English-language Quotations from Obama’s Interview with La Opinión

As I wrote earlier today, Senator Barack Obama was interviewed by La Opinión. You can hear the interview, which is in English (click where it says “Entrevista completa en inglés” or read the Spanish-language translation). However, I couldn’t find a transcript of the interview either at the campaign’s website or its Spanish-language section (which is marred by poor Spanish-language grammar). So here goes some transcribed excerpts of the interview with La Opinión:

On Immigration

“We have to fight against this us versus them mentality. “

“The history of this country has always been waves of immigrants come and people treat the newcomers as if somehow they were here all along forgetting they themselves are part of an immigrant past. And I think the next president has to lead on this issue and try to draw a better attitude among our people.”

“Number one, it is not illegitimate in a modern nation-state to have some control over your borders. Mexico is probably tougher on migrants from Central America than America … The second thing is that I do think that part of the reason why you are seeing this anti-immigrant sentiment right now is that there is a lot of economic anxiety among American workers because George Bush´s policies have been very good for corporate profits but have not been good for ordinary workers so their wages have stagnated. Because of globalization you see jobs move overseas. It used to be they moved to Mexico now they are going to China. So people feel as if maybe their futures are insecure so they look for someone to blame. And part of what we have to do is not only remind people that we are a nation of immigrants. But, we also have to make sure that the American worker feels that somebody is fighting for them, for health care, for a decent wage because I think if they feel that way, then they are less likely to engage in some of these sort of ugly sentiments that we´ve been seeing.”

“I also think the Republican party has really used this in a political way that I think is unfortunate.

[Senator and former RNC co-Chair Mel Martínez] who actually is a decent guy. He’s a decent person. Obviously, he has a different political philosophy than I do. He was increasingly uncomfortable being the head of a party that is trying to use the immigration issue to scare people.”

“I think [immigration raids are] all for show and it doesn’t solve the problem. We have twelve million people who are undocumented in this country. The notion that we are going to solve that fifty people at a time is dishonest. So, I have been very clear about what my policy will be. We will strengthen the Border Patrol because as I said I think a nation-state has the right to control its borders. We will work on an employment verification system that is not discriminatory but that actually holds employers responsible. I am less interested in arresting workers who are just trying to make a living for their families. You do have employers who are exploiting workers. And I want to provide a pathway to citizenship for those who are here. I also want to reform the legal immigration system because the backlog is so serious that is actually putting more pressure and pushing more people into the underground.”

On Relations With Latin America

Number one, I think that it is important for us to figure out how do we structure trade with Latin America in a way that is good for workers on both sides of the border and not just corporations and that means making sure that all the trade agreements that we have are abiding by International Labor Organization standards and basic environmental and worker safety standards. I think that if you look at Nafta, as an example, that has provided some benefits to economic growth on both sides of the border but Mexican farmers, for example, have taken a pretty bad hit. And alot of the immigrant pressure has to do with displaced workers in the agricultural sector in Mexico.

On Black-Latino Relations

“Look, there is a long history in this country of pitting groups that are dispossessed against each other. When African Americans and Latinos typically make progress it is because they join ranks. … African American civil rights helped to empower Latinos. Cesar Chavez’s movement helped to remind people of basic issues of justice and equity. That is how we are going to make progress. In order for us to continue that cooperation, we have got to have leadership on both sides that is willing to fight for all people not just some people. “

Read here about his weekend in Los Angeles.

 

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Republicans Largely Ignore Latinos During Orlando Gathering

This post was written by Arturo Villar who is the publisher of La Política as well as Hispanic Market Weekly.

Latinos were hardly mentioned by the Republican presidential candidates who attended this past weekend´s Florida GOP gathering in Orlando. Only Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney attended the Republican National Hispanic Association reception on Saturday evening. Both ignored the podium the organizers had set up for their speeches.

“Immigration has paralyzed Hispanic oriented efforts in the party,” says Juan Carlos Zapata, a Republican state legislator who also serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials. “Republicans won’t talk about or to Hispanics.”

Several delegates acknowledged they were not at all surprised by Senator Mel Martínez´s resignation last week as Republican National Committee co-chair.

According to Zapata, Martínez never had a chance. “Immigration is not the most urgent issue for Hispanic voters, but it has sabotaged the Hispanic issues process. Many Republicans have reduced the Hispanic outreach to that one.”

None of the delegates interviewed expect the president to name a replacement for Martínez and said it would be up to the party´s eventual presidential nominee to decide if a Hispanic outreach co-chair would be needed.

According to state representative David Rivera, a close ally of state house speaker Marco Rubio and one of the most visible Florida Hispanic legislators, says “In four months we’ll have a candidate, so it would make no sense to replace Mel and then have the nominee change tactics.”

McCain & Romney on Immigration

A couple of Republican candidates spoke out on immigration issues over the weekend.

According to this AP write, Senator John McCain squared off against an angry New Hampshire resident yesterday who said

“Do the people in Washington — the politicians and the lobbyists and the rich people writing the checks — do they understand the amount of anger the average European Christian, native-born American feels when they see their country turning into a multicultural chaos Tower of Babel?” he said.

McCain started to answer but was interrupted again by the same man. This time the Senator was accused of promoting amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Finally, McCain repeated his promise — “I think for the 15th time” — that he would secure the borders to stop illegal immigration before attempting anything else.

He also strongly objected to the man’s argument about the nation’s future and the impact of legal immigration.

“I believe the greatest strength of America is the lady who holds her lamp behind the golden door that says send me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,” he said, referring to the Statue of Liberty. “And I am grateful to live in a nation that has been enriched by people coming to our nation from around the world.

“I will do everything in my power to secure the borders, but I love this nation and I love the people who have come from around the world,” he said to loud applause.

In Michigan, Mitt Romney proposed increasing temporary work visas to seasonal workers

“If our employment sector needs additional immigrant laborers, then issue the visas necessary to provide that work force.”

… During a campaign stop later in Grand Rapids, Romney said he favors a system that would identify people who legally entered the United States to work. Employers that continue to hire illegal immigrants would face government penalties.

“That’ll stop the flow of people into this country for work because they won’t be able to get work,” Romney said.

… “I’m not going to leave America’s employers without the capacity to meet the needs of our consuming public,” he said.
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Fox Blasts U.S. Immigration Policy

It may seem odd for a blog dedicated to covering Latino politics to include a post about a former Mexican president. But, I believe the fate of the United States and Mexico are inextricably linked. Like it or not. What former Mexican president Fox says about the United States matters a great deal, for better or for worse.

And he has been saying quite a lot. First, he jokingly complained to Jon Stewart about having to take off his boots and jacket at the airport. And then much more seriously, he told the comedian cum news anchor “fear is guiding public opinion” in the U.S. on immigration. He repeated the charge of xenophobia in an interview with the Associated Press and yesterday he strongly criticized the city government of Irving, Texas for its efforts to deport illegal immigrants. Today, no doubt, in additional interviews as part of his aggressive book publicity tour he will speak out further.

Fox seems hell-bent on pushing the U.S. to reform its immigration laws. It was his stated top priority as president. Thanks, in part, to 9/11 the project went nowhere.

The decision to first publish his book in English and in the United States rather than in Spanish and in Mexico speaks to his desire to influence the immigration debate. It also is a tacit recognition that Fox may be more popular in the States than in Mexico where he is widely perceived as having been an ineffective head of state. And some of his political opponents go further and accuse the former president as well as others close to him of corruption. Just yesterday, the Mexican Congress established a commission to look into alleged wrongdoings. Here you can see Fox disparaging the investigation during an interview on CNN en Español.

The accusations are not a minor issue but they are somewhat beside the point for this blog. The point is Mexico – whether in the form of the former president, the consul in Dallas, the foreign ministry in Mexico or immigrant associations – is clearly stepping up its role in the U.S. immigration debate.

From a strategic point of view, greater involvement and pressure by the Mexican government on this topic may backfire against their stated goal of immigration reform. Then again, it doesn’t seem that the debate about immigration in the U.S. can get much more venomous.

 

 

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Mexican Consul in Dallas Receiving Less-than-friendly Emails

As I mentioned briefly before, today’s Al Día Texas carries an interest report about less-than-friendly emails

Here’s my translation of the lede:

Enrique Hubbard, the Mexican Consul in Dallas, has during the past few days received emails complaining about his comments regarding the deportations taking place in the city of Irving. However, this Sunday he received an email that was both critical and threatening.

(The translation is not 100% precise but does accurately convey the sense of the lede graf.)

It is a good piece but as I mentioned earlier the headline overstates the case. The email reads, in part,

“… Keep out of our dealings with the illegals in our state and in our country. This is not your issue, this is my country and we will take care of it. Any interference from you people will have dire consequences.”

Here´s another email fragment reprinted by Al Día

“Enrique Hubbard Urrea is an anarchists and should be seported himself. Irving is doing the job our federal government hasn’t got the guts to do and I support them. He wants mexicans protected, Irving wants Americans protected. This is OUR country and if you are here illegally, we don’t want you. You were not invited. You won’t learn English or our cultutre. you steal our jobs and identities as well as abuse our social services and medical systems”.
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“Invasion”

The debate about immigration often takes on militaristic overtones. “Once More Into The Immigration Breach” is how the Allentown Morning Call headlines an article today about competing immigration legislative proposals currently before the Pennsylvania legislature. 

[Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl] Metcalfe is unapologetic about his tone and his proposals. ”When you have hundreds of thousands coming across [the border] uninvited, that’s an invasion,” he said. ”I don’t think you can call it anything else.”  

Unintended Consequences of Illegal Immigration

The unintended consequences of illegal immigration are rich in irony. First, social security is bolstered by illegal immigration and now a Connecticut demographer finds Florida will gain a seat in the House of Representatives, after the next Census, because of the state’s “growing number of illegal immigrants.” 

“It’s great news for Florida in terms of getting more power,” said study author Orlando Rodriguez, a demographer with the Connecticut State Data Center at the University of Connecticut. “But it’s not the undocumented immigrants who will benefit. It’s the dominant party that gets the benefit of the extra seats.” That shift, analysts say, is expected to help Republicans in Florida, who control the state Legislature, which redraws district lines when seats are added. The same is true in the border states of Arizona and Texas.“We will have a larger congressional delegation giving us a stronger voice in Congress as our population continues to grow,” said Erin VanSickle, spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Florida.  So the Republicans who oppose illegal immigration actually end up benefiting from it.

Undocumented or Illegal Immigrants?

My boss, Arturo Villar, does not care for the phrase “illegal immigrants.” To Arturo’s credit, he encouraged I blog about our discrepancy. He argues, as do many others that no human being is illegal and hence, it is wrong to describe someone as an “illegal immigrant.” I don’t buy it. And I do not care for the phrase “undocumented immigrants”.  It is inaccurate.  Most but not all “undocumented immigrants”, in fact, possess documents whether they be legitimate documents from their home country or falsified U.S. government papers. The lack of documents is the symptom not the root cause. Illegal entry and residence in the U.S. – that is the core issue.  Which is why I prefer the term “illegal immigrants” – it is accurate and precise.  Words matter. Please let me know which term you think works best and why. Comment below or drop me a line. Just one request – be polite.