Christian Leader calls OK a Racial Battlefield!

[kakie]

An Open Letter to our Elected Oklahoma State and Federal Legislators:

I'm writing to you about a matter of serious concern. Recently the President of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, the Rev. Miguel Rivera, held a press conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma announcing plans to sue the State of Oklahoma, claiming he will use our state as an example to show our state cannot seek legal accountability from the illegal foreign nationals here.

What caught my eye, and I hope it does yours as well, is Rivera states he is currently serving on the President's Council for Immigration Reform.  What is going on here?

You can read the rest of the letter:
http://ztruth.typepad.com/ztruth/

[Wingnut]

quote: What is going on here?

//My%20guess%20is%20that%20they%20don't%20see%20the%20law%20the%20same%20way%20as%20we%20do%20and%20want%20to%20change%20it%20to%20suit%20their%20agenda.%20When%20your%20in%20mexico,%20U.S.%20laws%20don't%20apply.%20They%20apparently%20don't%20want%20them%20to%20apply%20here%20either.%20It%20seems%20they%20want%20to%20intimidate%20people%20by%20calling%20them%20racists.%20So%20much%20so,%20that%20the%20term%20doesn't%20seem%20to%20have%20any%20real%20meaning%20anymore.%20I%20still%20don't%20understand%20how%20enforcing%20the%20law%20against%20all%20immigrants,%20not%20just%20mexicans,%20can%20be%20racist.[url]http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_231191810.html
From the story...
"We are sad, but at the same time we are angry," said Javier Rodriguez, a Chicago immigration activist who worked with her. "How dare they arrest this woman?"

How dare they?? They were just following the law. Is she somehow immune or above the law??

[rwarn17588]

Oops. Thought this was a Pat Benatar thread. []

[Conan71]

Just foreign nut-jobs thinking they should have carte blanche to enter the country as they please, smuggle drugs, drop babies, you know, basic harmless stuff.

[MichaelC]

How is it racist?  

If Tulsa decided to round up all Hispanics, check them for immigration papers, then let the legal citizens go, it would be racist because you infringed of the rights of US citizens by sequestering them based on race/ethnicity.  

If Tulsa decided to simply check all Hispanics during traffic stops, for legal residency, that also is racist because you're enforcing laws based purely in race, and legislating racial profiling.  Perhaps we should check all Black folk to see if they're runaway slaves.

This is why the Fed is the Fed, this is why it's the Feds job to secure the borders and control illegal immigration.  It's not supposed to be up to some Klan-haven town in Mississippi, it's not supposed to be up to TPD.  

What you've got right now is a classic screw em over, blame the other guy, and act like something else can be done.  Right-wingers all riled up because the Right-wing dominated Fed won't shut the borders, then their right wing politicians turn their supporter's wrath on local and state gov'ts.  Gov'ts that are not equipped to handle it, gov'ts that are not required to handle it, gov't that are in some cases legally restricted from handling it.

Most of this race-based crap you guys are applauding, is in the process of being overturned by the Federal Courts.  You've been in the wrong jurisdiction the entire time, but you're too blinded by racism or party politics to recognize it.

There are very good reasons to close the borders.  Instead of doing that, we've got politicians pandering to the lowest common denominator.  We've got people who wont bother looking at the situation, because half the argument stinks of absolute racism.  This discussion never had to go there.

[iplaw]

quote:Most of this race-based crap you guys are applauding, is in the process of being overturned by the Federal Courts.

What's "race based" vis-a-vis sealing the border?  As far as your other assertions, I don't believe that anyone is asking to implement those other scenarios...looks like someone is being blinded by party politics for sure, but it isn't who you think it is.  

quote:This discussion never had to go there.

This is what happens when you ignore a problem until it's too large to ignore anymore.  People are fed up, but I really don't know anyone asking to have happen what you're claiming is happening.

Calling people who genuinely have issues with our current immigration policy "racists" every chance you get is just as rediculous as saying that all mexicans should be looked upon as illegal until proven otherwise.

[MichaelC]

Those things are being asked throughout the country.  Some hick suburb of Dallas requiring landlords to check their residents status.  So now, all Hispanics are requires to go through that extra scrutiny.  It's a racist law.  Police forces throughout the country are under increased pressure to "do something" about immigration, legislation is popping up everywhere.  It's never been their job, and in a few years as these race based laws keep being struck down, it will again, not be their job.

Sealing the border has nothing to do with race.  It has everything to do with knowing who is here, who is not here, and why they're here.  That's a simple function that every central gov't can reasonably require.  If you leave everything else out of it, you've got a case.  Otherwise, you end up being one of the many folks supporting race-based laws.

[MichaelC]

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

Calling people who genuinely have issues with our current immigration policy "racists" every chance you get is just as rediculous as saying that all mexicans should be looked upon as illegal until proven otherwise.

I don't care if you're a racist or not.  If you're supporting race-based laws, you deserve the moniker.  I understand people are fed up.  I am too.  But you guys had every chance available in a small window to completely freeze traffic on the border, and you failed.

And now we're left to this.  And it's not going to change, it's not going to get fixed.  And all these laws you support are going down one by one.  You chose the wrong track.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by MichaelC

quote:Originally posted by iplaw

Calling people who genuinely have issues with our current immigration policy "racists" every chance you get is just as rediculous as saying that all mexicans should be looked upon as illegal until proven otherwise.

I don't care if you're a racist or not.  If you're supporting race-based laws, you deserve the moniker.  I understand people are fed up.  I am too.  But you guys had every chance available in a small window to completely freeze traffic on the border, and you failed.

And now we're left to this.  And it's not going to change, it's not going to get fixed.  And all these laws you support are going down one by one.  You chose the wrong track.

Who is "you guys"?

We wouldn't be at this point if every president since Carter, and every Senate and Congress since the 1970's hadn't have ignored this burgeoning problem as it grew.

quote:

Sealing the border has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with knowing who is here, who is not here, and why they're here. That's a simple function that every central gov't can reasonably require. If you leave everything else out of it, you've got a case. Otherwise, you end up being one of the many folks supporting race-based laws.

What's the diff?  Checking documentation is nothing more than knowing who is here, why they are here, and sending undesireables back.

[sauerkraut]

I favor "profiling". The illegals are taking away jobs form legal U.S citizens and lowering our wages and standard of living. We are all taxpayers and the illegals are costing every taxpayer money. We need to ship them back to their homeland. if frosts me when I see illegals flying the flag of their home country on their car or a window sticker of their homeland flag. If they like it there so much why do they come here? The foreigners need to fix up their own home nation and make it great not come here and take what another country has.

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by MichaelC
I don't care if you're a racist or not.  If you're supporting race-based laws, you deserve the moniker.  I understand people are fed up.  I am too.  But you guys had every chance available in a small window to completely freeze traffic on the border, and you failed.

Who says anyone here is supporting those types of laws?  Am I to gather that you're in support of unfettered access through our borders then since your comments seem to say that since Congress failed to secure the border this time around, that somehow all bets are off now?  I don't get this line of thinking.

quote:
And now we're left to this.  And it's not going to change, it's not going to get fixed.  And all these laws you support are going down one by one.  You chose the wrong track.

Again, I don't remember advocating anything close to what you're talking about...It is easier to argue when you just make up positions that I've adopted regardless of whether they're true or not.

[MichaelC]

No.  The right track would have been to jump on your damn congressperson within a year or two of 911, and demanded the borders be sealed based on security concerns.

Now it's too late, too much run of the mill racism in the argument.  Little to no concern about security.  You can support whatever you want now, the problem is not going to be fixed.

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by MichaelC

No.  The right track would have been to jump on your damn congressperson within a year or two of 911, and demanded the borders be sealed based on security concerns.

Now it's too late, too much run of the mill racism in the argument.  Little to no concern about security.  You can support whatever you want now, the problem is not going to be fixed.

So let me get this straight...it WAS a valid concern before, and needed to be dealt with (I would ask if you asked for anything to be done about it yourself...).  Check...

It's STILL a valid concern and only getting worse but since we didn't pass reform withing this narrow window, the problem has now somehow dissapeared?

You don't fail to enforce laws simply because some of those asking that the laws be enforced are on the opposite side of the asile from you.  Either you believe it to be a valid problem to be dealt with or not, there is no other option.

Why is the only valid ground for closing the border security?  Can we not close the border simply because we have immigration laws that need to be enforced?

[MichaelC]

Absolutely it's a valid concern.  It's no less valid than the day after 911.  If you know how gov't works, and you know how Americans work, you know that this issue is done.

You had a true opportunity to shut down the borders, it didn't happen.  The security holes are still there, but as you folks say quite often "there haven't been any attacks since."  You guys are acting like we're fine on security, and the only thing we have to worry about is an illegal Mexican getting a job or going on welfare.  

As long as the discussion is there, instead of security, this issue is dead.  If you get back to security, we might have another ballgame.

[iplaw]

quote:Originally posted by MichaelC

Absolutely it's a valid concern.  It's no less valid than the day after 911.  If you know how gov't works, and you know how Americans work, you know that this issue is done.

You had a true opportunity to shut down the borders, it didn't happen.  The security holes are still there, but as you folks say quite often "there haven't been any attacks since."  You guys are acting like we're fine on security, and the only thing we have to worry about is an illegal Mexican getting a job or going on welfare.  

As long as the discussion is there, instead of security, this issue is dead.  If you get back to security, we might have another ballgame.

Why must it be a discussion of security?  If the borders were dealt with prior to 9/11 would it have been racist to do so?  I fail to see why we can't close the borders simply because our immigration policies are being violated.  Closing the border should have more to do with enforcing immigration laws than security, thought security is now a valid concern.