We Need More Than Speeches

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

The debate over comprehensive immigration reform has continued to heat up throughout this summer ever since the governor of Arizona signed the Ill-conceived SB 1070 into law.  The law allows for racial and ethnic profiling as a way to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants in Arizona.  The controversial law has several lawsuits pending against the State of Arizona, including the United States Department of Justice preparing to file suit against Arizona as well.

The proponents of immigration reform have pressured the President and top White House advisors to move forward with a progressive plan to fix our broken immigration system of laws.  There have been marches and rallies in D.C., fasts in New York City, Chicago, and other cities, civil disobedience in Denver and countless cities across the USA, and thousands of petitions and letters demanding that President Obama push the agenda of comprehensive immigration reform forward.

The opponents of immigration reform have rallied around SB 1070, threatening to introduce similar laws in the legislative sessions in at least 12 other states.  The hate, panic, and fear continue to spread as rumors and lies about undocumented immigrants are fed by the Internet groups bent on creating an atmosphere of hate and fear.  

To counter the ridiculous claims of the governor of Arizona that most undocumented immigrants crossing the border are “drug mules,” just shows how important it is to press for the truth and not the lies of the hate mongers and those who spew out evil venom of hate, panic, and lies.

There is no end in sight of the hate mongers and racists who continue to spread their lies and false rumors.  In his speech the President admitted the lack of political will to push for immigration reform. “So the politics of who is and who is not allowed to enter this country, and on what terms, has always been contentious.  And that remains true today.  And it’s made worse by a failure of those of us in Washington to fix a broken immigration system.”

When word leaked out of the White House that the President was going to give a “major speech” on immigration reform, hopes were raised, and there were new expectations of a fresh strategic legislative effort to push both parties into coming together to resolve this national disgrace of a broken immigration system. 

The stage was set at American University in D.C. for the President to finally address the nation and call for a new legislative agenda to implement a new system of immigration laws that would do away with a system of grave injustice, family separations, ICE raids, and a confusing array of law enforcement MOU’s like 287 (g) that have only allowed local cops to use racial profiling as a means of stopping and detaining undocumented immigrants. 

The primary reason police can stop Latino looking individuals are joint law enforcement programs like 287 (g) which allow racial profiling.  Police have used broken tail lights, suspicious looking drivers or passengers, and driving while breathing “brown” to pull over Latinos on our nation’s highways.

While the President has tried to shame the Republicans into supporting immigration reform, the reality is that there are perhaps as many Democrats who are afraid to push for immigration reform in a mid-term election environment filled with rumors, lies, and hate messages about undocumented immigrants. 

The President said, “In sum, the system is broken.  And everybody knows it.  Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special-interest wrangling -– and to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics.”   

Presente.org – a national pro-immigrant civil rights organization pushing for comprehensive immigration reform criticized the President by saying, “We need more than speeches.” 

That seemed to be the general consensus from other Latino civil rights organizations across the country.  What good is another Presidential speech that does nothing but cast blame on the Republicans and whose own Democratic members continue to waffle on getting out front of this debate and who blatantly refuse to support the President’s own legislative agenda on immigration reform?     

Polls seem to indicate that most Americans want the President and Congress to do something about fixing our dysfunctional immigration laws that do more harm than good.  If one believes that more than a majority of Americans want something done, then where are the courageous leaders and advocates for justice and righteousness?

Until the President is able to put together a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders who are willing to work together to draw up a comprehensive immigration plan that addresses the immediate needs of over 11 million undocumented immigrants in our country, nothing will get done.

Much has been said and debated over the “pathway to citizenship” for the undocumented immigrants who seek citizenship.  But on the other hand, not all undocumented immigrants want citizenship, but rather a work visa that allows them to cross the border when there is work to be done and then be able to return home.  This visa needs to provide the undocumented or visa permitted workers the right to make a fair wage, expect worker protections, and have the ability to organize if necessary in order to protect their rights as temporary workers in the USA. 

Some critics of the past worker programs have claimed that the border has been left open just enough to allow cheap labor to cross the border.   The days of cheap labor are over, along with abusive employers who have taken advantage of undocumented immigrant workers in the past. 

But the sad part of the Presidential speech is that he was essentially speaking to the choir. Everyone knows we need comprehensive immigration reform.  We know the present system is broken and must be fixed. 

The President laid out the challenge facing Congress.  “Our task then is to make our national laws actually work -– to shape a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.  And that means being honest about the problem, and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bring it together.”

While the President calls for a more secure border, he insisted the border is the most secure than anytime in the past twenty years.  Yet the President admitted that, “Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work.”

Unfortunately we know ICE and the Obama Administration are detaining and deporting more innocent undocumented immigrants than the Bush Administration, and the President has failed to live up to his stated goals of prioritizing criminals and stopping gangs and potential terrorists.

The drug cartels and the large shipments of drugs over the border must have a higher priority than the family that is simply looking for work in the USA.

So the President gave a speech, more likely to appease his supporters.  Some pundits have claimed the President hoped the speech would motivate and challenge the Latino voter to get out and support candidates that support his policies.  It was an attempt to try and make up for his failure to prioritize immigration reform in his first year and to fire up his supporters to get out and vote.

The President gave a campaign speech, with more promises on why immigration reform is important.  In fact, it is more important today than ever before.  Instead of giving a Presidential speech with an action plan, he said nothing about ending the ICE raids, and putting a stop to the 287 (g) local enforcement programs abused by local cops that allows racial profiling and ethnic enforcement. 

We don’t need anymore speeches on why immigration reform is needed now more than ever.  It is time the President acted like the President and put a stop to the grave injustice and unrighteousness undocumented families face every day in this country.

Yes, Mr. President, we are a land of immigrants.  Together our forefathers built this country and the infrastructure that created jobs and a better life for all who sought a job and an opportunity.  Yet, along the way we have had to fight the bigots, the racists, the haters, and those whose only intent was to spew out racial hatred and push immigrants down. 

Mr. President, we hoped you would have stood up to those ugly voices of fear, panic and hate.  We wished you would have used your Executive Power to put an end to misdirected immigration enforcement programs that are only separating families and deporting good hard working men and women. 

If you really want to put an end to the drug cartels, the shipments of drugs and millions of dollars across the border, an end to the weapons we are selling to the drug cartels, then you should have declared war to end the drug cartels that continue to meet the drug demands of those Americans who live not only in the barrios, but the high priced skyscraper apartments of every city in the USA. 

Mr. President, we don’t need any more speeches.  We need a bipartisan plan of attack against the drug and human traffickers.  We need you to quiet the voices of hate and panic and move this debate from the gutter to the halls of Congress.  Mr. President, be Presidential and do what you can do to end the injustice these families must endure every day.

No one said the job of being President would be easy, but it will take a President with hope and a vision to develop an agenda that both Republicans and Democrats can accept and work together to fix our broken immigration system.

Mr. President, thank you for recommitting your administration to fighting for immigration reform, but that is not good enough.  Now it is time to move beyond just words, and take bold action to fix this problem which Lady Liberty reminds the world as a national disgrace.

 If you can take a courageous and bold effort to lead the battle to repair the broken immigration system, be assured that many Americans will be  behind you fighting the injustice and national disgrace of an immigration system that has spiraled out of control.  

Lead and we will follow your leadership.  Exemplify your courage to bring down the haters and end the venom of fear, and we will stand with you.

You gave an inspirational speech at American University, now it is time for bold and courageous leadership.  Can you make your speech a national priority and prove that you are indeed our senior ally?

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

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Reality at the U.S.-Mexico Border.

For Immediate Release

June 8, 2010

Reality at the U.S.-Mexico Border:

Experts Describe the Real Sources of Violence and How We Can Best Respond

Washington D.C. - On Monday, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) hosted a teleconference with border and national-security experts who dissected the myths linking immigration and border violence. These experts shared their analyses of the reality of crime and violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, what the real sources of violence are, and how the U.S. should respond. They all made the point that nearly twenty years of immigration policy focusing on "securing the border first" has failed to address the underlying issues and criminal cartels that are the real cause of violence along the border. The experts noted that immigration laws and policies of the past two decades have, ironically, made the border less safe and have actually benefitted the traffickers and smugglers who operate at the border.

Benjamin Johnson of the American Immigration Council stressed the need to disentangle unauthorized immigration and border violence as a means for solving both problems, noting that "we are pursuing a lopsided approach of border-enforcement only and placing the highest priority on prosecuting nonviolent border-crossers rather than dangerous criminals. Everyone wants an easy solution to solving our problems at the border, but the reality is a simple solution does not exist for complex problems."

According to David Shirk, Director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego, "the Border Patrol has doubled to 20,000 agents, there are also more than 3,000 Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents, 300 National Guard troops (with 1,200 more on their way), and a significant surge in the number of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms personnel. However, border security-only advocates say that this is still not enough. Further saturating the border is costly and ineffective. Indeed, the border-centric approach has encouraged drug trafficking organizations to evolve from relatively small-scale, low-level operations in the 1980s into the highly sophisticated, heavily-armed criminal organizations that are today seriously undermining the Mexican state. The flow of drugs and immigrants continues practically unabated, despite these very costly investments in border security."

He added, "the argument that can be made is that we have gone as far as reasonable to secure this part of the comprehensive approach. We have entered into a free trade agreement with Mexico that allows the flow of goods and capital, but we have not figured out how to manage labor. Border security is made difficult by the creation of a haystack of people; 200,000 people were apprehended at the border last year and 200 were found to have criminal histories. In my view, we need to figure out how to get the 99% of people who don't pose a threat out of the way through work-visa programs or other means. This would make the Border Patrol's job much easier by shrinking the size of the haystack."

Jennifer Bernal Garcia of the Center for New American Security explained, "it's true that the U.S. faces a problem of national security relevance at its border. However, focusing on the problem of crime rather than crime and immigration is needed. When you build a fence, you are pushing immigrants straight into the arms of criminal cartels. There hasn't been enough of a focus placed on prosecution and enforcement measures against criminal cartels. Many think that the border is the 'choke point,' but drug cartels are sprawled out. We must think beyond the border. Going after scapegoats at the border does nothing to change or deter the criminal element." She explains, "what is needed along the border is a coordinated strategy among federal agencies and foreign governments, not incremental acts and feel-good deployments. Such a broad strategy would focus on reducing criminal groups' ability to violently contest state authority, both by diminishing the sources of their proceeds (drugs) and their social base (through a mix of regional law enforcement and social programs)."

Aarti Kohli of the Warren Institute at California State University at Berkeley noted that programs like Operation Streamline, which places all illegal border crossers in federal criminal proceedings in certain regions, are examples of a misdirected policy. "All border crossers regardless of their criminal history are pushed through federal district courts rather than through the civil immigration court. One of the unintended consequences is that resources are taken from prosecuting higher-level offenses. In 2009, federal prosecutors in border districts turned away 1,800 drug prosecutions mostly because they did not have enough investigative and prosecutorial resources. We have created an environment where non-violent border crossers are being prioritized over more dangerous criminals like kidnappers, drug smugglers, and others." In a recent report she found that "between 2002 and 2008, federal magistrate judges along the U.S.-Mexico border saw their misdemeanor immigration caseloads more than quadruple. Criminal prosecutions of petty immigration-related offenses increased by more than 330% in the border district courts, while smuggling and drug trafficking charges were brought less frequently or remained flat."

The panel made the compelling point that "border security first" as a policy choice long ago reached the point of diminishing returns. Reducing illegal immigration will not be accomplished solely by securing the border, but by a coordinated and comprehensive strategy. Creating sensible immigration policies, while simultaneously and comprehensively addressing the criminal issues that are at the heart of border violence, is the only way to provide genuine security along the border and throughout the United States.

To hear a recorded version of the call click here or go to:

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/ipc/7REALITY%20060710.mp3

To read further information see:

• Throwing Good Money After Bad: Immigration Enforcement without Immigration Reform Doesn't Work (IPC Fact Check, May 26, 2010)

• U.S. Border Enforcement Prioritizes Non-Violent Migrants Over Dangerous Criminals (IPC Press Release, May 20, 2010)

• New Data on Federal Court Prosecutions Reveal Non-Violent Immigration Prosecutions Up (IPC Fact Check, February 4, 2010)

###

For more information contact Wendy Sefsaf at 202-507-7524 or wsefsaf@immcouncil.org

The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC's mission is to shape a rational national conversation on immigration and immigrant integration. Through its research and analysis, IPC provides policymakers, the media, and the general public with accurate information about the role of immigrants and immigration policy on U.S. society. IPC reports and materials are widely disseminated and relied upon by press and policy makers. IPC staff regularly serves as experts to leaders on Capitol Hill, opinion-makers and the media. IPC, formed in 2003 is a non-partisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.

A division of the American Immigration Council. Visit our website at http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/.

Why don't they come legally? They can't

The Oppenheimer Report
BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER

aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com

PHOENIX - APRIL 28: Undocumented Mexican immigrants are in-processed at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), center on April 28, 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona. Across Arizona, city police and county sheriffs' departments turn over detained immigrants to ICE, which deports them to their home countries. Last year ICE deported some 81,000 illegal immigrants from the state of Arizona alone, and with the passage of the state's new tough immigration enforcement law, the number of deportations could rise significantly. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) After my last column criticizing Arizona's xenophobic immigration law, I got an avalanche of readers' comments. Most of them were angry anti-immigrant tirades, but some made important points that deserve an answer.

I won't waste your time responding to those that reek of racial prejudice. Instead, I will try to respond to some of the most common criticisms made by intelligent, well-meaning people whose arguments can't be dismissed as coming from the lunatic fringe.

Denise, who describes herself as a ``white Anglo who has lived in Miami all my life'' and wonders ``how much longer I will be able to live in the town I grew up in,'' writes: ``I am already a minority who is discriminated against and often feel that I live in a foreign country because of the huge population of Latins who insist on speaking Spanish.''

``My question to you is, Why is it so awful for the citizens of the United States to simply ask immigrants who wish to live in America to do so legally? And why should we reward those who broke the law and came here illegally?'' she asks. ``Maybe in your next article you can address these questions.''

MAJOR REASONS

Well, Denise, let me try. There are four major reasons why I take issue with the premise behind your questions.

First, there would be nothing wrong with demanding that immigrants come to the United States legally if we allowed them to do so. But we don't -- they are coming through the back door to take jobs we offer them, because we don't allow them in through the front door. Legal immigration quotas were set more than 20 years ago, when the U.S. demand for unskilled and highly skilled workers was much smaller than today's.

The U.S. labor market demands up to 500,000 low-skilled workers a year, while the current U.S. immigration system allows for only 5,000 permanent visas for that category, according to the National Immigration Forum, a pro-immigration reform advocacy group.

``There is no real line for unskilled workers,'' says Maurice Belanger, the Forum's public information director. ``If you are a Mexican wanting to get a legal visa to work as a waiter in the United States, you would be dead before you get your visa.''

It's somewhat easier to immigrate legally if you have close family members who are U.S. citizens, but often not by much. According to the latest U.S. State Department's visa bulletin, there is a lengthy backlog in several family visa application categories.

The U.S. government is now processing 1992 applications of Mexican adult children of U.S. citizens, and 1987 applications of Filipino brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens.

``Many people think we have good laws and bad people who are breaking them,'' says Frank Sharry, head of America's Voice, a pro-immigration reform advocacy group. ``But we have bad laws and mostly good people who have no line to get into legally.''

EXPENSIVE

Second, deporting up to 10 million undocumented residents would be incredibly costly and impossible to carry out unless we turn this country into a police state. For national security and law enforcement reasons, it would be much better to know who they are, where they live, and to subject them to a series of steps -- learning English and paying taxes among them -- to regularize their status.

Third, I don't like to use the word `illegals' as a noun, because it's aimed at dehumanizing what for the most part are good, hard-working people. Yes, they broke the rules. But U.S. citizens who drive through a red light also break the rules -- in fact, causing much more potential harm -- and that shouldn't turn them into ``illegal'' human beings.

Fourth, I don't think you should be overly alarmed by the fact that many Hispanic immigrants don't speak English. They may not, but their children will. And if their children end up being bilingual, so much the better. In an increasingly competitive global economy, the United States badly needs more bilingual people.

In conclusion, Denise, we have a dysfunctional immigration system. Employers are hiring undocumented immigrants to do jobs Americans won't do, while the U.S. government provides these immigrants with no realistic chance to get legal visas. Perhaps you and I will agree that it's a perverse system that needs comprehensive reform.

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© 2010 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/29/v-print/1603473/why-dont-they-come-legally-they.html#ixzz0mdEK7Usm

Are We Ready To March Seven Times?

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Once again the Obama Administration has shown its contempt for the Latino community and its lack of political will to fix the immigration reform problem facings our country. In an obvious show of Para-military might, President Obama allowed over 800 police and law enforcement agents of ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies to conduct a series of raids throughout Arizona.

Reports from the areas raided describe a frightening scene as federal, state, and local police moving in to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants who allegedly were involved in illegal human trafficking of undocumented immigrants in the shuttle service industry.

Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos called the federal raids “a massive show of force, with helicopters, dozens of agents, police vehicles, and weapons, assaulting our community in a fashion never seen before.” A show of force whose sole intention was only to intimidate, create fear and panic.

These raids are rapidly becoming the calling card of the Obama’s Administration efforts to enforce old and antiqued immigration laws. Instead of pushing for reform, we find the President more comfortable recycling the brutal enforcement polices of the Bush Administration.

President Obama who recently claimed to support the Schumer/Graham framework for immigration reform has allowed the federal government to use all of its enforcement tactics and arsenal to continue to crack down on undocumented immigrants. In fact, this administration has a worse human rights record than that of the Bush Administration when it comes to immigration enforcement and treatment.

Senator Harry Reid’s claim last week to have 56 votes in the United States Senate to move immigration reform forward seem to ring hallow compared to the Obama’s Administration’s show of disrespect to the Latino community by allowing over 800 law enforcement agents to descend on places of employment and disrupt and destroy innocent families and personal lives.

The President who claimed to have as a national key priority the issue of immigration reform has simply allowed the Department Of Homeland Security to become the Department of Fear and Bigotry.

While our President claims to be on the side of the Latino community in fixing the immigration problem, he has allowed his Secretary of Homeland Security to become the master oppressor by allowing the largest display of federal law enforcement to suppress and intimidate our community.

Just last week in Dallas, Latino Evangelical faith leaders called upon the President to join with them in fixing the immigration problem. In a fairly soft spoken attempt at trying to rally this President to their side, the soft ball approach to the Obama Administration instead has been answered by what many are calling a complete lack of accountability by the President authorizing one of the largest raids against undocumented immigrants of his administration.

It is time to stop pretending as if this President is going to reward our community for voting for him and that we began to demand accountability of this President’s policies against creating familial separations, destroying families, and endearing itself to the evil forces of bigotry, fear, hate, and discrimination.

We need to stop counting the number of votes given to this President during the last election, and start counting anew the ones that will vote for true change and hope, not broken promises and phrases of false expectations.

While this Administration is quick to condemn the human rights violations of other third world governments, it is time that the American people understand that a government that can and will violate the rights and constitution freedoms of some will not hesitate to use that same force against others. It is time that we stood up and demanded accountability of this President and his polices of oppression.

Immigration reform leaders in Arizona are calling the massive federal raids “a new low in the Obama Administration’s lack accountability.”

We need to send the message to the President and Congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. that we are no longer going to listen to the false promises of immigration reform that come from the shallow halls of government. The half- hearted attempts to placate our efforts to find immigration reform will not be acceptable, and we must demand accountability using the mid-term elections as a means by which to register our displeasure and anger.

In Arizona where the state legislature just recently passed SB1070, a bill that essentially allows any law enforcement official who may have “a reasonable suspicion” to question anyone in the state whom they suspect may not have the proper documents to determine their immigration status is a difficult pill to swallow.

Police will have the right to stop and question anyone even if no other law has been violated. If there is “reasonable suspicion,” that you may not have the proper documentation, racial profiling will become the norm and you will be questioned.

It is under this climate of evil and anti-Latino attitudes that the President Obama ordered the largest single immigration raid in any state. President Obama has allowed governmental bureaucrats to enforce policies of the past, and has refused to implement humane and just policies that do not separate families and create fear and uncertainty in the Latino community.

He has allowed ICE to do as it pleases in enforcing its own misguided interpretation of national immigration policies to arrest, detain, and ultimately deport not hardened criminals, but men and women who support their families and whose sole attempt is to live within the framework of our United States Constitution.

It is imperative that Latino Evangelical leaders reevaluate their support of a President who refuses to acknowledge that this country must fix it immigration policies and stop violating the civil rights of Latinos.

When we allow laws that encourage racial profiling and that allow the police to stop and question any person under a racial profiling standard, we are allowing our country to slide rapidly toward the brink of becoming a police state.

A few years back, Latino Evangelical pastors refused to acknowledge that we would be facing laws that allow racial profiling, where police would be raiding homes, where Gestapo type police gangs would raid workers at their jobs, where detention facilities would be big business incarcerating and detaining undocumented immigrants without due process, and where families would be separated and destroyed by our government.

We now know that we live under a government where Gestapo type police raids are becoming the norm, where big business detention contracts are routinely approved by the government without any regard to who is being jailed, where more and more undocumented immigrants in detention are being threatened or intimidated to renounce their right to due process and as a result more immigrants are being deported, and thus allowing a government that instead of nurturing families, is out to destroy them.

The raids in Arizona only demonstrated that unless we come together and demand accountability, we will surely lose this battle against the evil forces of hate and fear.

Yet, once again last week we have found that those who claim to be our friends and allies in this fight for justice and immigration reform do not share our values or beliefs.

How then can our faith leaders pretend that the policies and governance of this President are in agreement with our vision of justice and righteousness? How can we allow this government to destroy more and more families and not raise our voice in opposition to the current policies of this government?

What will it take to create within the Latino Evangelical Church the passion to stand up for ourselves and fight for justice and righteousness?

Perhaps the best summary of the events of the Obama Raid are left to Isabel Garcia of the Tucson-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos who said, “Instead of bringing in the Department of Justice to investigate the immigration abuses and uphold our rights, the Obama Administration sics the ICE police on our communities.”

And instead of another national gathering in Washington, D.C. to march for immigration reform again, maybe it is time we gathered together instead to demand that this President stop the raids. That he instead commit to join our fight for justice and righteousness by pursuing a policy of finding a solution to the broken immigration system that allows the fiasco that occurred in Arizona to not happen again.

Perhaps it is time that Latino Evangelical leaders take the lead of demanding Presidential accountability and stop meeting in the big house, and instead marched around the walls of the White House seven times, prepared to trumpet our demands of accountability and for righteousness judgment.

Is it time to march seven times around the walls of injustice and fear?

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.