Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves -  Abraham Lincoln

The absolute perfect version of immigration in the U.S. is the following: every immigrant should enter legally, learn the language, the history of the U.S. and if working in this country, pay taxes. Every immigrant should acculturate and then assimilate into what the “founding fathers” thought to be the United States. Those who immigrate can, then, learn to slowly forget their country of origin. After all, this is a question that is asked and required when someone is naturalizing into the United States. “Would you give up all allegiance to your country of origin?”

The reality is more complex than this. We can no more forget where we originated than we can our mother and where we were raised. These are memories that we cannot erase in an instant and it is this suppression of identity that is causing our great nation to be on life support. My vision is to advance understanding and meaningful discourse so that we can rise up to the level for us to remember what makes THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA the greatest country in the world.

The America as we have known it is fighting for her life. Where the Statute of Liberty symbolized a new way of life for those immigrants coming to the United States, many have turned her into a tired old threatening woman holding a big billy club ready to pounce on any foreigner that tries to enter the U.S. Uncle Sam is not fairing any better, he’s a cranky old curmudgeon without courage, fearful of all kinds of illusionary enemies while the real ones steal, bomb, and have us feuding among ourselves over the most minute detail.

These two polar opposites is what is creating all kinds of spirited debate in the political theater. One recent example is of State Senator Chris Harris being offended by a Mr. Antolin Aguirre giving testimony in Spanish as reported by Bob Price.

While I cannot speak for Mr. Aguirre, there is a strong possibility that he was self conscious of not speaking flawless English and, therefore fearful of being misunderstood. While this is no excuse, afterall he has lived in the United States long enough to know how to communicate in English, his perception of hear was real. Moreover, from what we could hear, he speaks functional English and has the ability to communicate in the language. Being self conscious of his accent and being ridiculed for it, was no excuse. He had something to say. He had something to offer and like all of us who speak publicly, we prepare in advance to give the best articulated statement whether it is for a speech in class, to colleagues, or in this case a testimony before a Committee. We should be prepared in all instances to be effective enough to convey our message. A translator could have been used only as a last resource. Communication is all about what you say, and more importantly, how it is received and processed in the listener’s mind. Now many are upset that Senator Harris was a little rough when asking Mr. Aguirre if he spoke English. While I know that a long day listening to testimony can be grueling and may leave one with a short patience level, it was not necessary to humiliate someone while they were attempting something for the first time. Yet I agree with Senator Harris that if you can speak English, please provide your testimony in the language, even if you speak with an accent. Yet it was the manner in how that was conveyed to Mr. Aguirre that is being perceived as “mean.”

Hispanics in this great country are capable of many things. Yet we treat each other with careful white gloves, and take the pobrecito (poor me) attitude as a handicap almost as an excuse for not being able to accomplish something. We are not pobrecitos. We are a resilient people. We are a people of many talents, language abilities, and intelligence. If we don’t believe it, however, we will never learn to assimilate and command the respect that we deserve. This respect comes from learning how to communicate in a language of the land where we choose to live. We live in the twenty first century and in a country that offers freedoms and unlimited “pursuits of happiness.”

Immigrants continue to come to the U.S. seeking the American dream of freedom, prosperity, and a better future for their families. We as Latinos can still have that dream if we meet halfway and learn to acculturate and assimilate into this great country. We Latinos can have so much to offer, if we shed that pobrecito attitude and accept and learn to overcome the challenges necessary to be an Americano.

Marshall, MN – America is at a crossroads. The national debt has skyrocketed. Americans continue to struggle as the economy slogs through a seemingly endless recession.

Obama’s failed economic policies remind us of FDR’s failed Keynsian economic policies. After eight years of massive stimulus spending and an explosion in debt, the U.S. economic recovery lagged that of other industrialized nations. FDR’s own Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau Jr. famously stated: “No, gentlemen, we have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work.” Another four years of Obama’s failed economic policies and we will be no better off than today. Clearly it is time for change, not more failed policy, class warfare, and massive expansion in government!

Fortunately, Americans have a chance to change our nation’s path this November. Cafe con Leche Republicans is proud to endorse a Presidential ticket that is willing to meet these challenges head-on. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan both have an acute understanding of the perils of the national debt and, even more importantly, have proposed concrete steps to address this. Both are committed free market capitalists who understand that the private sector creates jobs while government is a drag on the economy, which consumes resources needed to economic growth.

As pro-immigrant Republicans, we also believe that the type of complete immigration overhaul we need is more likely to occur under a Romney/Ryan administration. Obama’s lack of leadership on this issue is truly shocking. Obama promised immigration reform within the first year of his presidency; instead, Americans were force-fed a healthcare bill that no one wanted, while deportations reach record highs due to the administration’s Secure Communities Program.

Thousands of Latino citizens have been effectively stripped of their citizenship by Obama’s State Department, which frequently refuses to recognize the citizenship of Latinos birthed in the U.S. by midwives. The Obama administration has aggressively rolled out the Secure Communities Program, despite the widespread racial profiling and false arrests of Latino citizens that has resulted. One recent study showed that 93% of immigrants arrested under Secure Communities are Latino versus 78% of the unauthorized population. 3,600 Latino citizens were falsely arrested, and non-criminal arrests for traffic infractions such as cracked windshields is now approaching 50%.

To compensate for his lack of leadership on immigration, Obama recently rolled out a deferred action program as a short term fix to address his soaring deportation numbers, to boost his support among Latinos, and to undermine Marco Rubio’s efforts to introduce a bipartisan DREAM Act. However, this is just Obama’s latest example of fakery. Deferred Action for low priority unauthorized immigrants such as DREAM eligible youth has been policy at DHS since 2000 (Meisssner memo). Obama rolled out a similar ‘new policy’ in June 2011 (Morton Memo), and of 411,000 cases reviewed since then just 2% were closed,

DREAMers and other low priority immigrants continued to be deported aggressively, and ICE’s labor union defied Obama by refusing to allow its members to attend Morton training. AILA conducted a survey of ICE offices and found nearly all ignored the Morton memo. We cannot help but remain skeptical of Obama’s latest ‘new plan’, and as correctly pointed out by Mitt Romney this latest ‘new plan’ is a short term fix, and is apparently more about fixing Obama’s lagging lack of  enthusiasm among Latino voters than a real solution to help DREAM eligible youth trapped in a predicament not of their own making.

We need real leadership on this issue; not more fakery! The plan laid out on Mitt Romney’s web site is a good plan, not as complete as we’d like to see but a good start point. Mitt Romney supported President Bush’s plans for immigration reform, while Obama and Harry Reid sought to sabotage Bush’s reforms, yet another example of Obama’s fakery. Obama’s supporters have sought to frame Romney’s positions based largely on comments made during one of the debates, while ignoring the plan on Romney’s web site. Defense of Obama’s immigration record is like ‘putting lip stick on a pig.’

Likewise, Paul Ryan sponsored immigration reform as a congressman in 2005 – at the very same time that then-Senator Obama was trying to kill the Senate version of the same bill. Paul Ryan is also the latest addition to a growing group of pro-immigration reform advisors to Romney’s inner circle. Other notable reformers include Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Gov. Luis Fortuno (R-Puerto Rico), and former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, all of whom have been major proponents of sensible immigration reforms.

Americans are begging for a course correction. “Hope and Change” has failed and more recently has become ‘hype and blame’; the country needs some “R & R” – Romney and Ryan! Café con Leche Republicans is proud to endorse the Romney/Ryan ticket, and we look forward to working with our fellow Republicans – and indeed, Americans of all political persuasions – to get them elected this November. Romney/Ryan 2012!

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About Us – Cafe Con Leche Republicans is a national organization of Republicans who welcome “New Americans”, defined as immigrants and family of recent immigrants. Our mission is to make America and the GOP, more welcoming to “New Immigrants” through political activism, “in-reach” and education within the Republican Party, and lobbying government to adopt more immigrant friendly policies. We also seek to bring more conservative and moderate “New Americans” to the Republican Party. These efforts will strengthen the GOP, and lead more Republicans to embrace welcoming policies for immigrants and their families. We have members nationwide, with chapters in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Our members and leadership are predominantly Hispanic, though we define ourselves by mission and guiding principles, not ethnicity, and we welcome all who share our goals. Our leadership is 100% Republican.