Hayworth, Norquist and CPAC: the Republican Fork in the Road on Immigration

by: AmericasVoice

Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 17:58:14 PM EST

Republicans are facing a major fork in the road on immigration, highlighted this week at CPAC (the major conservative conference in DC right now).

Does the GOP choose the backward-looking, anti-immigrant route led by former Congressman, now Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth, or the path toward real immigration solutions, led by Grover Norquist, who is supporting Hayworth’s primary opponent John McCain.

Hayworth is among the most egregious examples of the failure of the anti-immigration wedge strategy.  Nevertheless, he had a prominent role at CPAC yesterday. Dave Weigel reports that Hayworth was a “CPAC Superstar.”  In addition to speaking on a panel, he introduced an anti-immigrant movie, Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration.

Weekly Immigration Wire: Binghamton Shootings Impact all Sides of Debate

by: The Media Consortium

Thu Apr 09, 2009 at 11:35:04 AM EDT

by Nezua, TMC MediaWire Blogger

Last Friday, 13 people were killed at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York. The event shocked the nation and was "the worst mass shooting in the United States since the 2007 massacre at the Virginia Tech college," as New America Media reports. Because the violence erupted at an immigrant service center, the immigrant community has been especially affected, and immigration opponents are predictably using the tragedy to justify, or at least voice, their vitriol toward the undocumented population.

The Sleeping Giant is Awake and Bleeding

by: nezua

Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 14:30:25 PM EST

The Clotty Red Stopper should not be yanked from its bottle so casually, as both Sarah Palin and John McCain ought to know by now. Demons claw at the cork all night. They gain legs in the silences left by the Left and are called forth from many foaming mouths on the Right.

Marcello Lucero was killed late Saturday night near the commuter railroad station in Patchogue, N.Y., a middle-class village in central Long Island. He was beaten and stabbed. The friend who crouched beside him in a parking lot as he lay dying, soaked in blood, said Mr. Lucero, who was 37, had come to the United States 16 years ago from Ecuador.

The police arrested seven teenage boys, who they said had driven into the village from out of town looking for Latinos to beat up. The police said the mob cornered Mr. Lucero and another man, who escaped and later identified the suspects to the police. A prosecutor at the arraignment on Monday quoted the young men as having said: "Let's go find some Mexicans."

-A Death in Patchogue

Latinos Breaking Heavily for Obama and Democrats

by: ragemail

Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 20:28:26 PM EDT

What the hell is wrong with the McCain campaign?

by: Duke Reed

Mon Sep 29, 2008 at 12:55:15 PM EDT

But what could possibly be the rationale behind having someone working for your campaign who thinks likes this:

The spokeswoman for the Republican Party in Nevada's most populous county was removed from her post Saturday, after she said the Democratic Party made black people "dependent on the government."

Didi Lima, the Clark County GOP communications director, also was removed from her volunteer role as a Hispanic community liaison for Republican John McCain's presidential campaign over the remarks made earlier in the day while working at a McCain campaign booth.

"We don't want (Hispanics) to become the new African-American community," Lima told The Associated Press. "And that's what the Democratic Party is going to do to them, create more programs and give them handouts, food stamps and checks for this and checks for that. We don't want that."

"I'm very much afraid that the Democratic Party is going to do the same thing that they did with the African-American culture and make them all dependent on the government and we don't want that," she said.

In August, Lima was named co-chair of McCain's Nevada Hispanic Leadership Team, which aimed to reach out to a crucial voting bloc in a state where polls show McCain in a dead heat with Barack Obama.

AP

These remarks are not the result of a casual slip of the tongue, or an innocent display of political incorrectness. These are the words of someone whose racist worldview goes so deep to the core of their being that it flows out of every pore of their body.  

Like fellow McCain spokesman, Fernando C de Baca, who claimed, "Hispanics consider themselves above blacks (because) Hispanics came here as conquerors. African-Americans came here as slaves.", Lima  demonstrates through her willingness to share this hatred publicly that she is so poisoned by the disease of racism that she can no longer even recognize it as it spews out of her twisted soul.

Of course, the McCain camp quickly disassociated themselves from Lima, and removed her from any position of power.

But the real question is ....How many more like Lima and de Baca are still lurking around the corridors of camp McCain?  And perhaps more importantly: How is it that McCain's campaign was unable to recognize this kind of sickness and hatred in the first place, and what does that say about a possible future McCain administration?

So called "Grassroots Hispanic Group" endorses McCain

by: Duke Reed

Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 00:19:14 AM EDT

It seems that a "Hispanic" advocacy group was weighing into the fray with not only an admonishment of both candidates dirty little war of words ...but an endorsement of Sen. McCain.

In fact this "grassroots" group picked up on McCain's discredited "Obama killed reform with poison pill amendments" statement as one of its chief reasons for throwing their support behind the Arizona Senator:

"It's time to turn down the rhetoric and the highly-charged television commercials, and get down to the real facts," said Jose Nino, Co-Chairman of the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute. "Voters deserve to know the truth on the critical issue of immigration eeform, and let the chips fall where they may."

"While Senators John McCain and Barack Obama both have expressed their support for the doomed bipartisan immigration reform compromise that Congress rejected this Session, only one  candidate remained true to his commitment -- John McCain.

"Virtually every Hispanic organization from the League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) to the National Council of La Raza has recognized that Sen. John McCain risked his entire political career by defying much of his Party and supporting comprehensive immigration reform, including a Guest Worker Visa program.

"Barack Obama, despite his promises of support, was absent from much of the debate on the compromise, then turned his back on the proposal, siding instead with organized labor on a series of 'poison pill' amendments that even his supporter, Sen. Edward Kennedy, opposed. Among the proposals Obama supported were amendments that would have cut the number of Guest Worker Visas in half, and would ultimately have killed the program after just five years.

"In the heat of the campaign, overheated rhetoric and campaign promises should never eclipse the truth - and when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform, the truth is that Sen. McCain has shown courage and leadership, while Sen. Obama, despite his promises, ultimately sided with those who oppose comprehensive reform."

HAP Institute Press Release

I had heard the views of many of the leading Latino and pro-migrant advocacy groups who were involved in last years negotiations over reform, and knew for a fact that they were not standing by McCain's re-writing of history. I wondered exactly who this Hispanic Alliance of Prosperity (Progress) Institute was.

A quick look at their webpage showed that this was unlike any Latino advocacy group I had seen before.  

McCain distorts Obama's record on immigration

by: yave begnet

Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 00:55:37 AM EDT

Given that the mainstream press is picking up on McCain’s pattern of misrepresentations and false assertions in this election campaign, will they notice this one?

McCain is now claiming that comprehensive reform died in the Senate last year because Obama killed it. Even the restrictionist-leaning Washington Times (which published a series of articles linking recent immigrants to the spread of disease) found this claim to be a bridge too far.

McCain is trying to attract the Latino vote that he needs to win in several key states. He must be hoping that the English-language press ignores the falsehoods found in this Spanish-language ad. But by opening discussion on a topic on which he is particularly vulnerable to charges of flip-floppery, he has inspired unlikely bedfellows like the WaTimes and America’s Voice, one of the best-funded organizations pushing for comprehensive reform, which links to the WaTimes story on its front page. 

And it looks like the mainstream blogosphere, from which the mainstream press takes many of its cues, may not let this one slip by unnoticed—I saw this story originally on TalkingPointsMemo, linking to a McClatchy story pointing out that Obama and McCain voted on the same side in the key votes of the comprehensive reform battle in Congress. Now I see Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings has picked it up.

America’s Voice (via Greg Siskind) has an effective rebuttal of the McCain ad:

The RNC And CIR: Pro-Migrant SanctuarySphere

by: symsess

Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 09:10:04 AM EDT

Republican Platform Opposes Comprehensive Immigration Reform at Greg Siskind's Blog.

Despite the fact that the platform starts out with the promising statement that the US can have a strong immigration system without sacrificing the rule of law, the text focuses almost entirely on enforcement.

Until We Are All Free, We Are None Free at Why Am I Not Surprised. Frederick Douglas was an exceptional man. Read a bit about him and a poem in his honor.

ACTION: Prayer Vigil in Ohio at Standing Firm. This prayer vigil will be held to ask for an end to immigration raids. Also Paying the Price for not Having the Money on the difficulty of obtaining legal representation for migrants, Laurel: A Humanitarian Disaster - "Yesterday, a powerful editorial Gabino Zavala, bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, appeared in the UK's Guardian." and Both Sides of the Immigration Plank.

McCain still refusing to clarify position on immigration

by: Duke Reed

Mon Aug 04, 2008 at 20:42:47 PM EDT

Since securing his party's nomination back in March, McCain has toned down some of the more strident rhetoric that marked his noticeable shift towards the right on the issue during the primary contests, yet he still remains firmly planted on the fence when it comes to discussing the specifics of what  his presidency would mean in terms of immigration reform.

According to the winds of political expediency, or the particular interest group he's speaking to on any given day, he's vacillated between claiming himself a champion for comprehensive reform on one hand to disavowing any connection to his previous legislative attempts to repair our nation's broken immigration system on the other.  

This has left those on both sides of this thorny debate scratching their heads, wondering where the legendary "straight talker" stands on this vital issue.

While taking every opportunity to meet with Latino leaders to assure them of his commitment to "all God's children" and an immigration policy that reflects our tradition of being a "nation of immigrants",  he has yet to explain in any meaningful way what the specifics of a McCain immigration policy would look like.

And for good reason .... It would force him to finally explain to both his anti-immigrant Republican base, and the general public that favors comprehensive reform, exactly where he stands on the issue ...risking alienating one of those constituencies.

In June, the editors of The Sanctuary, a multi-ethnic community of on-line activists concerned about migrant rights, human-rights, and immigration reform, asked the major presidential candidates to respond to a detailed questionnaire concerning their positions on the specific aspects of immigration policy.

After more than a month, the Obama campaign responded with a detailed response to the lengthy survey ...The McCain campaign has remained mum. ...Well not exactly mum:

"The first phone call I placed was answered cordially.  I was told that someone would get back to me.  I never heard back from anyone," said  The Sanctuary editor Kety Esquivel of CrossLeft.org who has appeared on CNN to discuss the questionnaire.  "The second time I called, the person I was  speaking with hung up and the third time I called the line was disconnected."

Obviously McCain wants to stonewall as long as possible before being held accountable for his various positions on this issue.

While those of us on the left, or representing the broader Latino community, deserve to know McCain's real stance on immigration prior to Election Day, so too do those on the opposite side of this debate. He can no longer continue to talk out of one side of his mouth to one important constituency while saying, or implying, the opposite position to another.

In this momentous election season, marked by a new kind of politics that shuns the old ways of the past and gives hope for a truly meaningful national dialogue and debate on the great issues of the day, it's unfortunate to see that Mr. McCain is still mired down in the old politics of the past, and refuses to live up to his legendary position as a maverick and supply the American people with a healthy dose of  "straight talk" when it comes to immigration reform.

MORE FROM THE BLOGTOPIA™

Deadline passes and McCain campaign refuses to answer Latino bloggers' questionnaire- From Latina Lista

Missing McCain - No Answer To The Sanctuary's Questionnaire - From American Humanity

Obama Campaign Responds to Quesionnaire on Immigration. McCain Camp Can't be Bothered - From Vivir Latino

Obama Campaign RespondsS To Survey On Immigration Reform/Public Policy, McCain Campaign Silent - From CrossLeft

McCain still refusing to clarify position on immigration - From Migra Matters

Obama Responds to Immigration Policy Questions, McCain Avoids Them - From Standing Firm

Sanctuary Press Release - Obama Answers Questionnaire, McCain Ducks - From Zuky

McCain Neglects the Pro-Migrant Blogosphere - From Citizen Orange

McCain Won't Even Feign Concern for Latino Community - From The Unapologetic Mexican

Obama Campaign Responds To Immigration Reform Survey While McCain Campaign Remains Silent - From ¡Para Justicia y Libertad!

McCain Dodges Immigration Issue As Feds Advertise Voluntary Deportation Program - From The Huffington Post

So Much For McCain's Outreach To Latinos - From Firedoglake

View complete survey after the fold    

McCain 'Flip-Flops' on the DREAM Act

by: kyledeb

Mon Jul 14, 2008 at 18:15:06 PM EDT

Watching McCain's Speech at the San Diego NCLR Conference

by: kyledeb

Mon Jul 14, 2008 at 16:50:23 PM EDT

Will McCain throw "God's children" under the bus?

by: Duke Reed

Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 23:30:00 PM EST

Yet, while appearing to take the high ground on immigration, McCain has been moving his position further to the right throughout the entire campaign season.  As a recent, rather fawning, AP article pointed out; "Once a crusader for offering the nation's roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants a way to get legal status, McCain now says his first priority is fortifying U.S. borders".

Listen to McCain's speeches or look on his campaign web site now, and there's little mention of the fight to give illegal immigrants a way to stay in the U.S. lawfully. He instead emphasizes border security - the catch phrase of conservatives who scorned his earlier proposals.

...McCain told congressional Republicans in a closed-door meeting recently that he had been badly bruised by his push for immigration reform and had learned the hard way that sealing the border should be his priority.

Republicans who support McCain say he has no choice but to abandon his past approach on immigration in favor of one that causes less consternation among conservatives virulently opposed to providing undocumented people with legal status.

"What kind of an idiot can't figure out the route that you took didn't work? You don't keep charging the center line when you're getting your head bashed in, and John was on this," said former Sen. Trent Lott, R- Miss.

AP

But it now appears that Republicans will be putting McCain's new-found conservatism to the test.