See here for a Center for American Progress panel discussion on local immigration ordinances in Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. Among the panelists at the forum yesterday was Arlington County Board vice chairman Walter Tejada. As the moderator notes with sadness, Virginia "has become a less hospitable place for folks who are Latino like myself, and for immigrants from across the world."Tejada points to the failure of the Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, and argues that the responsibility is on the federal government to act on immigration. To quote Tejada:
...the failure of the Federal government to act [on immigration] has unofficially given the green light for those who are hateful and who are angry...a minority of angry people who are savvy to maneuver the political process and the local elected officials, and then give them bad information on how to exclude people from their community. In my opinion, the Prince William/Loudoun ordinances are nothing more than government sanctioned xenophobia at its very ugliest.
Tejada notes that 99.9% of the immigrant population are hardworking and law abiding. Tejada believes we need to highlight the positive contributions of immigrants, need to "reach out and include folks," and "try to engage them in our civic life."
For the entire program, click here.
This dude gets a free pass here in Arlington because of his heritage, while embarrassing himself and, in this case, a good cause with his lack of knowledge and insight on essentially every issue.
"In my opinion, the Prince William/Loudoun ordinances are nothing more than government sanctioned xenophobia at its very ugliest".
NO, it is a local government doing what we PAY the FedGov to do. It is the law, and should be enforced. That is not xenophobia.
In this case chaos is good. Local reps are doing the job they were elected to do. God bless'em for having the courage to do it.
I listened to part of the C-Span panel yesterday. Although good points were made about not demonizing illegal immigrants, and valid points were raised about the fact that many people considered illegal are actually in a gray area between legality and illegality, much of it caused by the government's inefficiency, none of the panelists seemed interested in what could be done about addressing the serious social problems caused by illegal immigration. They were far more interested in reacting as if everyone who raises the question is a secret racist or irrational or just inexplicably angry.
Walter noted his pleasure at Jim Moran's support for the comprehensive immigration reform package, and his dismay at Jim Webb's refusal to support it. He made no mention of the compromise package Webb proposed, which made a lot more sense to me than the original package. I have to wonder if he ever bothered to read the comprehensive package. I mean, does he really think it's a good idea to establish a permanent underclass of "guest workers" who serve at the pleasure of their employers, are excluded from the coverage of labor laws, and can never hope to become citizens? That's what the comprehensive legislation provided for. Does he think it's even practical to expect people to return home after several years in order to complete their eligibility for citizenship? What about their businesses and families?
Today I ran across two friends, both long-time Democrats, talking about this issue. One friend had just finished telling the other that the Dems simply aren't listening to Americans on immigration. He was angry and frustrated and declared that the Dems are going to lose their gains if they don't stop characterizing people worried about this issue as anti-immigrant and ignoring the anger of the electorate over liberal Dems' dismissive attitude toward people affected by illegal immigration.
I would urge people who think this is only a Republican problem to spend some time listening to the Washington Journal on C-Span in the mornings. When immigration is the subject the calls run overwhelmingly on all three lines - Republican, Democrat, and Independent - against illegal immigration and against services and assistance to illegal immigrants. This morning I heard one man tell how, as a specialized roofing contractor, he used to make $41 an hour in Ohio. Ten years after the first Latino immigrants showed up in his area he no longer gets work on any new construction and his opportunities in repair and renovation are much more limited. He said he has trouble on work sites because no one speaks English. Other callers following him, from all three numbers, followed up with their own frustration, anger, and stories of lost opportunities or unsavory encounters. Only one person called up to disagree. This caller attacked all the people "whining" about the immigration problem and said that all the complainers were just a bunch of redneck, scotch-irish types who get drunk and fight all the time. He characterized Mexicans as fine people who never cause any problems. This call caused a spate of outraged, angry calls in protest.
My friend wrapped up the discussion by saying that illegal immigrants can't vote, and the liberal Dems are too arrogant for their own good. All three of us in that conversation are from good old liberal Arlington. If this is the kind of anger from loyal Dems in Arlington, I think Dems had better be worried about people from more conservative areas.