The National Tequila Party Movement was launched in Arizona a/k/a immigration ground zero. 

At their 2nd rally, Tequila Party leaders were told not to discuss the immigration issue in Kansas on property that is owned by the City of Wichita.  How could this be allowed to take place when every American holds freedom of speech, religion, et. al. sacred to their hearts?  The ACLU will be investigating how and why this was allowed to happen on city owned/tax payer funded property.

Wichita, KS –The National Tequila Party Movement was happy with the level of support we received at our Wichita, Kansas Tequila Party rally on July 29^th, 2011, despite the heat wave and rain.   People came and went as they visited our voter registration booth to learn more about our efforts.  That said, we were surprised to find out the day before our Tequila Party Rally that we could not discuss the one thing hurting the Latino community the most – the immigration issue. It was our understanding that Nomar Plaza was built to bring about cultural awareness, neighborhood revitalization and economic development.  We were disappointed in not being able to talk about the issue that is hurting and affecting our culture.

We believed it was especially important to discuss the economic contributions immigrants have made to our society, and how we must debunk the lies that immigrants are a drain to society.  According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are 3.1 related jobs off the farm for every job on the farm that an “undocumented immigrant” works. Eliminating the “immigrant” on-farm jobs would put at risk many more jobs paying middle-class wages and employing native-born American workers.

The Nomar Plaza is owned by the City of Wichita, and despite paying our vendor fee to the Nomar manager, we were told we could not discuss the immigration issue as well as the DREAM Act. Due to the unfortunate incidents that occurred last Friday we filed a complaint with the Kansas/Missouri ACLU as a result of our restriction to freedom of speech. The ACLU stated they will take our complaint and look into why our freedom of speech was restricted.

We would like to especially thank the Kansas City DREAM Act Activists, Representative Ponka-we Victors and Representative Melody McCray-Miller for attending our rally as it shows their support for our national campaign for a strong Latino Get Out the Vote (GOTV).   We invited both the Republican and Democratic Party of Kansas; however, the Republican Party did not return our emails.  The Sedgwick County Democratic Party volunteered their support for our Latin GOTV and we are thankful for their support.

ACLU Contact:  Gary Brunk – (816)-756-3113

 

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About the National Tequila Party Movement

The National Tequila Party Movement is a national tour of concerts, events, dinners and rallies that will encourage a massive Latino Get Out The Vote.  This movement is a non-partisan movement.  We don’t care how people vote, we just want them to get on the early ballot system, become consistent primary and general election voters.