Rep Lamar Smith is attacking one of the most successful Mexican-American columnists that has ever existed — Ruben Navarrette. You can read the full article here.   What is up Lamar’s sleeve?  E-verify is.  He claims it is voluntary but every single Senate office I visited last month in Washington D.C.  told me that Lamar wants to introduce a national e-verification program in August.  He’s setting out the pillows because Lamar Smith thinks e-verify will happen without protest.

The State of Florida rejected their state version of e-verify and no thanks to Lamar Smith, we are going to lose the State of Florida in 2012 because in essence he is not listening to the business community.  The business community does not want to embrace more government bureaucracy via e-verify without a reasonable immigration solution. Businesses depend on competitive labor, and Lamar wants to increase the wage rate.

Why is Lamar Smith attacking Ruben but ignoring the backbone of our economic engine?  Did he forget small businesses and farmers are the backbone of our country?

More importantly, the DREAM Act activists have already declared that they will not trade e-verify programs in exchange for passage of the DREAM Act.  You can read their response here. They already know Lamar Smith wants them to forget about their mother and father for a cheap trade.  Lamar Smith is NOT in support of maintaining the family unit and he wants to give Latinos the scraps in exchange for harsh enforcement policies by dangling the DREAM Act carrot in front of our DREAMers noses.  Pretty revolting if you ask me.

It looks like we are headed back to the days of Sensenbrenner where massive protests were sparked with enforcement only policies.  When massive protests are sparked again WE ARE GOING TO BLAME LAMAR SMITH.

(Above)  Photo taken in 2006 during the Sensenbrenner enforcement policy days.

Ever mindful of extremism, we received forwarded photos that raised concerns to our leadership.  However, following the trail of toxic breadcrumbs sent our way exposed a narrative that mocks human life, offends the spirit of democracy, and brings shame upon our party yet again.  The Republican Party, like America itself, is diverse; of course there are competing visions of how we should represent ourselves and of what our legislative agenda should be.  However, the growing extremism that intimidates rational, moderate members has gone too far.

The first situation we were made aware of in Kansas that caused great alarm to us was when Virgil Peck advocated the shooting of illegal immigrants.  He’s since apologized.  Following this, we’ve received, via email, a disturbing array of pictures of angry Kansas residents with buttons stylized with “RINOs” in crosshairs attending legislative session.    Included was the name of local right-wing extremist Larry Halloran, whose Facebook page proved to illustrate a log-term and deliberate campaign of calls for violence and actions designed to intimidate “targets.”  Halloran’s page described, among other things, a call to “hunt” targeted legislators in “open season.”  He further qualifies this by dehumanizing his group’s “targets” and referring to their lives with terms used by game hunters for wild animals.

Just the same, and even though we believe in the freedom of speech so long as it does not advocate violence in our civil society, we would also be disturbed if atheist extremists wore buttons stylized with a “cross” in crosshairs.

Mindful that our Republic safeguards both our freedoms of speech and of peaceful assembly, we can not sit by idly as radicals use bullying and strong-arm techniques to threaten our democratic process.  Somos Republicans has been pushing for Kansas Republicans to embrace the KANSAS COMPACT as well as immigration and conservative issues throughout the nation.  Representative Louis Ruiz has taken a leadership role in guiding Kansas towards a healthy discussion on immigration.  Our focus continues to be on public policy issues, but we will continue to monitor this campaign of hate and intimidation.

We stand with moderate Republicans who continue to be targeted by this vicious and out of control campaign of calls to violence.  We urge them to remain strong and unwavering in principle while keeping aware of the volatile situation catalyzed by Virgil Peck and bolstered by Larry Halloran.  The extremist behavior brought to our attention is typical of anti-immigrant and Nativist extremism and we will be bringing it to the attention of Homeland Security for further investigation as potential domestic terrorism.

The below photos are very concerning to me because people are putting “RINOs” in crosshairs and wearing buttons that appears to advocate violence. We were alarmed when Rep. Virgil Peck advocated the shooting of “illegals” like hogs from a helicopter, and now we are seeing a new disturbing development unfold.

I am a Latina who is a long life registered Republican.  I have been called a “RINO” here in Arizona (which means Republican In Name Only) due to my immigration stance, even though  I am for securing the borders as well as a reasonable legal immigration solution. Does this mean that these people want to “hunt” me?  What if you saw someone wearing a button that had a symbol of a Christian cross in crosshairs?  How would Christians perceive that?  I believe the picture of the “RINO” in crosshairs is advocating threats.  I don’t like it, nor do I think this is appropriate.

As the founder of SOMOS REPUBLICANS, a national group based in Arizona, I have become extremely sensitive to anti-immigrant sentiment that has become mixed with violence.  We have had an increase in hate crimes as a result of Senator Russell Pearce’s SB 1070 bill, and we have had Mexican-Americans murdered over SB 1070 or by vigilantes who are part of a Minuteman group.  In fact, Shawna Forde ordered the killing of a precious 9 year old Mexican-American little girl who begged for her life in fetal position.

The photos below were taken TODAY during session at the Topeka, Kansas, capitol.  What was their mission today?  To revive HB 2372, an anti-immigrant law.   Their group which was led by a a “RINO Hunter,” Larry Halloran, sought out freshmen legislators and their district legislators to get them to bring HB 2372 from the Judiciary Committee to the House floor.  That has been the mission of these “Tea Party” whacko types — to strong-arm the freshmen into supporting anti-immigrant legislation by wearing big bright orange buttons with “RINOs” in their crosshairs.

It gets worse!  If you go to Larry Halloran’s facebook page, you will see comments on his photos like the below:

“RINO Hunters in Manhattan… a good RINO hunt deserves a well-rounded HuHot meal.”

Larry Halloran, chairman of the Wichita-South Central Kansas 912 Group (Tea Party Whacko Group),brags about the article that was written about his group here.

I want you to take a look at the below photos of those who are wearing the “RINO” buttons, and I want you to decide what you think of the message being conveyed.  You would think that after our Congresswoman was shot in the head by a disturbed young man that reasonable people would tone down violent rhetoric.  No wonder Rep. Virgil Peck said what he said.  It appears hunting animals is at it’s height of the season.

The below photo was taken today at the Kansas Capitol when the RINO hunters were targeting freshmen legislators asking them to bring about the anti-immigrant bill they want to see on the floor.

The below photo was taken on March 18, 2011, when the anti-immigrant bill HB 2372 was going to be heard in front of the House Judiciary Committee.    There were about 15 people there wearing the RINO buttons.  You can see the album here.

We will keep you posted with regard to our concerns.

The Arizona Republican Party is going to have to do better than Gabriela Saucedo Mercer in order to replace Congressman Raul Grijalva.  If you want to win Latino hearts and mind, it starts with educating yourselves by understanding Hispanic Culture and Demographics.   For starters, let’s find out what the the Pew Hispanic Center has to say about Latino Demography and what the data suggests with regard to our behavior.  It is absolutely imperative for the Republican Party to know that only 12% of Hispanics say local police should take an active role in identifying undocumented immigrants.  Over 80% of the Hispanic population is against SB 1070 type of laws.

If you hunt and look really hard  for Latino Republican tokens who know what you want to hear…then you will find a very small percent of Hispanics that will turn into “yes-men” for you.  (Pssst. But let me clue you in on something:  If those Hispanic Republicans know you are in support of SB 1070 type of laws, then of course they will tell you what you want to hear), but, this does not change the overall pulse of how Latinos really feel.

Approximately 44% of Hispanics voted for George W. Bush in 2004.   As of 2008, we have dwindled down to 31% who voted for McCain, and I believe much of that had to do with Obama sinking millions and millions into Hispanic media coupled with the increasing anti-immigrant sentiment that began with Sensenbrenner’s Bill – H.R. 4437.

Now, let’s look at the data and the pace that state legislators like Virgil Peck (advocated shooting ‘illegals like pigs’), and Russell Pearce (sponsor of SB 1070) are putting us on.  Do you really believe at this pace the Republican Party will win the Presidential elections of 2012? Not if Latinos can help it.  The new RNC leadership must denounce the likes of Virgil Peck to prove to the increasing number of Hispanic voters that all Republicans are not a bunch of bigots who want to empty a clip on “illegals”.

SOMOS REPUBLICANS are working in the overall best interest of the Republican Party, but we don’t do it by being “yes men”. We put people before party, and we do it by practicing good ol’ politics like Ronald Reagan used to practice.   Back then, politicians worked with each other across the aisle for what was in the best interest of the United States.  These days too many people will call you a “RINO” which means “Republican In Name Only” if you are not a far right winger;  Or, they will call you a “DINO” which means “Democrat In Name Only”.  The far leftists and right wingers are ruining our country.  We want reason and decency instead of being attacked for not being extreme enough for the party hacks.

We are hell bent on restoring our soul to the Party of Abe Lincoln.  If you want Latino Republican “tokens”, then they are going to tell you what you want to hear, but if you are smart, you will pay attention to the Pew Research data below. Those Latino Republican tokens want the immediate satisfaction of your acceptance, however, what you should be watching for is what the entire Hispanic population is saying with regard to enforcement-only policies.

If you want to dwindle Hispanic Republican support down to 12%, then embrace politicians like Russell Pearce, Tom Tancredo, J.D. Hayworth, Virgil Peck, Steve King and all the other extremists.  If you want to see MORE Hispanic Republican voters, then you must not embrace SB 1070 type of laws.  It’s that simple.

• Eight-in-ten Hispanics say local police should not be involved in identifying undocumented or illegal immigrants.
  According to the Pew Hispanic Center’s 2008 National Survey of Latinos, 81% of Hispanics said enforcement of immigration laws should be left mainly to the federal authorities while just 12% said local police should take an active role. Among the general public, opinion is split — in 2007, half (49%) of non-Hispanics said enforcement should be left mainly to federal authorities, while 45% said local police should take an active role.
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