Sometimes I wish I could take each and everyone of those who denigrates the undocumented Immigrant through an informative journey.
I would start off by having them spend some time in the native country of the undocumented worker. Not for purposes of subjecting them to the harsh conditions found in most of these countries that produce our low skilled labor force, but because I want them to truly understand the complexity of the issue, and it starts at the source, the birth country of the undocumented worker. It’s important to understand that in each of these countries, those who have left for a better life in America act like a calling card to those back home. Some of these Immigrant workers send money, others send larger items through transport firms that specialize in bringing packages to local towns. Some of the Immigrants, previously undocumented, have now through an adjustment of status become Permanent Residents, perhaps even U.S. Citizens. Each one of these scenarios creates a virtual invitation for those that stayed behind by somehow confirming the achievement of the American Dream. This, coupled with comments from the employers who hire the undocumented worker such as: “Jose, I wish I had two of you,” “do you have a friend or a relative that’s looking for work?” “Maria, you’re a sweetheart, my sister, my neighbor, my co-worker would like to have someone like you help them clean their house” serves as an enticement to take that leap across the border.
Equally, each one of those scenarios triggers an action from the undocumented worker and ultimately a reaction from the relative at home. It’s an invitation that’s tendered daily to those in foreign countries as they chat long distance using calling cards or international plans on their cell phones. The good news from the United States of pending employment solidifies a decision for that desperate foreigner who seeks to feed his family in his native country or just simply seeks to live a life like their hermano, primo or tio.
The journey that commences once that decision is made is a dangerous one that traverses the desert region between our neighbor to the South and the land of opportunity.
I have personally interviewed hundreds of Immigrants that have crossed that unforgiving desert. Many share horror stories of abuse at the hands of the human trafficker. In one interview the now U.S. Citizen Immigrant, entrepreneur, and job creator, shared with me that out of a group of thirteen, only six of them survived the treacherous desert. It’s simply heartbreaking to listen to the stories as they sob and break down, at times sharing a story they have never shared with anyone in such vivid detail.
I’ve also personally traversed the desert floor with the Desert Angels, a desert rescue and body recovery organization. As you follow the hidden paths the undocumented Immigrants take, you find shoes that have disintegrated, jeans that have been abandoned after making a desperate effort to strip away the clothes that serves to bake their bodies at extreme temperatures with a terrain that reaches temperatures as high as 160 degrees in the summer. Water bottles abandoned because the water gets so hot that it is undrinkable and simply causes the desert crosser to vomit the near boiling water. Any food consumed is canned or non-perishable, but even that food that would traditionally help give them strength, becomes a cumbersome burden as their strength diminishes hour by hour. Children’s strollers, baby clothes and toys are left behind, telling the story of a tender life at risk as Mom attempts to carry, not just her own weight, but that of that child that may be near death.
I don’t share this with you to invoke some hidden or suppressed compassion. I’m well aware that most of those who oppose illegal Immigration, or oppose the presence of millions of undocumented workers currently serving as our labor force don’t possess an ounce of compassion. I know many of you have been desensitized by political rhetoric and a constant barrage of misinformation and denigrating words like invaders, criminals, wetbacks, and leeches to name a few. I share the Immigrants journey because it’s an important component in the dialog we engage in daily when we converse about what to do with those millions of Immigrants that have been here 10, 15 or 20 years hiding in the shadows.
Every employer that hires an undocumented worker is responsible for the wave of Immigrants who arrive in the U.S. seeking employment. Most pro-Immigrant activists don’t want to touch the employer sanction issue. It’s a double edged sword. They feel as if they would lose credibility if they somehow address the workplace of the undocumented Immigrants. That somehow they’ll be responsible for collateral damage that may result from advocating for enforcement of an aggressive employer sanction law that will penalize the employer and not just the employee utilizing a false identity.
I differ from these activists. As a pro-Immigrant activist and radio talk show host that not only advocates for Immigrants on a daily basis, but converses with them daily, I insist that the problem has always been with the employer. An employer who is willing to hire undocumented workers at an extremely low wage, work them long hours, brag about the productivity or efficiency of his company, yet donates faithfully to the reelection campaign of those same politicians that are creating omnibus anti-Immigrant legislation that of course omits any meaningful employer sanctions. It’s a hypocritical system that utilizes a double standard.
If we pursued the employer aggressively with an employer sanction law that would not just criminalize the employee as it currently does here in Arizona, but focus the criminality on the employer, we would resolve the “illegal immigration” issue. With a criminal focus on the employer, that company or individual that seeks to profit from cheap labor would immediately scream bloody murder, and at the same time they would scream for Immigration Reform, and they would most certainly insist on having at their disposal a system in which they could hire the workers they needed from a foreign country, while having the ability to adjust the employees status to permanent residency based on the longevity of the employment and the value factor to the employer. The practice of talking out of both sides of their mouth in hiring undocumented workers yet funding anti-Immigrant legislators would drastically change to yelling out of both sides of their mouth, screaming out of pain from the stiff criminal penalties imposed from an aggressive employer sanction law while screaming out of the other side of their mouth for immediate relief in the form of Comprehensive Immigration Reform that would meet their needs and the needs of a modern day United States extremely dependent on Immigrant labor.
The private prison industry long ago understood that they could utilize the hypocrisy and the double standard utilized by the anti-Immigrant lobby and the employers. They saw this as as a perfect business model. Utilizing the hatred for undocumented Immigrants, politicians that represent the anti-Immigrant constituency and powerful and eager investors like ex Vice President Dick Cheney, wall street moguls, and financial institutions, the private prison industry successfully cashed in on the anti-Immigrant hype. The private prison industry successfully met behind closed doors with anti-immigrant legislators and were instrumental in creating and nurturing anti-Immigrant laws that serve as a net to capture those undocumented Immigrants so badly needed to occupy the vacant beds at the private prison facilities that ultimately generate billions of dollar.
Make no mistake, there’s a virtual sign on the border that states, “wanted, for employment, undocumented Immigrants.” Further inland, there’s another virtual sign that states, “wanted, for deportation, undocumented Immigrants, no experience preferred.”
I’m in no way advocating for an open border. That’s a common mistake made by most pro-Immigrant advocates. I understand that we’re a sovereign nation, and as such, we must have borders. I also understand that the border issue has been utilized as a tool by both sides of this issue.
Americans need a better understanding of this complex issue that contains some very basic and glaring necessities. We need an expansion of our visa program to meet our work force needs. We need to issue a much greater amount of visas to the country that we most draw upon for our low skilled labor force. That, would clearly be our neighbor to the south, Mexico. We need to address our options when it comes to those that are currently here already serving as our undocumented work force, we need to provide relief for those children that were brought here at a very young age and that have now been woven into the fabric of our country, and, we need to quit moving the fence post when it comes to border security. That decision should not be made based on the whims of a politician that either represents racist, xenophobe or white supremacist constituents, nor should it be a politician who is influenced by private prison lobbyists. We need a bipartisan commission that will submit a reasonable plan based on all the above. We can’t bank on opportunist Latino politicians like Senator Marco Rubio (R) Florida who doesn’t truly understand the complexity of the Immigration issue, nor can we heed advice from “pro-Immigrant” opportunist politicians like Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D) Illinois who seeks an omnibus reform bill that would incorporate the undocumented Immigrant that arrived yesterday.
Archaic laws that remain on the books simply serve to destroy any advances that this country has achieved or serve to maliciously prosecute those “violators” who break these laws while actually serving the basic needs of this country, e.g. current Immigration laws and those who serve as our labor force.
The time has come, we cannot put Comprehensive Immigration Reform on the back burner. We have to be realistic about this country’s needs and we have to somehow deal with those millions currently living in the shadows. After all we invited them in.
Undocumented Immigrant Holding The American Flag
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana Arizona. Carlos Galindo is a founding member and President of the Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
It is our people (I say that as an Immigrant that has worked the agricultural fields of this country), that work these jobs that require great risk for low pay. It’s the work displayed in this video that allows golf course members to enjoy the beauty of the grounds that surround them as they seek to place that little ball in that hole in the ground while they down their beers and sip their wine oblivious to the work that was done by an army of immigrants at the break of dawn.
Yet, many in the U.S. continue hell bent on removing us, or eradicating us, as you would a cockroach that has infested your cupboards. Yet, it’s us, the immigrant labor, that fills those cupboards with our backbreaking work as white employers hire us conscious of our lack of legal status.
Frankly, we are the bottom card in a house of cards, as you attempt to remove us, the house of cards will fall. We are the infrastructure of these, the United States. It’s amazing to watch the racist, xenophobe, white supremacist, or the so called conservative, attempt to remove us, completely oblivious to the fact that they are harming themselves in the process. All based on their ignorance, hatred and hypocrisy.
This country was built on immigrants, no one has defined it as “legal” immigrants. The reason that it’s never quite been defined as legal immigrants, is because we’ve never worried about checking the legal status of the immigrant, as long as they are willing to work in our fields, clean our toilets, empty our septic tanks, mow our lawns, cook our food and wipe our kids butts.
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Carlos Galindo is President and founder of the Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
How far is ex democratic Arizona state senator Kyrsten Sinema willing to go to get a congressional post in the newly formed Arizona CD9? Well, apparently she has no problem with taking money from an ardent supporter and instrumental campaigner for the Russell Pearce campaign, Gretchen Jacobs, whom many say is Pearce’s campaign manager. As a matter of fact, according to one of her opponents, Andrei Cherny, who appeared in somewhat of a debate/conversation on a recent appearance on Sunday Square Off, a local political show, Cherny indicated that 18 percent of those that have contributed to Sinema’s campaign are also Russell Pearce contributors. During that same appearance Sinema argued with Cherny denying that she had failed to support the Pearce recall because Russell Pearce was her boss. However in an interview with Stephen Lemons of New Times, Sinema admitted that she didn’t want to rub Pearce the wrong way for fear that he might stop her bills from advancing. She certainly didn’t have to worry about him stopping her anti-Immigrant bill SB1225 since she carried with her 9 Republican co-sponsors well known for their aggression in the immigration arena. One of those, now disgraced senator Scott Bundgaard, was forced to resign after he was pursued in an ethics trial for allegedly beating his girlfriend.
This is obviously a disturbing pattern in of itself, however it doesn’t stop there. Sinema’s latest escapade involves her more than willing participation in a fundraiser for her campaign hosted by Ron Ober and the Policy Development Group, a CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) lobbying firm who is instrumental in acquiring lucrative private prison contracts for the billion dollar giant CCA.
As a matter of fact this is the same lobbying firm that employs Paul Senseman who was previously Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s chief of staff. Looking at Policy Development Group’s website they list Senseman’s bio in part as follows:
Paul rejoined Policy Development Group, Inc. in January 2011 after two years serving the State of Arizona as Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications under Governor Janice K. Brewer. He brings extensive strategic, political and managerial experience to our clients at the local, state and federal levels.
Before Paul initially began at PDGi in 2006, he worked for US Senator John McCain in his Phoenix office and for three Arizona Speakers of the House as both communications director and ultimately chief of staff for Speaker Jake Flake.
It’s apparent Senseman knows how to play the game, and his affiliation has always been with Republicans and the red party, so what’s a blue ex senator doing in bed with private prison lobbyists as she vies for a congressional post? The answer is simple, I scratch your back, you scratch my back. Given the persuasiveness of Senseman and his boss Ron Ober, the brains behind PDGi (Policy Development Group) you can imagine what it is exactly that PDGi could accomplish with another ally in congress. After all, they’ve already got the state of Arizona in their hip pocket, as is evidenced by their influence on Jan Brewer.
To better understand the business side of SB1070 and the private prison industry involvement please read my previously authored piece linked here.
Knowing what I know about Sinema and her early attempts to center up while still serving as an Arizona state senator, having created anti-immigrant legislation titled SB1225, I am more than perturbed by this disturbing pattern. Sinema pushed heavily for the participation of the immigrant community in the 2010 census. It was as far back as 2010 or prior to that, that her diabolical political mind was plotting and planning, knowing full well what most of us knew, that a new congressional district would be created if they could only get the full participation of the undocumented community in the census. To fully comprehend the effect of the 2010 census on the undocumented Immigrant community and their subsequent influence in the creation of a new congressional district read a previously authored piece on the same here.
So now that Sinema understands the makeup of the new congressional district (CD9), mostly influenced by independent voters, it’s obvious that Sinema is willing to follow in the tradition of Judas Iscariot. The exception is that Sinema isn’t happy with thirty pieces of silver, why should she when she can have a multilevel contributor arrangement as is indicated in the private invite found here and quoted below.
Please join
Ron Ober
for a reception with
Kyrsten Sinema
Democratic candidate for Congress in
Arizona’s 9th Congressional District
Thursday, July 19th, 2012
4:30 – 6:00pm
Policy Development Group
3636 N Central Ave # 590 – Phoenix, AZ
Contribution levels:
Host (give/get) $1,000
Supporter $500
Friend $250
During her appearance on the local political talk show “Sunday Square Off” last week, Sinema doubled down on her love for Russell Pearce, she first professed her love for Russell on the same show a little over a year ago, when she said she loved Russell Pearce. I understand you maybe thinking I’ve taken her comments out of context, but knowing what we know now, it’s evident Sinema clearly loves Pearce, and his contributors, including the private prison industry. After all, this could very well be a marriage made in heaven. The problem is, Sinema hasn’t consummated the marriage, and she’s already in bed with them. Why does the AC/DC song dirty deeds done dirt cheap come to mind?
Sinema will do anything for that coveted congressional seat
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Carlos Galindo is President and founder of the Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
The Supreme Court has decided on SB1070 and it appears that little by little the most aggressive anti-immigrant legislation created in U.S. history is being dismantled. It was born in a laboratory called Arizona and was carefully nurtured in a bright white petri dish branded with the ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) logo and bought and paid for by the giant private prison industry.
The masterful art of taking the fear of others who don’t look like you, who talk different than you, perhaps maintain different customs, coupled with the outright racism of others, the ardent desire to preserve the white race by yet others, and profiting from that fear by cashing it into votes and laws is impressive. The concept is basic, yet Machiavellian and diabolical. You scare the hell out of the voters with fictitious talk of decapitated bodies in the Arizona desert and an alleged invasion of this country using key elected officials like Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona and ex Arizona state senate president Russell Pearce, and you end up with a terrified voter willing to cast their vote over and over for those who they think will protect them from this “invasion.” But why would these politicians be so hell bent on using the immigrant as their whipping post? Simple, they love the title and the power that comes from holding an elected position. Senator X, Legislator Y, the Honorable Z, etc. It commands respect and grants you unbelievable power, and we all know what happens when you allow power to swell your head. As Lord Acton put it, “Power corrupts, and absolute power, corrupts absolutely.”
That’s exactly what’s happened to Arizona’s politicians. The whole lot of them! After all, most of those politicians supportive of SB1070 took money from the private prison industry.
There is big business at play here. What we’re looking at is a multi-billion dollar business that is simply not going to go away. These private prisons are here to stay. It falls right in line with the privatization of our education system and our health care system. Perhaps even the social security system at the rate the Republican controlled congress is headed.
To give you an idea of the impact the private prison industry has had on the political landscape, I’ve taken a section from an AZ Central article that thoroughly explains it.
Political footprint
The nation’s largest and oldest corrections company, CCA runs more than 60 prisons and immigrant-detention centers across 19 states and the District of Columbia. It has by far the largest political footprint of the dozen or so companies that operate private prisons in the U.S.
CCA has spent about $17.6 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies over the past decade, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the effect of money on U.S. politics. The agencies include the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, which contract with private operators such as CCA for immigration-detention centers.
Thirty of CCA’s 35 lobbyists on Capitol Hill previously worked for members of Congress or for federal agencies. Two CCA senior executives are former directors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, including Harley Lappin, whom CCA hired in June as chief corrections officer a week after his retirement from the bureau. CCA is a major bureau contractor. Another CCA vice president, Bart VerHulst, previously worked as chief of staff for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.
Since 2000, the company has won $3.84 billion in federal contracts, including just under $546 million for federal contracts in Arizona, according to government records. CCA’s six prisons in Arizona hold inmates from other states, federal prisoners and immigration detainees. Its bid calls for moving out prisoners from Hawaii and California at its existing Red Rock and La Palma prisons in Eloy and moving in Arizona prisoners.
CCA lobbies heavily on the state level, employing 178 lobbyists in 32 states over the past eight years, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonpartisan group that gathers lobbying and campaign-finance data.
In Arizona, the company has cultivated high-level connections. Former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini sits on CCA’s board of directors. Perhaps the highest profile among CCA’s 22 registered lobbyists in Arizona belongs to Chuck Coughlin, president of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants and a senior political adviser to Gov. Jan Brewer. Besides CCA, HighGround’s 23 lobbying clients include Maricopa County and Salt River Project.
Coughlin served as chairman of Brewer’s transition team when she took office in 2009 and as her campaign manager in 2010. He also has managed election campaigns for Senate President Russell Pearce.
Other heavy hitters with ties to CCA include Paul Senseman, a lobbyist with Policy Development Group, who served until last fall as Brewer’s spokesman and whose wife, Kathryn Senseman, lobbied for that group while he worked for Brewer; and Bradley Regens, who joined CCA in 2007 after nine years as an Arizona legislative staffer, including two years as director of fiscal policy for the state House of Representatives.
Brewer has advocated for privatizing Arizona prisons. But even other privatization supporters say her CCA connections raise red flags.
“I’ve questioned Brewer’s choice of staff in the past for the same reason; she has a lot of contract lobbyists, and I have a problem with that,” said Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City. “At the very least it gives the public the appearance that these companies have too much influence, and you have to wonder what’s going on when they leave Brewer’s office and go right back into lobbying.”
Brewer’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Since 2003, CCA employees and affiliates have given nearly $2 million in campaign contributions to state-level candidates and ballot issues across the U.S.
In Arizona, CCA associates and its political-action committee have reported giving about $35,000 in political donations over the past decade to Brewer, Pearce, former House Speaker Kirk Adams, House Speaker Andy Tobin and many others. A big chunk of that, $11,520, was given for last year’s election campaigns.
Arizona lobbying firms that represent CCA made about $35,000 in political contributions in the 2010 election cycle. Whatever influence contributions may bring, they are wielded on behalf of many clients.
Given the recent Supreme Court decision on SB1070, President Obama’s executive order regarding the Dreamers, The fact that ICE pulled the 287g certification from 7 law enforcement agencies, including the one previously granted to the Department of Public Safety, and to add insult to injury, ICE made it very clear that they would not pickup anyone suspected of being in the country unlawfully unless they had committed a felony.
It’s obvious that the private prison industry is being dealt a serious financial blow. The less undocumented immigrants captured and detained in CCA’s prisons, means a smaller invoice that can be tendered to the Feds for incarceration of individuals who the states feel is the Feds responsibility. This is shocking to me given the amount they spend on lobbyist. Does this then come down to a war behind the scenes that hasn’t been exposed by the media? The Obama administration has to be aware that they are dealing the private prison industry a big financial hit. The private prison industry has to have voiced their opposition to this administration’s recent immigration policy, and it’s applications.
The question remains, how will CCA and Geo Group, the two largest private prison industry purveyors explain the dramatic loss in revenue to their investors? Will CCA and Geo Group take advantage of Citizens United and get behind Romney with substantial backing for the Super PACS in the hopes that a President Romney would reverse these executive orders?
Allow me to float an idea that the general populous should be very concerned about. These private prisons that have traditionally held what many call “illegal aliens”, may soon be holding your brother, your sister or your neighbor. We could soon see harsher penalties for crimes committed, longer prison sentences, and, there’s a great likelihood that those sentences will be carried out in private prisons. To quote the AZ Central story, “CCA lobbies heavily on the state level, employing 178 lobbyists in 32 states over the past eight years.” I ask, what do you think they’re going to do with an army of lobbyists when the amount of immigrants they have been incarcerating diminishes? It’s obvious that state legislatures will be lobbied for specific laws with harsher penalties creating a new breed of prisoner.
I don’t think CCA and Geo Group, really care about the color of your skin, they just care about filling their jail cells for profit.
I imagine there’s a lot of disappointed investors, legislators, racists, xenophobes, white supremacists. They all had their personal reason for supporting SB1070, and they all worked in tandem to ensure it’s preservation, but in one fell swoop on June 25, 2012 they all took a serious hit from SCOTUS and the Obama administration.
Private Prison Industry Giant
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Carlos Galindo is President and founder of the Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
Jan Brewer seems poised and ready to strike once the Supreme Court renders it’s decision regarding SB1070. Brewer just issued an executive order directing the AZPOST (Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board) to issue material previously given to officers enabling them to determine who might be in the country legally.
AZPOST, the agency that oversees police officers in Arizona was commenced 44 years ago under a Republican administration and according to their website their purpose in part is as follows:
The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board was created by an act of the 28th Arizona legislature on July 1, 1968 as the Arizona Law Enforcement Officer Advisory Council. The name was officially changed to its present form on July 17, 1994.
The Board was originally created to address the need for minimum peace officer selection, recruitment, retention and training standards, and to provide curriculum and standards for all certified law enforcement training facilities. The Board was also vested with the responsibility of administering the Peace Officer Training Fund.
It’s obvious that Jan Brewer never considered what an “illegal immigrant” looks like, just as she didn’t consider the repercussions that signing this law into effect would create. Most importantly the loss of life it caused in the case of Juan Varela who was shot by his neighbor Gary Thomas Kelley just two weeks after the signing of SB1070 and a concealed weapon law. Kelley approached Varela asking him if he was on his way to, or returning from, a protest against SB1070. When Varela, a fifth generation American Citizen told him to leave him alone, Kelley pulled the concealed weapon from his waistband and brandished it while calling Varela a wetback and telling him to go back to Mexico. Kelley, viciously, and in a criminal act of hate, took Varela’s life in front of Varela’s seventy eight year old mother and his brother.
The effect of SB1070 on the State of Arizona has been great and diverse, from a mass exodus of lawful immigrants fearing harassment based on their prominent indigenous features, to the loss of jobs based on large businesses’ refusal to set up shop in Arizona because of the hostile and polarized environment.
Jan Brewer did what was politically expedient and fruitful for her flailing political career. Brewer was not concerned about how Arizonan’s might be affected, or to what extent they might take this law into their own hands.
As Brewer called Arizona’s traditional immigrant migration, an invasion, as she fabricated stories of decapitated bodies and exclaimed, “it’s out of control, it’s simply out of control”, border militia’s like J.T. Ready’s U.S. Border Guard were formed, and a get him, he’s brown, mentality prevailed. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been told to go back to Mexico, even though I’m a light skinned Mexican Immigrant and a naturalized citizen who speaks perfect English.
Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson on Tuesday said, “The governor is optimistic that the heart of SB 1070 will be upheld and implemented,” he went on to say, “The governor thought this was an appropriate time to revisit the issue and make sure Arizona law enforcement is as prepared as possible for partial or full implementation of the law.”
So as we await the Supreme Court decision, AZPOST prepares to issue updated manuals on what an “illegal immigrant looks like” in order to facilitate police officers in determining who they should stop while driving brown.
There is of course someone else that’s preparing for the onslaught of immigrant arrests. The detention officers who work in the private prison industry who make certain that those determined to be “illegal immigrants” are stuffed into cells like sardines in a can, ensuring that the private prison industry gets the maximum bang for their buck, after all they invested a great deal of money in these local politician’s political campaigns to ensure they had the “right” people in place. That of course includes Governor Brewer’s right hand man, top advisor Chuck Coughlin, the equivalent to George Bush’s Karl Rove aka “The Architect”.
Coughlin is a lobbyist for CCA (Corrections Corporation of America), CCA in turn is a giant in the private prison industry and a specialist in detention of brown skinned folks. The influence that Coughlin has on Brewer is astounding. On his own website, “High Ground Public Affairs”, Coughlin brags about the influence he has had in putting the right people in place within the Brewer administration.
Coughlin’s bio states:
Coughlin was asked to serve by then-Secretary of State Jan Brewer as the Chairman of her Transition Team when she became Governor in 2009. As the Transition Team Chairman, Coughlin assembled a diverse team of business and community leaders who recommended to the Governor her executive management team, senior policy positions, cabinet recommendations and coordinated her swearing in ceremonies. Coughlin chaired the search committee which recommended the succession of Secretary of State Ken Bennett into the role left vacant by Brewer’s ascension to the office of Governor.
The Supreme Court decision could come as early as Monday, and as the immigrant community prepares for the onslaught, Brewer’s mouth and arms move about barking and signing executive orders, while Coughlin and the private prison industry pull her strings. Why does this remind me of the song from the sixties, “I’m your puppet.”
Carlos Galindo talking to white protester during SB1070 protests
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is President & Founder of The Immigrant Advocacy Foundation, a non-profit corporation in good standing.
After last week’s release of the Department of Justice’s three year investigation, seventeen months of which was delayed by Arpaio’s typical stall tactics and outright refusal to cooperate, the Department of Homeland Security pulled the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office 287g certification which allowed them to check the legal status of suspected undocumented Immigrants.
There was some brief celebrating regarding the possibility of Joe Arpaio’s demise, perhaps one similar to the one Russell Pearce fell victim to, the will of the people working together in a concerted effort to remove a political cancer.
As the news developed rapidly many of us in the Immigrant community were met with the false hope that undocumented Immigrants would no longer be detained for processing by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
MCSO’s 287g agreement with the Feds allowed Arpaio’s detention officers to check the legal status of those detained in MCSO’s jails. The myth was that only criminal aliens were run through the Fed legal status verification system, however, even those detained for failure to present proper ID or for minor traffic violations were run through the system and detained for ICE. The damage to the Immigrant community is immeasurable. Families are split up and employers loose valued employees.
However Senator Jon Kyl wasn’t about to stand by and allow harmless Immigrants to be given a break. He immediately shipped a letter out to the Feds complaining about a possible lapse in the screening of Immigrants processed through MCSO’s jails. The Feds always willing to oblige a U.S. senator, and in order to avoid bringing on the wrath of the Republicans and those hell bent on making the Immigrants the scapegoats for this nation’s problems, responded with a letter outlining their plans for closing that void that might have been left by denying Joe Arpaio the 287g certification and access to the secure communities program.
In a detailed letter to Senator Kyle the DHS assured the senator that a gap in coverage due to MCSO losing their 287g certification would not occur. DHS indicated in part:
Although ICE has terminated its 287(g) agreement with MCSO, ICE will continue to advance our immigration enforcement and public safety efforts in Maricopa County. ICE has dedicated 50 federal immigration officers to screen, identify, apprehend, and remove criminal aliens found in the jails of Maricopa County. These ICE officers will perform the work previously conducted by 287(g) officers and will ensure that criminal aliens and other removable public safety threats are not released into the community. These federal officers will have full access to Secure Communities and will continue this work until such time as DOJ is satisfied that MCSO has remedied the unlawful practices outlined in the DOJ report. In short, there will be no gap in immigration enforcement in Maricopa County.
I’m sure that Kyl was thrilled that the good people of Maricopa County would not be at risk of harm from their dishwashers, landscapers, housekeepers and cooks.
Meanwhile families will continue to be separated and you might just find that the sushi or the steak that you love to eat might taste a little different. Well, that’s based on the fact that there’s now a new cook working at your favorite restaurant and the guy who normally cooks your food in that fine food restaurant might have been picked up for a traffic violation and is being held for processing by an ICE officer in Joe’s jails.
Jon Kyl
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen in Arizona.
I was reading a news story today which I’m sure has repeated itself throughout the United States over the years. The difference is that in this case, the young man left explicative letters behind. Joaquin Luna committed suicide out of frustration and desperation because of his legal status in the United States.
Luna was brought here at a very young age and was fully integrated into what we consider the fabric of America. He did all the right things. He kept his nose clean, studied hard, and had dreams of becoming an engineer. The typical American kid with the typical American dream. However, that’s exactly what it was, a dream. Joaquin Luna was a Dreamer in a multifaceted sense of the word.
Young undocumented students are commonly referred to as Dreamers based on the proposed “Dream Act” legislation that would allow these kids to come out of the shadows and either enlist in the military or attend a post secondary school. They’re your teenagers friends, your neighbors, perhaps the kid who on weekends mows your lawn as he helps his dad out in his landscaping business. They are all around you! They speak perfect English. They’re bright and articulate, and for the most part, well informed. They are up on political issues. Well, for them, political awareness is survival.
Maybe that’s exactly what frustrated Joaquin so. Having the knowledge that last year the Dream Act failed by a handful of votes. Knowing he was about to graduate from high school and facing that very real fear that he wouldn’t be able to afford to attend a university because of the prohibitive costs for non residents, and knowing that he couldn’t work based on his social security number deficiency. If he worked, he would have had to use a false identification which as he well knew, is a crime. Imagine the frustration, loving the United States with all your heart, feeling like a patriotic American, yet living with the open secret that you are undocumented. I also want you to imagine feeling like an American, yet having to hear yourself described by extremists as an illegal, a leach, a dirty wetback who came here to live off welfare and become an Obama Democrat.
It’s no wonder that a young fragile mind facing such a haunting future would have felt that the only solution was to end his life. There are very few resources available for these young people. Without a social security number they can’t seek psychological assistance or even counseling from the normal channels that many of us Americans would traverse.
They’re caught in the middle, and they’re hearing the hype from both sides. Many pro Immigrant groups and “leaders” give them very little hope. Claiming instead that their President abandoned them and that they doubt Obama will do anything to help them or other undocumented Immigrants in their struggle to adjust their Immigration status. While at the same time they watch the anti-Immigrant groups aggressively lobby to shut not only the borders, but any door that may lend itself as a viable option for relief for these Dreamers. The politicians often refer to these Dreamers in their debates and in speeches on the campaign trail. They have masterfully polished the Immigration issue to get elected and reelected using all “illegals” as scapegoats for the nation’s problems.
As the years grind on and more doors are shut to these Dreamers, will we see a growing trend of frustration and acts of desperation on behalf of these Dreamers that for all practical purposes are great Americans, well, except for one slight problem, they were brought here unlawfully as toddlers by their parents from a country they don’t remember and have never returned to?
The only thing young Joaquin left behind was his frustrations and shattered dreams as an “illegal”, all penned on paper for the world to see.
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen. Arizona.
Listen to our live radio broadcast every Friday from 5-7 PM on The JOLT Tucson 1330 AM or via the web on http://www.carlosgalindo.com
The Obama administration by and through Janet Napolitano recently issued a memorandum of sorts, ordering a case by case study of the over 300,000 detainees in federal detention centers. This memo coupled with another memo issued on June 17, 2011 by the director of Homeland Security John Morton outlining the candidates for prosecutorial discretion was taken by those opposed to unlawful immigration as a back door amnesty. On the other hand, those who are pro-Immigrant ungratefully complained that it wasn’t enough demanding a shut down of the secure communities program by President Obama.
Two extreme sides that outline today’s reality regarding the precarious immigration issue. There are many who supported a broad and unrealistic immigration reform proposal tendered by Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois, 4th) last year. An unrealistic request from a congressman who claims to champion immigration reform. On the other hand the GOP and their extremist splinter called the Tea Party, label any attempt to bring forth the immigration issue as an attempt to grant amnesty to thousands of “illegals” [sic]. The same, claims, that these are illegal Democrats and that Obama will have instant voters if some sort of immigration reform were to be instituted.
The reality is that ignorance in general from both sides regarding the immigration issue lends itself to manipulation of the masses. The pseudo leaders in the Latino community tug on the immigrants heartstrings by telling them that Obama failed them and that he is responsible for Bush’s secure communities program. They have essentially placed blinders on the immigrant community and have dangled the immigration reform carrot in front of their noses, allowing them to drag them here and there. The GOP and the Tea Party has used a combination of tactics to lead the blind. In some cases they cater to the white supremacist claiming that we are being overrun by “illegals” [sic]. They can also tug on those racists heart strings by claiming that America isn’t what it used to be since the “illegals” [sic] came in. Yet others are deceived by catering to their xenophobic tendencies by claiming that “illegals” [sic] are bringing in disease and that they are like cockroaches, dirty and unkempt. They further the paranoia for all the previous categories by claiming that the immigrants breed like rabbits and that their children want to grow up to be gang members.
The United States has been undeniably polarized by the immigration issue. In the end, just like anything else, it’s going to require a financial interest to pass immigration reform and new leaders will have to emerge. The snake oil salesmen on both sides will need to retire into obscurity allowing a responsible and more centered leadership to egress.
Finally for those pro Immigrant critics of President Obama’s policies I have linked a recent article outlining the surging effect of the Obama administration’s new policy, and for those fear mongers who claim it’s a back door amnesty, understand this, what you are seeing is a responsible and centered approach to a much needed relief for those people you currently utilize to wash your cars, cook your food, mow your lawns and build your houses.
Wait! Read the memo first!
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana Arizona. www.nospinonair.com/http://www.carlosgalindo.com
Listen to our live radio broadcast every Friday from 5-7 PM on The JOLT Tucson 1330 AM or via the web on www.nospinonair.com
I received an urgent call this morning from someone reporting that Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff was executing a warrant at a workplace raid at the Days Inn on 7th Avenue & Camelback Rd. in Phoenix, AZ.
When I arrived I saw the familiar sheriff’s vehicles there. The mainstream media was there as well. The usual activists including Lydia Guzman was present granting her interviews to the Spanish language media. The usual garbage, preaching to the choir. Nothing new to say. You often see the same old tired faces spewing their usual nonsensical rhetoric and boring analysis of the Sheriff’s raid.
Univision tried to get Joe Arpaio to cough up information about the Obama administration’s new policy and procedure regarding prosecutorial discretion and the case by case scrutiny of the more than 300,000 detainees suspected of being in the country unlawfully. He bit his upper lip and refused to answer their question. It doesn’t matter, it would have probably been edited out by the producers or the reporter himself. When the initial story broke about the Obama administration’s change in Immigration policy, the Univision reporter did a terrible job in covering the story fairly, completely ignoring anyone supportive of the policy. Instead he focused on pessimistic Latinos who said President Obama wasn’t doing enough.
I was able to coax Arpaio in to responding to the question. It’s all in how you phrase it right? Imagine that, and I’m just a little old radio talk show host and political analyst.
Well according to what “Sheriff Joe” told me, he was looking for ten people accused of identity theft who were working at the hotel. He shared with me that they had not updated their intelligence and thought that all the employees were in full work mode when they arrived at around 8:00 AM. It turns out that because of cutbacks in hours based on the pitiful economy, they had been asked to report at 10:00 AM. Oops! misfire! Joe was only able to capture one housekeeper accused of being in the country unlawfully and usurping someone else’s identity. Wow! once again, thousands of dollars spent to capture one, or a handful of low skilled labor. Not exactly how I want my tax dollars spent.
I will note that Arpaio plans on trying to locate the AWOL employees at their homes. This is his M.O. for workplace raids. If he doesn’t locate them there, he goes to their homes. Normally they will even pursue ex-employees, if, after seizing the workplace records, they determine that previous employees were possibly using false identities.
An interesting note on this raid, is the comments that Joe Arpaio shared with me and which the mainstream media missed, was the fact that according to his investigation, this may be a good case for prosecution under the existing employer sanction law that was passed in 2007 by the legislature and that until a couple of months ago was tied up in the Supreme Court. SCOTUS upheld the employer sanction law paving the way for possible civil prosecution of employers. Something that many employers have feared since the law went into effect. We haven’t seen these employers push for immigration reform, they just invested thousands of dollars into fighting the law to avoid possible sanctions.
Could this possibly be a change in Arpaio’s strategy? Pursuing employers? I doubt it! After all these are the same people that sponsor his campaigns when reelection rolls around.
Oh, and talking about reelection, I asked Arpaio if he was preparing himself for a 2012 run for Sheriff. He was quick to correct me. “For sheriff he asked?”, “Why not for the U.S. Senate?”, “I’ve been asked to run you know?” I laughed and said “OK”, Arpaio quickly came back with ” well, either way, if I don’t run for the senate, I’ll definitely run for sheriff again.”
I do have to point out that Arpaio lashed out at me when he first saw me, stating, “I’m not happy with you”, “I saw you talking about me on TV.” “You’re getting involved in politics now” he quipped. I laughed and just shook my head. Poor guy, he forgets from one day to the next what’s going on around him. After all, I’m a radio talk show host and political analyst, that my job for God’s sake!
As he got into his brand new Chrysler Joe shouted, “hey, do you anyone that can get me a good deal on a 300?” Referring to the Chrysler 300 he used to be chauffeured in by his favorite deputies.
“Nope, I yelled, besides that, you might check their legal status knowing you.” He responded with a chuckle, “yeah, they might drive off with my car”, and off he went to chase more cooks, car washers, landscapers, housekeepers, bread makers, butchers, did I miss any of his recent raids?
Thousands of dollars spent, to chase that labor force that Arizona desperately needs, hired by hypocritical employers that hold a double standard.
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen. Arizona. www.nospinonair.com/http://www.carlosgalindo.com
Listen to our live radio broadcast every Friday from 5-7 PM on The JOLT Tucson 1330 AM or via the web on www.nospinonair.com
I think the obvious answer is yes. Well, let’s clarify what president I’m referring to. I’m in fact referring to Russell Pearce, Arizona’s senate president. According to Pearce, in a letter sent out to his supporters, he calls himself the senate Tea Party president. What an absolute joke. This man is like a leech on an a jack-ass’ arse. He’ll bleed anything around him so long as he can survive and fill his spineless body with that much needed blood.
It’s obvious Jan Brewer is stepping up to the plate for Pearce because she owes him big time. After all it was his anti-immigrant legislation SB1070 that propelled this inept, ex secretary of state, and worthless ex legislator to the top. Brewer has never denied it. Brewer is in fact the “sitting” governor of the state of Arizona, and that’s about as far as it goes. She is allowed to sit on the throne, but Pearce is actually our defacto Arizona governor. Pearce made his position very clear during a Sunday Square Off interview in which he said he was a co-partner in running this state and that, according to Pearce, “you can’t ignore the fact that senate bill 1070 had an impact on the governor’s race.” Anyway you want to spin that comment, politically it means one thing, you owe me big time guv.
So now that Pearce is in trouble, well, let me rephrase that, now that he has been placed in the predicament of a hasty election in November, Janice is groveling for money for her “dance partner”, of course he’s taken the lead as any self respecting chauvinistic Tea Party politician would in this political tango.
In any event Jan Brewer’s intervention in the upcoming November 8, 2011 election is barefaced and unapologetic, after all, she owes a debt. It’s quid pro quo time and Pearce has called in his chips, and Brewer has diligently responded like any cheap ballerina would with, what’s your song of choice Mr. Pearce? (make sure you read that with a southern drawl)
Pearce takes the lead in this political tango
Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen. Arizona. www.nospinonair.com/http://www.carlosgalindo.com
Listen to our live radio broadcast every Friday from 5-7 PM on The JOLT Tucson 1330 AM and every Saturday from 9-11 AM on KXXT 1010 AM Phoenix or via the web on www.nospinonair.com
