his staff and other Republicans to stop comparing illegal immigration to slavery. Republicans can continue to ignore the black vote but they will not be allowed to misrepresent the history of slavery all in the name of pandering to Hispanics with the promise of amnesty.


http://townhall.com/columnists/cryst...350/page/full/