As an immigration activist living in Arizona, I wrote the following opinon with regard to the upcoming SB1070 hearing that will be heard in the Supreme Court.

The GOP Cannot Hide the Arizona SB 1070 ‘Large Elephant’ in the Room

By DeeDee Garcia Blase

The Supreme Court hearing regarding Arizona’s SB1070 will be a vote mover in the southwestern part of the United States.  The scab of an old wound will be ripped off and exposed once again within our community as the issue comes to the forefront again.  Instead of hanging out at the courthouse protesting against SB1070, we will protest via our vote  during the upcoming 2012 Presidential elections.  We must identify in a realistic manner what the best option will be for us that is directly hurting and affecting our community.

According to ABC News:

Kris Kobach, a key drafter of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, will be in Washington on Wednesday to hear the Supreme Court discuss the legality of the tough state measure that empowers local police to enforce federal immigration laws.  Kobach, who worked closely with former Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce in crafting the 2010 law, said he stays in close touch with the Mitt Romney campaign.

These days, we are witnessing multiple-choice Mitt Romney make moves as he tries to disassociate himself from Kris Kobach.  Many within our Latino community believe it is too little and too late – specifically in the southwestern part of our Country where most of the  Mexican-American population resides.

Unfortunately for Romney, he has made too many damning statements when he chose to align himself with Pete Wilson and Kris Kobach.   Other known extremists such as the Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the ousted former Arizona State Senator  Russell Pearce have also gotten behind him.  This does not come as a surprise to us since we witnessed nativist and former Congressman Tom Tancredo endorse Romney in 2007.  In fact, Romney designated controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio as his Arizona Chair when he ran against Senator John McCain during the 2008 GOP primaries.

We now live in an Information Age where Americans receive their news via YouTube, the internet and social networking – and as a result of the digital footprint now made available to us, the Karl Rovian way is becoming more of an ineffective antiquated strategy.  We are now able to file away and organize flip-flops when it comes to stances politicians have taken regarding government policy.

Elis Foley with the Huffington Post writes:

Romney has said repeatedly that he supports the Arizona’s right to pass such a law and would drop a federal lawsuit against it were he elected — perhaps not an explicit endorsement, but one that implies he supports the law, at least for Arizona.

Romney also has advocated for what he called “self-deportation,” or making things difficult for undocumented immigrants until they decide to leave, one of the central tenets of the Arizona law. One of his informal advisers on immigration, SB 1070 architect and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, supports the law as a model for nationwide enforcement.

“[Self-deportation] is in SB 1070,” Pearce said.

As the GOP scrambles desperately for an effort to woo the Latino vote in light of an election cycle, many of us will remember that no leading Republican

Senate Bill 1070 Signed Into Law By Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who recently endorsed Mitt Romney for 2012 President

organizations stood strong against SB1070 in 2010 when the immigration issue reached a fevered pitch except for one –  SOMOS REPUBLICANS.  SOMOS was widely known for being the only Republican organization in the nation that stood against the anti-immigrant SB 1070 law when Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill into action. Latinos were ultimately left to fend for themselves in Arizona.  Several conservative leaning groups (including Hispanic Republican groups) supported the Arizona governor.  We were dismayed when we heard Senator Marco Rubio’s support of the Arizona harsh anti-immigrant law.

The Republican Party lacked foresight and leadership with regard to an issue near and dear to Latinos,  and now they must face the music and become the Party of personal responsibility.  The RNC turned a blind eye to several Republican lawmakers who supported anti-immigrant policies. They also turned a blind eye to the many hostile remarks regarding the treatment of immigrants. RNC leadership was nowhere to be found, until now because now they want our vote.

While it is true that President Obama did not give us immigration reform during his first year as President, Latinos must go back in American history and figure out why.  We need to remind ourselves that there have been no recent American Presidents who tackled comprehensive immigration reform within their first term.  Former President Ronald Reagan did not give immigrant amnesty until he was re-elected as President.  Former President George W. Bush did not address comprehensive immigration reform until his second term because he did not believe there was an immigration problem to begin with.  The only President that supported immigrant-friendly policies during his first term as President was Benjamin Harrison and he did not get re-elected for a second term.

Should it be a complete surprise to us that President Obama has not confronted immigration during his first term?  The immigration issue has become one of the most toxic issues in our time since the Republican Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo launched his restrictionist Immigration Reform Caucus.   Meanwhile, myth-maker  (R-TX) Congressman Lamar Smith has been busy writing opinion after opinion falsely accusing President Obama as a supporter of amnesty even though he knows Obama has deported more immigrants than Bush.  The anti-immigrant sentiment continued to mount when Florida’s Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio stated Ronald Reagan erred in supporting  the 1986 amnesty for immigrants (despite the Cuban amnesty afforded to his own family).

So what options are Latinos left with as we revisit the painful wounds of SB 1070 during  2012?

Here are some options:

1)     We can take our chances with a President who is going to enter his second term as President because he no longer has to worry about getting re-elected

2)     Or, we could gamble away our vote with a candidate who has solid ties to Kris Kobach, (the architect behind many of these anti-immigrant and DREAM Act laws), Pete Wilson, Jan Brewer, and Russell Pearce who are all promoters of the infamous self-deportation law via SB 1070. 

Unless there is a brokered GOP Convention, there really is no third option for Latinos.

Let us be honest –  I do not believe a President will ever address immigration reform within his first term.  Just the same, I do not believe Latinos are willing to gamble with a candidate that has made deals with devils via Pete Wilson, Kris Kobach, Joe Arpaio’s  posse, and the vast majority of the Archie Bunker wing.

Please sign the emergency Joaquin Luna DREAM Act petition so that Representative John Boehner will receive an alert to place the Act on the floor. We hope he will have the Christmas Spirit and the fortitude to have compassion on DREAM Act students. Joaquin Luna was an undocumented teen who felt he had no options. Immigration laws are the responsibility of the federal government and we hope they will fix what has been broken for decades. We also hope federal lawmakers will have compassion on children and our youth.  You can sign the petition here.

Thank you for your support and political activism.

An open letter below that addresses Senator Marco Rubio’s concern  regarding the Republican anti-immigrant rhetoric.  From the female-led political movement:  NATIONAL TEQUILA PARTY MOVEMENT.

Dear Senator Marco Rubio,

The immigration tide is turning since the downfall of Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce who launched a wave of anti-immigrant state laws across the nation that began with Arizona’s harsh anti-immigrant law you supported.

We recently learnt that you want the GOP to tone down the anti-immigrant rhetoric; however, we need more than just lip service from you.  You see…the problem and the reason for Republican State lawmakers implementing their anti-immigrant bills that comes with the nasty and hateful rhetoric has much to do with the broken immigration system.   There is no question the system is broken, and all Republican lawmakers are drumming to the same beat and to the tune of : “It is the responsibility of the government to fix the immigration system.”  That’s where you come in as a federal lawmaker.  As a federal lawmaker, it is your duty to step in and help fix the broken federal immigration policy that will continue to respect the Supremacy Clause that keeps our States united while protecting the United States Constitution.  It is simply unreasonable to have 50 different immigration laws throughout the country while maintaining sound relationships and trade agreements with our neighbors.

We are asking for more than just lip service and a mere request to tone down anti-immigrant rhetoric.  We would like for federal lawmakers like you to fix the broken immigration system.  You can do so by simply calling Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey and work with the legal immigration reform bill he has implemented.  His office should be willing to work with you on getting a reasonable plan underway. Senator Menendez needs one Republican sponsor – and I believe you can be that sponsor.

So far all we have seen from you is your enforcement-only support for large government and bureaucratic ideas via national e-verify.  E-verify puts additional burdens on the small business owner.  We know that enforcement only policies do not work, and this is proven when we have already achieved 100% of operational goals under the Bush Secure Fence Act of 2006.  It is now time to also work on a plan that will bring my people out (and several others in the international community) from the shadows of society.

I don’t believe you can quite empathize with our pain, since you are of Cuban descent and may not understand how harsh anti-immigrant laws affect us.  Perhaps it is because you are taking advantage of how several in Florida have benefitted from privileged Cuban amnesty under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA).  Several ethnic communities across the globe do not receive a privileged amnesty, and it can start with you, Mr. Rubio.  You have the power to help other immigrants with the power afforded to you, and all you have to do is reach across the aisle with Senator Robert Menendez and work on fixing the broken system.  Unlike Idaho Republican Congressman Raúl R. Labrador who wants to do away with the CAA, the Tequila Party fully supports Cuban immigrants coming into our country under the CAA just as we do other immigrants who flee their corrupt nations to achieve the American dream.

Our Tequila Party has the support of your own Floridian Cuban immigrants who hurt to see you take an anti-DREAM Act and enforcement-only approach on the immigration system.  Cuban-Americans fully recognize that those of Cuban descent only make up 3% of the total Hispanic population pie, and they are concerned about Mexican-American and Cuban-American relationships.  Those of Mexican descent make up almost 70% of the Hispanic population pie, and this is why your own constituents have reached out to us.  They want us (Tequila Party leaders) to help free Cuba with the strength of our “Mexican-American” numbers.  We are fully prepared to help and direct our efforts to  “FREE CUBA / CUBA LIBRE” but that is contingent upon whether or not Cuban senators step up to the plate during a tough Latino-American era.  Senator Bob Menendez has already taken that first step because he has not forgotten about the struggles of immigrants.  José Martí once said: “He who could have been a torch and stoops to being a pair of jaws is a deserter.”  As such, there are several international immigrants who do not benefit from immigration privileges or amnesty and we believe you have the ability to be a torch.

Legal Immigration Reform is past due and we are late as record numbers get deported.  We are asking that you get on the right side of the immigration issue right now because the Latino community has been asking you to get on the right side for months.  History will record in this difficult anti-Latino era who was compassionate and who was not in the time of our need.

Please contact Senator Menendez to hammer out a reasonable secure borders and legal immigration reform plan.  Time is of the essence since we are hearing news that Republican of Texas — Congressman Lamar Smith thinks President Obama is not deporting enough of my people, and we know Smith is not speaking the truth.  We see the two forces at play hurting, yet helping the anti-immigrant agenda, and we will continue to do what we can with fervor to help those who are weak, defenseless and scared.

Regards,

The National Tequila Party Movement