Marco Rubio faces criticism over opposition to including immigrants in the Census.
Marco Rubio faces criticism over opposition to including immigrants in the Census.
This week, Republican Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio accused his opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, of trying to “dilute the voting power of every American citizen” through his support of including immigrants in this year’s Census count. However, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports that Rubio took a much softer stance as little as a week ago:
When asked whether illegal immigrants should count on things like the number of seats that Florida should have in Congress, Rubio initially said last week that he was not sure and that he wanted to “research it more.”
“I think there’s good arguments on both sides of it,” said Rubio, a former House speaker and Republican from Miami. Rubio, however, also said that the census should have an “accurate count” in order to know how “bad of an immigration problem we have.”
Crist has remarked that Rubio’s “notion that you wouldn’t want to accept federal funding to make a political point is absurd.” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) stated, “It [not counting undocumented immigrants] would be pretty damaging to Florida. … Pretending they’re not there, not counting them, doesn’t make them go away.” State Rep. Dean Cannon commented that “it’s just important that the count be accurate regardless of their [immigrant] status.” Even Rubio supporter State Rep. Esteban Bovo (R) said, “So much funding is tied to the Census, and to be undercounted could have devastating effects down the line. … I really don’t want our community to get shortchanged.” Rubio later backtracked on his remarks to clarify that he was only referring to undocumented immigrants, not green card-holders like his Cuban immigrant parents once were.
More at the Wonk Room.
- Comments
- 47
Schumer reaches out to Dobbs on immigration.
Schumer reaches out to Dobbs on immigration.
The Hill reports that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) indicated this afternoon that he is “meeting with all different kinds of groups” to get input on the immigration reform bill that he is currently drafting with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), including former CNN news anchor Lou Dobbs:
Senate Democrats have reached out to former CNN anchor and prominent illegal-immigration opponent Lou Dobbs in an effort to build broad bipartisan support for immigration reform…Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is spearheading the Democrats’ effort to put together a comprehensive reform bill, met with Dobbs on Wednesday.
Winning the support of Dobbs, who became a prominent critic of illegal immigration and proposals to grant amnesty to illegal workers, could provide a significant boost to reform efforts…Schumer noted that Dobbs, who left CNN in November, is “changing his views on immigration.”
Schumer most likely met with “Mr. Independent” in an effort to use Dobbs’ appeal to attract more supporters from the center and center-right of politics. However, that strategy could backfire. To begin with, the majority of independents already support comprehensive immigration reform. Also, many of Dobbs’ most loyal supporters are right wingers who abandoned him as soon as he turned away from the hardline approach to immigration he advocated on CNN. And while a self-described “wiser Lou Dobbs” who favors an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants has emerged since he left CNN, the Latino and immigrant community is still largely skeptical about his change of heart. Many Latinos and immigrants are already disappointed by President Obama’s passing mention of immigration reform in last night’s State of the Union address.
Santa Clarita Councilman Tells Anti-Immigrant Protesters: ‘I’m A Proud Racist’
Santa Clarita Councilman Tells Anti-Immigrant Protesters: ‘I’m A Proud Racist’
Yesterday, The Los Angeles Daily News featured a video of Santa Clarita councilman Bob Kellar informing a group of cheering protesters rallying against immigration that he is a “proud racist” who considers being called a radical a “compliment”:
We have got to wake up America. I know you guys are engaged and you understand. But I’m telling you this is serious. And if I sound like a radical, thank you. I consider that a compliment…The only thing I heard back from a couple people was “Bob you sound like a racist.” I said, “That’s good. If that’s what you think I am because I happen to believe in America. I’m a proud racist. You’re darn right I am.”
Watch it:
Though Kellar insists his remarks weren’t intended to “express animosity towards non-whites,” local Democrats describe Kellar’s comments as “symbolic of the Republican Party’s attitudes toward immigration in general.” The rally was organized by several California anti-immigrant groups including the Santa Clarita Valley Independent Minutemen, the Santa Clarita Tea Party, and designated hate group Save Our State.
Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.
Mark Krikorian: ‘Haiti’s So Screwed Up Because It Wasn’t Colonized Long Enough’
Mark Krikorian: ‘Haiti’s So Screwed Up Because It Wasn’t Colonized Long Enough’
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Mark Krikorian, director of the predictably anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) surprisingly acknowledged that undocumented Haitians in the U.S. should be given Temporary Protected Status (TPS) which would allow them to work in the U.S. until conditions in Haiti improve. However, despite taking an unusual position, the rest of what CIS has had to say about Haiti over the past week fits right in line with the group’s ethnocentric nativist dogma.
CIS Fellow David North has attacked the idea of waiving TPS fees for Haitian “illegals” who are probably struggling to send every extra penny they have back home right now. Last week North suggested that Haitian refugees would be best culturally absorbed by other Caribbean countries and any refugees accepted by the U.S. should be directed to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which according to North, “have never lifted a finger to help America to resettle refugees.”
Today, Krikorian is arguing against the U.S. taking in more refugees because “there are many countries poorer and more screwed-up than Haiti,” despite the fact that he is generally opposed to accepting any refugees from even the most “screwed-up” countries. However, Krikorian hit a new intellectual low yesterday when he suggested that the reason Haiti is “so screwed up” (though apparently not screwed up enough), is because it’s home to a “progress-resistant culture” that simply “wasn’t colonized long enough”:
My guess is that Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough…But, unlike Jamaicans and Bajans and Guadeloupeans, et al., after experiencing the worst of tropical colonial slavery, the Haitians didn’t stick around long enough to benefit from it. (Haiti became independent in 1804.). And by benefit I mean develop a local culture significantly shaped by the more-advanced civilization of the colonizers.
In fact, Haiti’s comparatively short-lived colonial history might be the best thing the island had going for it. Haiti’s revolution inspired the fights for independence across Latin America and ushered in the end of slavery in the New World. Meanwhile, a never-ending sphere of Western influence and self-serving intervention probably offers a better explanation for why Haiti is as “screwed-up” as it is. Unlike the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, and Guadalupe, Haiti has long been the “poster case for the vicious circle of colonial and foreign intervention, poverty, violence and political instability.”
Ultimately, Krikorian’s assessment of what’s wrong with Haiti is based in the same perception of the relative cultural inferiority of non-Western nations that guides many of CIS’ immigration positions. In his book, Krikorian argues that modern-day immigration “weakens our common national identity, limits opportunities for upward mobility, threatens our security and sovereignty, strains resources for social programs, and disrupts middle-class norms of behavior.” Earlier this year, Krikorian admitted that he believes there isn’t enough pressure for “Anglo-conformity.”
Cross-posted at the Wonk Room.
King On Deporting Haitians: ‘Don’t Deport Them But Don’t Give Them Temporary Protective Status’
King On Deporting Haitians: ‘Don’t Deport Them But Don’t Give Them Temporary Protective Status’
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months to the roughly 100,000 Haitians living illegally in the United States. The announcement was made after lawmakers from both parties called to grant the status that is available to a small number of federally-designated countries suffering armed conflicts, natural disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances.
But not every lawmaker is satisfied with the decision. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) called the measure “amnesty” last week, saying “illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers, and many of them could be a big help to their fellow Haitians.” On the Fred Thompson show yesterday, King appeared to walk back his deportation comments while still rejecting Temporary Protective Status:
KING: Well, the first thing that happened was we hadn’t even gotten through the after shocks and people were still crying out from under the rubble and the open borders amnesty crowd jumped on that and used the Rahm Emanuel axiom, which is never let a crisis go to waste. And it began to call for Temporary Protective Status for the illegal Haitians that are in the United States, which about thirty, thirty thousand of them have been processed for deportation but not sent. And maybe there’s another hundred thousand of them here. And my objection to that is that, first, the Department of Homeland Security suspend the deportations to Haiti. That is the proper thing. We can’t be sending people back into a chaotic atmosphere. By the same token, we don’t need to be knee jerking a decision that grants amnesty to people that have contempt for American laws. So, I say take a deep breath on that. Don’t deport them. But don’t give them Temporary Protective Status because those who are here illegally from Haiti if they get TPR, it’s almost an automatic green card, which is a path to citizenship. We shouldn’t award people who broke American laws because there’s a disaster in Haiti.
Listen here:
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) attacked the extension of TPS yesterday as well, telling right-wing radio talker Laura Ingraham that it “has nothing to do with trying to help the people of Haiti during this tragedy. It looked like a convenient way to be compassionate.” Listen here:
As the Wonk Room’s Andrea Nill pointed out last week, “Allowing undocumented Haitians who are already living in the U.S. to legally work would help them earn the honest wages they need to send back money to their families and get their country back on its feet.” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) wrote on CNN last week that “it makes no sense to tell Haitians already here that they can stay in the U.S. in the wake of the earthquake, but cannot legally support themselves.”
Obama administration grants undocumented Haitians Temporary Protected Status.
Obama administration grants undocumented Haitians Temporary Protected Status.
After activists and over 80 lawmakers, including at least eight Republicans, called on the Obama administration to grant undocumented Haitian immigrants already in the U.S. Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced yesterday afternoon that Haitian nationals who were in the U.S. at the time of the earthquake in Haiti will be permitted to over-stay their visa for the next 18 months. A statement released by DHS on behalf of Napolitano reads:
As part of the Department’s ongoing efforts to assist Haiti following Tuesday’s devastating earthquake, I am announcing the designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010.
This is a disaster of historic proportions and this designation will allow eligible Haitian nationals in the United States to continue living and working in our country for the next 18 months. Providing a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this Administration’s continuing efforts to support Haiti’s recovery.
Napolitano is careful to note that TPS will not be granted to those who attempt to travel to the United States after January 12, 2010 and that Haitians who try to enter the U.S. without documentation from there on out will be repatriated.
Rep. King: Undocumented Haitians Should Be Deported Because Haiti Is In ‘Great Need Of Relief Workers’
Rep. King: Undocumented Haitians Should Be Deported Because Haiti Is In ‘Great Need Of Relief Workers’
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti this week, many activists and politicians have heightened the cry for granting undocumented Haitians in the U.S. Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS is a longstanding cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy that is afforded to undocumented immigrants from a small number of federally designated countries suffering armed conflicts, natural disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances until conditions improve. Many claim Haitians should’ve received TPS after four consecutive tropical cyclones in 2008 left 800 people dead, hundreds missing, and made the Haitian city of Gonaives “uninhabitable.”
However, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) seems to think that not only were undocumented Haitians undeserving of TPS status then, undocumented Haitians living in the U.S. should now be deported back to their country to specifically serve as much-needed relief workers. ABCNews reports:
“This sounds to me like open borders advocates exercising the Rahm Emanuel axiom: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste,’” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in an e-mail message to ABCNews. “Illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers and many of them could be a big help to their fellow Haitians.”
Members of King’s own party disagree. Though none of three GOP lawmakers is a co-sponsor of Rep. Luis Gutierrez’s (D-IL) comprehensive immigration reform bill, Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) have called on President Obama to grant TPS to undocumented Haitian immigrants, “a virtual lifeline for such an impoverished country.” Even the not too immigrant-friendly Mark Krikorian claims that TPS “was invented precisely for cases like Haiti today.” Dan Stein, director of the designated hate group Federation for American Immigration Reform, suggests coupling TPS for Haitians with the termination of TPS and the deportation of other nationals who he believes no longer “merit” it — an unusually generous recommendation for someone like Stein.
The Obama administration has agreed to halt the deportation of undocumented Haitians, though those currently held in detention centers will remain jailed unless TPS is granted. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) points out, that “it makes no sense to tell Haitians already here that they can stay in the U.S. in the wake of the earthquake, but cannot legally support themselves.”
More at Wonk Room.
Anti-Immigrant Group Endorses Massachusetts Senate Candidate Scott Brown
Anti-Immigrant Group Endorses Massachusetts Senate Candidate Scott Brown
Yesterday, the anti-immigrant group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) announced its endorsement of Massachusetts state Senator and GOP Senate candidate Scott Brown. ALIPAC commends Brown for opposing “amnesty” and for denying undocumented immigrants drivers licenses as a state legislator and his opposition to granting undocumented youth in-state tuition:
“Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC) is endorsing Scott Brown for U.S. Senate today due to his campaign’s focus on the issue of the illegal immigration and his opponent Martha Coakley’s support for Amnesty for illegal aliens.
Scott Brown has publicly stated he opposes Amnesty for illegal aliens while Coakley has state she supports Amnesty,” said William Gheen, president of ALIPAC. “His vote in opposition to Amnesty will be needed in a few weeks as President Obama, with Democrats in the Senate and House, and a handful of misguided Republicans attempt to pass new Amnesty legislation.”
ALIPAC states that it is making a donation to Brown’s campaign and is urging its 30,000 members to donate, volunteer, and vote for him. Meanwhile, the Southern Poverty Law Center points out that the group “is supported by” the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a designated hate group. ALIPAC claims to only support “candidates who make illegal immigration reduction a top priority.”
Brown’s challenger, Martha Coakley, is attacked by the group for having “clearly stated she supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform Amnesty.” It’s true that Coakley has pledged to “reform our system to ensure illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.” Yet while amnesty is defined as an action that unconditionally pardons a group of people without imposing any penalties, a path to citizenship usually implies an earned process of legalization which would involve registering with the government, submitting to background checks, paying taxes, learning English, and paying a fine. Coakley and Brown are in a tight race for the Senate seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) — a champion of immigrant rights and a tireless advocate for comprehensive immigration reform.
Cross-posted at the Wonk Room.
GOP plans on reintroducing legislation to ban and deport immigrants from ‘terrorist’ countries.
GOP plans on reintroducing legislation to ban and deport immigrants from ‘terrorist’ countries.
This past week, Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC) announced his intention to update and reintroduce the Stop Terrorists Entry Program Act (STEP) that would prohibit “the admission of aliens from countries designated as State Sponsors of Terrorism as well as Yemen to the United States.” Barrett originally introduced the legislation back in 2003 and believes recent events have created an even greater need to “secure America” by amending the Immigration and Nationality Act to ban immigrants from Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Yemen and Syria from ever stepping foot in the U.S.:
While President Obama may have declared an end to the War on Terror, it is clear our enemies did not get the message. Twice in the past two months, radical Islamic terrorists have attacked our nation and the Administration has failed to adapt its national security and immigration policies to counter the renewed resolve of those who seek to harm our citizens…In light of these unfortunate facts, I intend to introduce legislation that will enhance our national security through common sense changes to our current immigration laws. The STEP Act of 2010 bars the admission of aliens from countries designated as State Sponsors of Terrorism [...]
However, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) points out that neither alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan nor Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who has been charged with trying to detonate a bomb on a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, would’ve been “affected in the slightest” by Barrett’s proposed bill. NIAC has launched a national campaign against the bill, which it describes as “offensive to American principles, harmful to US interests,” and discriminatory. Barrett is currently running for governor of South Carolina and was recently criticized for missing more than one-third of all votes taken in 2009, “by far the highest number among all members.”
A Self-Described ‘Wiser Lou Dobbs’ Supports Legalizing Undocumented Immigrants
A Self-Described ‘Wiser Lou Dobbs’ Supports Legalizing Undocumented Immigrants
Former CNN anchor and anti-immigration reform crusader Lou Dobbs appeared on the O’Reilly Factor last night with an interesting announcement. Dobbs told host O’Reilly that he supports immigration reform with a path to citizenship and also lamented his “combative nature” during the 2007 immigration debate. Dobbs continued insisting that his position on immigration hasn’t changed, explaining that he simply overemphasized border security in the past to the exclusion of legalization and that a “wiser Lou Dobbs” has emerged who is committed to promoting both:
DOBBS: I think the essence of the legislation of 2007 is right: pay a fine, learn English, commit to assimilation in the United States, and begin a path to citizenship…there should also be another guest worker program. [...]
O’REILLY: You sound very moderate. As you said, “I’m the tougher guy here.” Why do you think Hispanics come after you so hard?
DOBBS: I think in part — one thing is my own stupidity. I put forward a statement: rational, effective, humane policy…the emphasis became in the debate of my combative nature the issue of border security first and foremost, versus reforming immigration policy. I’m saying the same thing, but I’m keeping it absolutely combined.
O’REILLY: So you’re a kinder, gentler Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: I’m a wiser Lou Dobbs.
Watch it:
Politifact found “no point-blank case” in which Dobbs has explicitly opposed legalizing undocumented immigrants, however he did repeatedly refer to the immigration legislation he praised last night as an “amnesty bill” during the 2007 debate. Dobbs also slammed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and President Obama during the 2008 presidential race for supporting “[guest worker] programs that bring in cheap foreign labor at the expense of American workers.” Last month, the anti-immigrant group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC announced it was dropping its support of Dobbs, citing a perceived change of views that “deeply offended his base.”
Despite his new proclaimed emphasis on border security and legalization, during the beginning of the segment a supposedly “wiser” Dobbs told O’Reilly that a recent bill introduced by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) is nothing but a “a list of what the open-borders amnesty crowd wants.” Gutierrez’s bill would establish an earned legalization program with requirements similar to those proposed by Dobbs and also includes several provisions aimed at beefing up border security.
Cross-posted at Wonk Room.
Former Racial-Profiling Critic Geraldo Rivera Now Supports Profiling Muslims: ‘That’s Just The Way It Is’
Former Racial-Profiling Critic Geraldo Rivera Now Supports Profiling Muslims: ‘That’s Just The Way It Is’
As a whole host of Fox News guests and contributors have in the past supported racial profiling, one hold-out has been Geraldo Rivera. As Think Progress has documented, following the Fort Hood massacre, he passionately attacked the ineffective and discriminatory practice on Fox and Friends, where he warned against casting a “gloomy cloud of suspicion” on all Muslims and recounted his father’s fear of racial profiling as a Hispanic:
RIVERA: I think that the great tragedy of [terrorism] is that it will cast a gloomy cloud of suspicion over all the Muslim GI’s who serve with great honor …. I remember my dad, just very briefly, when we were growing up there would be a notorious crime and my dad used to gather the family and we used to say a little prayer, please God that it’s not a Puerto Rican. …. This is the same thing with American Muslims.
Watch it:
Unfortunately, on Fox and Friends this morning, Rivera reversed his position on profiling people based on their faith or country of origin. After recounting a story about how he was unhappy to be inconvenienced by his brief time on the no-fly list, he explained that “in the old days, Latinos sacrificed” by being profiled during the drug war, and that now Muslims should face similar profiling because “that’s just the way it is“:
RIVERA: How could this guy be on the no-fly list if I was on the no fly list? …. If I’m getting it, why can’t anyone from any one of these suspect countries get one of these hands-on, nothing stops that kind of stuff? …. I believe that we all sacrificed something. In the old days, Latinos sacrificed, Latinos were profiled during the anti-drug war and we had to take it. Now people from these Muslim countries, specifically like Yemen and Iraq and Afghanistan they have to understand that it’s a reasonable precaution, it’s a constitutional classification …. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. …. We need some racial profiling, I’m sorry.
Watch it:
Perhaps Rivera should listen to his own response to Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert when satirically asked if bigotry against hispanics could be reduced by redirecting it towards Muslims: “There is a maddening tendency once your group gets over the immigrant bridge to burn the bridge so no one else can get over it. The Irish definitely encountered the same kind of hostility. It must have been some equivalent to right-wing talk show thugs then too.”
Study predicts $1.5 trillion increase in GDP if undocumented immigrants are legalized.
Study predicts $1.5 trillion increase in GDP if undocumented immigrants are legalized.
A new study by University of California at Los Angeles professor Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda suggests that comprehensive immigration reform, which includes an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants, could generate at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. Hinojosa explains the data behind his immense calculation:
All immigrant workers in this scenario have full labor rights, which results in higher wages — and higher worker productivity—for all workers in industries where large numbers of immigrants are employed. As wage and productivity levels rise, the U.S. economy’s demand for new immigrant workers actually declines over time as the market shrinks for easily exploited, low-wage, low-productivity workers. [...]
The higher earning power of newly legalized workers translates into an increase in net personal income of $30 to $36 billion, which would generate $4.5 to $5.4 billion in additional net tax revenue. Moreover, an increase in personal income of this scale would generate consumer spending sufficient to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs…
According to Hinojosa, a mass deportation program often cited by right-wing enforcement-only advocates would actually result in a loss of $2.6 trillion over ten years while a solution that only consists of a temporary worker program that labor unions vehemently oppose and some moderate Republicans support would only yield $792 billion increase in GDP and also lead to a decrease in wages.
More at the Wonk Room.
Rivera Calls Dobbs An ‘A——,’ But Denies Threatening To Quit If Fox News Hired Him
Rivera Calls Dobbs An ‘A——,’ But Denies Threatening To Quit If Fox News Hired Him
The New York Daily News reports that a “well-placed source” claims that Geraldo Rivera has told Fox News president Roger Ailes that he’ll quit if former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs is hired by the network. Rivera has denied by the rumor, but has also made clear that Dobbs would not be welcomed with open arms:
Rivera, who has blasted the nativist Dobbs for his “slander” against Latinos, tells us [New York Daily News], “I never threatened to quit.” But he did let Ailes know he wouldn’t welcome working with the man who has called him a “cowardly liar.” Says Geraldo: “The last time I checked, no one here was talking to the a——.”
Still, Ailes is said to be considering Dobbs for the Fox Business Channel. “The trouble is Dobbs wants too much money – like $8 million a year,” says an insider. “But Dobbs doesn’t have much leverage. Since he quit CNN, he can’t go to CNBC.” Hiring him at Fox Business is bound to irk that channel’s Dobbs-phobes, John Stossel and Stuart Varney. But a rep for Ailes insists he isn’t eyeing Dobbs for anything.
Chances are Rivera’s spat with Dobbs has become deeply personal. In October, Rivera credited Dobbs for being “almost single-handedly responsible for creating, for being the architect of the young-Latino-as-scapegoat for everything that ails this country.” Dobbs responded by describing Rivera as “annoying” and full of “vile stupidity and ignorance that he spews everywhere he goes.”
Curiously, Rivera doesn’t seem to have a big problem working with other Latino- and immigrant-bashers at his network. The blame doesn’t just rest on Dobbs’ shoulders when it comes to generating an atmosphere of hate, misinformation, and fear that surrounds the immigration issue. Fox News anchors Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and many others have all served up a daily dose of slander. While Rivera has heatedly challenged his colleagues’ views, he certainly hasn’t put his job on the line over such differences.
(HT: TV Newser)
Greenspan says more immigration could help clean up the economic mess he left behind.
Greenspan says more immigration could help clean up the economic mess he left behind.
Today, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was invited to speak before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on the nation’s economic future. During his testimony, Greenspan indicated that an increase in legal immigration, from an economic point of view, is imperative to “growing the economic pie” and that ramped-up deportations could spell economic suicide:
LIEBERMAN: Forget all the politics of this — if we had a significant increase in America of legal immigration that would be one way to grow the economic pie?
GREENSPAN: It would be. … We have a very large number of immigrants who are high school or less educated, a significant part of whom are illegal. And then we have a remarkably large number of Ph.D.’s and better who have come to this country and contributed immensely to our economic success. I argue that both groups are affecting the economy in a positive way. If we try to send all our illegals home…speaking as an economist, I will tell you, we would have a very serious problem. There are 12 million of them.
LIEBERMAN: I am not suggesting we increase legal immigration as a way to deal with the national debt. But it does have those positive economic implications.
GREENSPAN: Oh it certainly does, Mr. Chairman.
Watch it:
Greenspan may not be a very popular amongst his colleagues these days, but he appears to have found something that he and other reputable economists can agree on. Earlier this year, Tom Freidman wrote, “When the best brains in the world are on sale, you don’t shut them out. You open your doors wider. We need to attack this financial crisis with green cards not just greenbacks.” Current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has indicated that in order to overcome the effects of an aging population, immigration would have to rise to 3.5 million people annually. The Center for American Progress has estimated that mass deportations could cost the U.S. up to $230 billion or more.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Slams Down Right-Wing Call For An Immigration Moratorium
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Slams Down Right-Wing Call For An Immigration Moratorium
Last week, Politico featured a piece by right-wing pundit Pat Buchanan suggesting that rather than talking about a second stimulus package, tax credits, or public works projects, lawmakers should be seriously considering an immigration moratorium during these hard economic times. A few days later, former Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) authored an op-ed calling for a moratorium on legal immigration until “Americans are back on their feet.” ThinkProgress sat down with Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Hilda Solis yesterday to discuss what a ban on immigration, coupled with ramped up deportations, could mean for the U.S. as a whole:
I think we’d have a big shortage of workers out there and I think as we move through this decade, we’re going to see people retiring from different types of jobs…so who is going to help fill those positions?
You would probably see towns shutting down, communities shutting down. You’d see second and third industries being affected – restaurant industries, service sectors industries where immigrants tend to work and be found. It would also impact the current ability to put food on your table because if you don’t have a certain number of people out there doing jobs that others wouldn’t want to do, then how are we going to provide the sustenance we need for all our American families?
Watch it:
What Buchanan, Goode, and all the others advocating an immigration moratorium fail to note is that, because of the recession, both legal and undocumented immigration are at record lows. And while it’s true that many immigrants work side-by-side American workers, that doesn’t serve as credible evidence that there is a significant number of American workers who have pursued those jobs and lost a job opportunity to an immigrant. In fact, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), has found that “despite the controversy it generates, illegal immigration has no significant impact on the overall U.S. economy.” MPI has also pointed out that, as of November 2009, immigrants are facing higher unemployment rates than American-born workers due to the fact that they are more likely to work in sectors that rise and fall with the business cycle.
As Solis points out, immigration policies should also take into account the future needs of an aging population. University of Southern California professor Dowell Myers recently pointed out that “as baby boomers become seniors, immigrants can fill the roles vacated by boomers shifting modes within the economy.” If the U.S. cuts future immigration, it could be in for a rude awakening when the recession is finally over. In an event at the Center for American Progress yesterday, Solis and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said today that comprehensive immigration reform would do a better job of strengthening the U.S. economy by improving pay, benefits, and working condition for all workers, along with adding billions of new tax dollars to the nation’s coffers.
Unemployment probably isn’t Goode and Buchanan’s only concern. In 2006, Buchanan called for an immigration moratorium to preserve the dominance of the white race in America. “If we do not get control of our borders, by 2050 Americans of European descent will be a minority in the nation their ancestors created and built,” wrote Buchanan. That same year, Goode also warned that “we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States.”
Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.
Despite Previous Lawsuits, Arpaio Issues New Order Forcing Inmates To Listen To Christmas Carols
Despite Previous Lawsuits, Arpaio Issues New Order Forcing Inmates To Listen To Christmas Carols
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, run by the controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio, released a “news brief” this week announcing that it will be forcing the system’s 8,000 inmates to listen to “Christmas music” during the holiday season, even though the Arpaio has faced six lawsuits over the issue in the past two years. From the statement (written in Christmas-themed red and green fonts):
Arpaio claims that “[h]oliday music from all countries and faiths” will be represented in the play list, but he repeatedly refers to “Christmas music,” which of course excludes many faiths. According to ABC News, Arpaio said that “for agnostics,” he would “mix in the singing Chipmunks” — who also presumably sing Christmas carols. “We can’t say ‘Merry Christmas’ in the U.S., in the world anymore,” said Arpaio, fulling joining in the War on Christmas. “What are we coming to? I am saying it. I am singing it. It’s gonna be in this jail, and that’s the way the ball bounces.”
In previous grievances, inmates have called Arpaio’s stunt “cruel and unusual punishment” and said that it is forcing them to “participate in religious celebrations.” As the Phoenix New Times points out, “The practice of forcing people to listen to crappy music all day long has been used in the past for interrogation purposes. For example, the U.S. military blared Metallica music at detainees in Guantanamo Bay with the intention of breaking them down psychologically.”
Arpaio is not a benevolent sheriff trying to cheer up inmates during the holiday season. His unconventional tactics are often unusually cruel and sometimes outright racist. His deputies are on the lookout for people “who look like they just came from Mexico” (based on how they look and talk), and he has said that “illegals” are “all dirty” and should be “checked” like “fruits and vegetables.”
Recently Arpaio’s tactics gained attention again when a woman spoke out and said she was detained in Arpaio’s jail while nine months pregnant. She eventually had to give birth while shackled to a bed and then “was not allowed to hold her baby and was told that if no one came to pick up the child within 72 hours, the baby would be turned over to state custody.”
Latino Group Invokes The Bible To Counter A Pastor’s Census Boycott Campaign, Encourage Participation
Latino Group Invokes The Bible To Counter A Pastor’s Census Boycott Campaign, Encourage Participation
Earlier this year, the Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, began encouraging a full-out boycott of the U.S. Census on behalf of the Latino and immigrant community in protest of the failure to enact immigration reform. Rivera’s efforts have been widely perceived as damaging to the Latino and immigrant community he claims to be empowering. In response, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) has started using the Bible to target religious Latinos with a different message: What would Jesus do?
NALEO is handing out posters that illustrate the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. NALEO explains that the Gospel of Luke indicates that the reason Jesus was born in Bethlehem is because Joseph and Mary were fulfilling their civic duty by returning to the town to be counted by the Roman census. A poster printed by NALEO reads: “This is how Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary participated in the Census.” Nick Kimball, spokesman at the Commerce Department (which oversees the Census Bureau), said that the government played no role in creating the posters.
However, Rivera calls NALEO’s new campaign a “blasphemous” “assault against our Christian faith” and accuses the group of violating “the concept of separation of church and state.” Rivera, who has been using his position as an influential religious leader to promote his boycott, seems to be missing the irony. A lot of Rivera’s own critics have quietly accused him of staging a personal publicity stunt at the expense of his own community. Publicly, they have described him as a “misguided figure who could cause the loss of billions of federal dollars to Latino neighborhoods that need it most.” Even Latino pastors have affirmed that “a man of the cloth should not be pushing Latinos to do something that will ultimately hurt their community.”
Whether the poster is in poor taste or not, NALEO is responding to Rivera on his own turf by making an explicit religious appeal. The Pew Hispanic Research Center estimates that one in every six Latinos belongs to an evangelical church. Undocumented immigrants are among the least likely to participate in the Census and the Drum Major Institute warns that their non-participation could lead to inaccurate demographic information and result in costly mistakes in infrastructure, education, health care planning, and representation.
New right-wing Christmas carol: ‘Illegals in my Yard.’
New right-wing Christmas carol: ‘Illegals in my Yard.’
This weekend, Human Events posted an offensive parody of the famous Christmas carol, “Feliz Navidad,” entitled “Illegal Aliens In My Yard.” Besides repeatedly referring to undocumented immigrants as “illegals,” a term that’s considered pejorative and offensive by immigrant-rights organizations, the song primarily focuses on spreading false and hateful stereotypes about Latinos who are portrayed as bug-carrying invalids:
Illegals in my yard.
Illegals in my yard.
Illegals in my yard.
Sixteen arrive in a stolen car[...]They’re getting free organ transplants this Christmas.
They’re going to have anchor babies this Christmas.
They’re going to scream “sí, se puede” this Christmas.
Those illegals in my yard[...]They’re going to spread bubonic plague this Christmas.
They’re going to bring me lots of bed bugs this Christmas.
They’re going to pass tuberculosis this Christmas.
Those illegals in my yard.
Listen:
The spoof is one of the many creations produced by Talk Radio Network’s Matt Fox and AJ Rice’s “The Fox and Rice Experience.” Their low-brow repertoire also includes “Sasha Obama’s Big Mouth,” a voiced-over conversation between President Obama and his daughter that features the tagline: “when procreation goes horribly wrong.” Another Christmas melody, “We’re Beginning to Look A Lot like Marxists,” was posted last week. (HT: Right Wing Watch)
More at the Wonk Room.
Sotomayor’s opinion marks the Supreme Court’s first use of the term ‘undocumented immigrant.’
Sotomayor’s opinion marks the Supreme Court’s first use of the term ‘undocumented immigrant.’
Yesterday, the Supreme Court “released its first four decisions in argued cases this term,” including one marking Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s debut. The case concerned “whether federal trial-court rulings concerning the lawyer-client privilege may be appealed right away,” to which Sotomayor said no. The New York Times notes one particularly noteworthy part of Sotomayor’s opinion:
In an otherwise dry opinion, Justice Sotomayor did introduce one new and politically charged term into the Supreme Court lexicon.
Justice Sotomayor’s opinion in the case, Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, No. 08-678, marked the first use of the term “undocumented immigrant,” according to a legal database. The term “illegal immigrant” has appeared in a dozen decisions.
Terms like “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant” are considered pejorative and offensive by immigrants rights organizations. (HT: ImmigrationProf Blog)
Report: CNBC Was Considering Hiring Dobbs Until Latino Groups Pushed Back
Report: CNBC Was Considering Hiring Dobbs Until Latino Groups Pushed Back
This past Wednesday, CNBC dispelled rumors that were circulating throughout the week that former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs would be joining the business network. Meanwhile, Dobbs affirmatively told Fox Business News shock jock Don Imus that he didn’t even talk with CNBC and that he had “no idea where they even got that.” However, National Hispanic Media President Alex Nogales told ThinkProgress today that CNBC was in fact talking with Dobbs and that his hiring was, at least in part, thwarted by the same coalition of Latino, civil rights, and media-watchdog groups that successfully campaigned to get Dobbs off CNN airwaves.
For the last several months, the Basta Dobbs and Drop Dobbs campaigns pushed CNN to sever ties with Lou Dobbs. CNN, while denying any connection to the intense pressure it felt, did end its long relationship with Dobbs. When the New York Times reported that CNBC was in negotiations with Dobbs, many of these same civil rights groups chose to similarly and quickly pressure CNBC. The groups, in a letter, warned CNBC that such a move “would be a clear demonstration that CNBC is willing to use its airwaves to promote hate.” They “respectfully” requested the network “refrain” from hiring Dobbs.
Nogales says he reached out with the groups’ concerns to Executive Vice President of Diversity for NBC Universal, Paula Madison, and informed her that his group had signed the letter and she should expect all the major Latino civil rights advocacy organizations and their allies to do the same. Nogales brought up the $30 billion pending deal between Comcast and General Electric on the acquisition of NBC Universal, pointing out that an ugly public battle would not be in NBC’s best interest. According to Nogales, he received a call one hour later from Mark Hoffman, President of CNBC, extending his sincere apologies and assuring Nogales that CNBC would not be offering Dobbs a job. Nogales says that CNBC was in fact talking with Dobbs, though it was unclear whether the two parties had reached an accord before Hoffman contacted him.
Nogales believes CNBC’s decision is yet another affirmation of the power of the Latino community and slams the new “immigrant-friendly” position that Dobbs adopted in his interview with Telemundo’s Maria Celeste last month:
This is a big win for the Latino community…we’re showing our power by collaborating with other groups and putting pressure on networks to do the right business thing. We’re ready to take on the antagonists.
Dobbs is opportunistic. For years he’s been hitting on us [Latinos] on every front — immigration, health care, the economy — and then all of a sudden he says he’s our champion. You’d have to be blind or stupid to believe that he’s our friend or that he’s going to help Latinos advance in society…as far as we are concerned, the damage is done.
On his radio show this week, Dobbs continued claiming that his Telemundo interview was not a flip-flop, but rather the reaffirmation of the same “humane” immigration views he has always held and expressed. The successful Comcast – General Electric agreement was announced yesterday.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll