Tag Archives: Immigration

The Usual Suspects

Conservative Hate Radio  -  http://mariopiperni.com/

Mario Piperni

Less than 24 hours after the tragedy at Boston and without a clue as to whom the perpetrator might be, thebigots have crawled out from under the rocks they call home…not that they were ever hiding.

In an email to members today, Tea Party Nation head Judson Phillips claimed that the Boston marathon bombing occurred because “we have a government that is not committed to protecting America” since it isn’t willing to “destroy radical Islam.” Phillips said that “Radical Islam and perhaps even non-radical Islam” is a danger to western civilization, arguing that Muslims believe that “non-Islamic nations may be conquered or otherwise taken over.”

The email (in part):

Unfortunately the sad truth is we will be hit again. It will happen sooner or later. It will probably be sooner than later.

There are two reasons why we will be hit again. First, we have a determined enemy who hates us. Second, we have a government that is not committed to protecting America.

It is a pretty safe bet right now that this attack was carried out by an Islamist. It was a well-coordinated attack. In its publication, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called for just this kind of attack…The only way we make sure this never happens again is to identify our enemy and then craft a strategy to totally defeat that enemy.

Meanwhile, on cue, the regular gang of narrow-minded bigots who oppose immigration reform are using Boston as further reason to push their hate agenda.

Rep. Steve King:

“Some of the speculation that has come out is that yes, it was a foreign national and, speculating here, that it was potentially a person on a student visa,” King says. “If that’s the case, then we need to take a look at the big picture.”

On immigration, King says national security should be the focus now, and any talk about a path to legalization should be put on hold. “We need to be ever vigilant,” he says. “We need to go far deeper into our border crossings. . . .We need to take a look at the visa-waiver program and wonder what we’re doing. If we can’t background check people that are coming from Saudi Arabia, how do we think we are going to background check the 11 to 20 million people that are here from who knows where.”

Laura Ingraham:

This, in my mind, raises all sorts of questions. I mean, again, we don’t know who did this, motivations, all of that. But it is interesting that at this moment — we are considering legalizing or giving regularized status to millions of people. Pretty much none of them have gone through any rigorous background checks, to have a temporary status in the United States. And we don’t — I just think that there are all sorts of security implications aside from the other arguments on immigration — national security implications that we don’t talk about with enough frankness and I think certitude here. We can’t stop every attack, but my goodness, if we had borders that were shut down and we actually had a proper screening process, maybe we could stop some of them.

Let’s say it again…ignorance and bigotry of the type displayed by King, Ingraham and the teabagger who crafted the letter above, pose more danger to the well-being of the United States than anything any terrorist group could ever accomplish.

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President Obama’s Four Part Plan for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The GOP presented an abbreviated version of their immigration plan ahead of the president’s announced plan yesterday.

Here is a video of the president’s plans which he presented today:

President Obama’s entire speech in Las Vegas 1-29-2013

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Arizona Bill Requires Hospitals To Screen Immigration Status Of Uninsured Patients

So much for: 

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free…” ~ Emma Lazarus

This proposal is wrong on so many levels.  Does this “bill” demand that someone who is gravely ill and does not have their “papers” must be denied care and reported to immigration?  Think of the scenarios in which our country would abandon and deport people while ill.

Think Progress

Hospitals would need to check the immigration status of uninsured patients under a new bill introduced by an Arizona lawmaker. Rep. Steve Smith’s (R) H.B. 2293 would require hospital staff to “reasonably confirm” patients’ status during check-in or treatment, and immediately report those who do not have the required papers to immigration officials.

Smith claimed it is a hospital’s civic duty to check immigration status:

“I would hope if you witnessed somebody who is not lawfully present in this country taking advantage of, getting, acquiring any benefit or social service or something that they’re not entitled to, or something they’re abusing or neglected, I would hope somebody would pick up the phone and go, ‘Maricopa police, Buckeye police, I think — I’m not sure — but I think this is happening.”’

The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association has already rejected the attempt to turn hospitals into another front for immigration enforcement: “When does this begin or end?” a spokesman said. “What other industry should be screening their customers for citizenship verification?” The National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights and National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health also called the measure “unconscionable” and legalized “harassment“.  With roughly 19 percent of Arizona’s population lacking health insurance, the bill could deter many immigrants and their children from seeking care, as well as burden hospitals.

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Filed under U.S. Politics

SCOTUS Overturns Key Parts Of Arizona Immigration Law

Supreme Court Overturns Key Parts Of Arizona Immigration Law

TPMDC

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down key parts of Arizona’s immigration law, but upheld one controversial provision – at least for now.

In a 5-3 ruling handed down by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the high court held that most of the provisions being challenged encroached on turf that is constitutionally reserved for the federal government.

The court overturned parts of the law that criminalize one’s presence in Arizona without documentation, criminalize working or looking for work…

Read More →                                     Copy of ruling here.

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Top Right-Wing Group: Minority Births Are ‘Not A Good Thing’ Because They ‘Don’t Share American Values’

Think Progress

Yesterday, the New York Times reported on new census data which showed, for the first time, that non-white births made up over 50 percent of all births in the United States last year.

It marked an important milestone, indicative of a changing United States that has long been considered the world’s melting pot. Or, if you’re the conservative, Phyllis Schlafly-backed Eagle Forum, it’s a clarion call that America is in grave danger of being overrun by uneducated, un-American brown people:

It is not a good thing. The immigrants do not share American values, so it is a good bet that they will not be voting Republican when they start voting in large numbers.
[...]
Instead, the USA is being transformed by immigrants who do not share those values, and who have high rates of illiteracy, illegitimacy, and gang crime, and they will vote Democrat when the Democrats promise them more food stamps.

Setting aside for a minute the offensive way in which the Eagle Forum dismisses all of “the immigrants” as thoughtless criminals, it’s telling that The Eagle Forum views this as simply a political problem. The Eagle Forum’s political allies have long insisted on treating immigrants as second-class citizens, and rather than pivot their policy proposals to better accommodate the nation’s shifting demographics, the group seems instead to want to curb minorities’ procreation.

The Eagle Forum doesn’t dwell on the fringes of the conservative movement either. The group still wields considerable influence in conservative circles, and has achieved more than a few legislative victories, like derailing the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and staunchly opposing bills aimed at protecting a women’s right to choose.

The post goes on to accuse immigrants — and, for reasons passing understanding, The New York Times for reporting on this — of seeking to “destroy the American family,” arguing that immigrants do not share American values. Of course, this is hardly the first time The Eagle Foundation has pushed xenophobia.

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How To Make A Republican’s Head Explode

If there’s one thing conservative Republicans absolutely despise, it’s “illegal” immigration.

If there’s one thing conservative Republicans absolutely love, it’s Ronald Reagan.

Now tell them that in 1986, Reagan signed into law a bill granting amnesty to “illegal” immigrants (see insert)

Quickly put on a pair of goggles to protect your eyes from splattering brain matter.

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), Pub.L. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359, enacted November 6, 1986, also Simpson-Mazzoli Act, is an Act of Congress which reformed United States immigration law.

 

H/T:  Don’t Forget How America Got Screwed Up… (FaceBook)

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Federal Judge orders Sheriff Arpaio to stop arresting people simply because he thinks they are undocumented

Think Progress

Less than two weeks after the Department of Justice found widespread lawlessness and abuse of Latinos by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies, an Arizona federal judge ordered Arpaio to end one of his most abusive practices — detaining and arresting people who have committed no crime merely because his office suspects them of being undocumented.

The court also certified this lawsuit against Arpaio as a class action, thereby empowering any Latino stopped or detained by Arpaio’s office since 2007 or at any point in the future to enforce the court order.

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The Nasty Mr. Santorum

Mario Piperni

Here’s Mr. Family Values guy talking about what he’d do with illegal immigrants and their families.

“You can’t be here for 20 years and commit only one illegal act … because everything you’re doing while you’re here is against the law …” Santorum said. “I understand Congressman Gingrich saying, ‘Well, you know, people have been here and they’ve been good citizens and paying taxes.’ Yeah, under somebody else’s Social Security number because you stole it.”

Families should be broken up when the law is broken, which includes illegal immigration, he added.

Rick Santorum would have made a wonderful 17th century Inquisition judicator.

In the race to determine who of the GOP’s primary candidates is the nastiest and most heartless, Rick Santorum has just taken the lead.  Behind Santorum’s pious, holier-than-thou, Jesus-loves-you facade, there is something horribly ugly and callous about the man.  Breaking up families, illegal or not, when other solutions exist, is enough reason to pray that bible-thumping Rick never again holds political power of any kind.

Hey, Rick, Jesus would have been so proud of you.

On the bright side, all small-minded, gay-bashing, immigrant-hating Americans certainly have no shortage of politicians to support.  There’s an entire political party out there made just for them

 UPDATE:

This is worst than ugly.  Michele Bachmann sees no problem in dragging illegals on to buses in front of their children.

Watch video here…

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Filed under Immigration Debate, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum

Republicans Should ‘Shut Up’ On Immigration If They Want To Win Latino Voters, Pollster Says

So, let me get this straight…pollsters are saying that if Republicans don’t mention their collective stance on the immigration issue, Latinos will vote for them.  Are pollsters that dumb to think that Latinos don’t know the general GOP stance on the immigration issue?

The Huffington Post

Republicans could be hurting their general election chances by calling for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and vowing not to reform the system until the border is secured, a pollster and a Republican strategist said on Tuesday.

“Your grandmother once told you that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” Gary Segura, a Stanford University professor and the head of the polling firm Latino Decisions, said on a conference call Tuesday. “The truth is that…if Republicans would just shut up, they would do better among Latino voters. I think the drumbeat of negativity really hurts their brand.”

All seven major Republican candidates have called for stronger border enforcement, insisting the southwestern border should be closed off — either with a fence or with more boots on the ground — before any type of legalization can take place. Beyond that, few have offered plans for dealing with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, other than to say many of them should be deported.

Republican strategist Hector Barajas warned that may be a mistake, especially among Latino voters who generally support some immigration reform.

A majority of Latino voters believe that candidates who call for border security, a vague term that gives little insight into what full “security” would mean, are attempting to delay immigration enforcement, according to a poll released earlier this month by Univision and Latino Decisions.

“Latinos would be fine if you mention ‘let’s secure the border,’ but at the same time they’re wanting to hear the rest of your plan,” Barajas told HuffPost. “This idea that you can just secure the border and we’ll do the rest later is something that has been told year after year, election cycle after election cycle. They want to hear what happens after that.”

At the same time, Segura and Barajas said that Republicans could be seizing an opportunity to gain votes in the Latino community.

Continue reading here…

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Pat Buchanan Won’t Disavow Idea That Minorities Have Inferior Genes on the Thom Hartmann Show

Herr Pat Buchanan is at it again…

Crooks & Liars

As we already know, Pat Buchanan has been out there pushing a new book of his Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? Buchanan showed up on Hannity’s show earlier this week where he was treated to the softball interview I posted about here – Pat Buchanan: America is Disintegrating Because White America is an Endangered Species.

Needless to say, he didn’t get quite the same treatment when he appeared as a guest on Thom Hartmann’s radio show this Thursday. The relevant portion of the interview starts at just over three and a half minutes into the video above and the portion quoted below is about eight and a half minutes in.

From Media Matters – Pat Buchanan Won’t Disavow Idea That Minorities Have Inferior Genes:

Yesterday, radio host Thom Hartmann challenged guest Pat Buchanan over his recent writingabout minorities and test scores. Hartmann said that “a lot of people are taking what you’re saying as code for inferior genes” and twice pressed Buchanan to disavow that theory. Buchanan did not, instead claiming that he doesn’t “know anything” about the topic.

From The Thom Hartmann Program:

HARTMANN: A lot of people are taking what you’re saying as code for inferior genes. Please tell me that’s not what you’re talking about.

BUCHANAN: Well look, I’m not — don’t know anything about what genetics or something like that. What I’m saying is, is these are the test scores and we haven’t been able to –

HARTMANN: So do you disavow that?

BUCHANAN: Pardon?

HARTMANN: Do you disavow that idea, that concept –

BUCHANAN: Well, I don’t know anything about being — look. The Coleman Report –

HARTMANN: I mean, you’re being quoted over on –

BUCHANAN: The Coleman Report, and I think I’ve got in my book, the Coleman Report said what a child brings to school is far more important than what he finds in schools, in other words, heredity and home environment, nature and nurture. Do I know the differences, or what percentages, or this and that, of course not. I’m not going to get into that. I’m saying is here’s the test scores now, and this is the problem, and in our future, quite frankly, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans, because of test scores, because of the dropout rate is fifty percent, they’re going to be in the service economy and the rest of us are going to be up there in the knowledge industry and that doesn’t make for a united America.

Much, much more that in the Media Matters post with details following this statement up so go read the entire post, but as they noted, Buchanan is actually fully aware of what Hartmann was asking him about, so his denial that he doesn’t “know anything about what genetics or something like that” is just flatly false.

While Buchanan didn’t disavow the idea, he’s written about the matter throughout his career and was forced to clarify a controversial memo regarding the subject he wrote to President Nixon.

The Boston Globe reported in a January 1992 article that as a White House aide, Buchanan “suggested in a memo to President Nixon that efforts to integrate the U.S. might only result in ‘perpetual friction’ because blacks and the poor may be genetically inferior to middle-class whites.”

At the time of the report, Buchanan was running for president and under criticism for his history of controversial racial statements. The Globe reported that “Buchanan said yesterday he does not believe blacks are genetically inferior to whites and did not have that belief in the past. Buchanan said he sent the memo to Nixon as a routine matter of intellectual curiosity.”

They wrapped the post up by noting Buchanan’s praise for some of the writings of white supremacist Sam Francis on the same topic he denied knowing anything about to Hartmann here:

Near the conclusion of his section on race and education, on page 224, Buchanan quotes the writing of white supremacist Sam Francis, in which Francis writes that “the doctrine of equality is unimportant, because no one save perhaps Pol Pot and Ben Wattenberg really believes in it, and no one, least of all those who profess it most loudly, is seriously motivated by it…. The real meaning of the doctrine of equality is that it serves as a political weapon.”

Buchanan eulogized Francis in a May 2005 column, writing, “When God created him, He endowed Sam with a great gift – one of the finest minds of his generation. Sam did not waste it.” In Buchanan’s book State Of Emergency, as noted by Think Progress’ Judd Legum, Buchanan lamented that Francis was fired after he suggested that only whites have the appropriate “genetic endowments” to keep America from collapsing.

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