I am excited about a fresh face coming into politics via (I) Richard Carmona for Arizona Senate.

Latinos in Arizona are motivated to vote for the upcoming 2012 Senate races and we are tired of the same old faces via (R) Rep. Jeff Flake who is also running for Senate.  It is my sincerest intention for Latinos in Arizona be reminded of how JEFF FLAKED denied the DREAM Act to our Latino youth.  We will remind Latinos in the state of Arizona how Flake flip flopped on his immigration stance for his political expediency.  Latinos are no longer passive voters.  We know and understand how immigration continues to be used as a political football.  As such, we welcome a new fresh face and Latino leader entering Arizona politics.  Carmona is an Independent voter.  I am an Independent voter, too, who will push for Arizona Independent voters to vote for the INDEPENDENT thinker because party partisan politics is no longer working for us.  Rep. Flake flaked out on us when he decided to become more partisan an extreme when he sided with the Tea party.  Tea Party people are not working to compromise and solve difficult issues.  We have watched the Tea Party movement put a wrench in the political debate and policy direction as they continue to take our country towards a partisan and divisive nature.

Carmona is a registered Independent who is receiving Democratic support, and he is going to need all the help and support since former State Senator Russell Pearce (far right wing extremist) is now the AZ GOP Chair.

We encourage Independent voters to vote out the old and bring in the new.  Carmona has served under the Bush administration and has proven to work with both sides of the political aisle.  We need more unity driven politicians who are not beholden to one specific party.  We need more politicians who are willing to be bipartisan and get the American job done.

From The Hill:

By Josh Lederman – 02/07/12 03:29 PM ET

Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona is staffing up ahead of the Democratic primary for Senate in Arizona, bringing on three new members to his team.

<snip>

Carmona announced in November he would run for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). His early campaign efforts had been coordinated by Rodd McLeod, who ran former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s (D-Ariz.) congressional campaigns.

Read full story here.

Note to Niall O’Dowd:  An Irish-American’s view on some Irish reaction to the passage of HB3012 / immigrant visas.

Ben Franklin famously said: “We should hang together or we will surely hang separately”

This is true in the immigration debate as well. Only together, as Mexican, as Irish, as Asian, as Indian, as Cuban, can we coordinate a mass effort to come together to move Comprehensive Immigration Reform/DREAM Act forward. These are our children, our collective future we are talking about here, not yours, not mine, OURS.

We are the collective village and these kids are our collective future. Are there enough Irish DREAMERS to support the aging Irish population? No. Can any one group support just their own, and sustain it for many generations?, no. This nation is a melting pot, the lines blur generation after generation and over time cultures blend and open.

This idea that the passage of a bill that is good for one group but excludes the other is acceptable, is NOT acceptable. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Currently, 4 countries, have had their visa quotas raised for the purpose of family re-unification. These are the nations that have the highest backlogs and slowest turn around times. Recently, a bill is to be introduced that will also benefit the Irish, who have lower numbers of Green Cards and lower visa quotas as a response to HB 3012.

Framing a debate around the idea that “they got theirs (at our expense) and we want ours (at their expense)” is disingenuous, and short-sighted. One deals with family reunification, and high-skilled non-immigrant work visas. The other with allowing kids that were raised here with a dubious entry, to stay in the only country they know. The third bill, if ever introduced, allows a pathway to citizenship for all who entered without permission and have worked and otherwise abided by the law a chance to come out of the shadows and live in the light.

The debate outlined by Niall O’Dowd in his article on HB 3012 is completely awry, HB 3012 does not deny green cards to the Irish, it is not about green cards it is about immigrant visas, it is even stated in the title, “to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants”

We can work together to get something for all of us, or we can work separately and at odds, and end up with nothing for anybody.

Margaret Reyes is an immigrant activist and is part of building strong relationships and coalitions between Latinos and the Irish since both share the same plight regarding the immigration issue.

Shane Wikfors operator of Sonoran Alliance is a far right wing Republican extremist website filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Latino commentary.