No, it was as if a huge part of the Mexican population suddenly emerged to let us know that they snuck into our country illegally and they have demands.
Posted on 04/13/2006 2:56:41 PM PDT by David1
THE OPPENHEIMER REPORT Hispanics should say 'gracias' to anti-Latin zealots BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com
On behalf of the 40 million Hispanics in the United States, I extend my gratitude to the three people who have done the most to energize the ''Latino power'' in the United States: immigrant-phobic Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.; CNN's Lou Dobbs, and Harvard Professor Sam Huntington.
Without the ''three amigos'' of the anti-immigration cause, we would have never seen the unprecedented crowds of Hispanic protesters that filled the streets of more than 100 U.S. cities in recent days.
More than 500,000 protesters -- most of them Hispanics -- marched in Los Angeles two weeks ago, while another 500,000 demonstrated in Dallas on Sunday, and hundreds of thousands in other U.S. cities on Monday. They were protesting the draconian Sensenbrenner-sponsored bill approved by the House of Representatives in December, which among other things calls for criminalizing undocumented migrants and building a 700-mile wall across the U.S.-Mexico border.
A compromise bill that would provide a means for many undocumented immigrants to become citizens is to be taken up by the Senate after a two-week recess that ends April 24. And on Tuesday House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said final legislation won't include the felony provision.
The size of this week's demonstrations stunned everybody. It was as if a huge part of the U.S. population that until now had only existed as an abstract statistic had suddenly emerged from the shadows, to become an active part of American politics.
IMPACT IN CONGRESS
''The size and magnitude of these marches have been really surprising,'' Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, co-sponsor of the Senate compromise, told me Wednesday in a telephone interview. ``I think they have had a profound impact on the way people understand this issue in Congress.''
Many of the marchers were not undocumented immigrants, but legal residents and U.S. citizens who are angry at the Sensenbrenner bill, and at the wave of Latin bashing that has filled the air waves over the past two years.
It's hard to blame them for their anger. How would you feel if you were a U.S. citizen with a live-in undocumented nanny, or a foreign fiancé, and you could be charged under the Sensenbrenner bill's expanded definition of ``alien smuggling''?
And how would you feel if you were an undocumented Mexican gardener returning home after a 12-hour workday, turned on the TV set, put your feet on the coffee table and came across CNN's Dobbs warning America that you are a potential health risk, in addition to being a potential terrorist, a possible secessionist agent, who on top of everything is taking away American jobs?
On March 30, an alarmed Dobbs informed his audience that ''diseases are making an unfortunate comeback in the United States'' because of illegal immigration. On March 31, Dobbs alerted America that some Mexicans ''want to see California, New Mexico and other parts of the southwestern United States given over to Mexico,'' and that they are using illegal immigrants ``as an army of invaders to achieve the takeover.''
On April 10, Dobbs complained that poor and middle-class American taxpayers ''are paying the price'' of illegal immigration. And, periodically, Dobbs warns that terrorists may sneak through the Mexican border.
(Never mind that not a single one of the 9/11 terrorists came through the Mexican border, or that there are secessionist nuts in all countries or that the 4.7 percent U.S. unemployment rate is among the lowest in recent times, or that millions of undocumented aliens pay taxes but are not eligible for many benefits.)
And how would you feel if you were a Hispanic professional reading Huntington's latest book, Who We Are, and learned that America's ''national identity'' is threatened by Hispanic culture?
KEEP IT UP!
My conclusion: Thank you, James, Lou and Sam. With your help, what until now was a disorganized ethnic group has started to become a formidable political force in Washington, D.C. Don't abandon us. Keep it up!
Post Script: For the record, I'm not questioning the fact that there is a U.S. immigration crisis. But, as I explained in a Feb. 2 column, the only way to slow down the flow of migrants will be to start narrowing the income gap between the United States and Latin America, among other things through U.S. aid linked to growth-oriented economic policies in the region.
E-mail Andres at: aoppenheimer@MiamiHerald.com
Anti-Latin? Playing the "race card" again!
I'd be just as pissed if 12 million Canucks jumped across the St Lawrence River, eh?
The miami herald has less credibility than USA today.
It is not a serious publication.
If they think the "Three Amigos" energized the Latinos, just wait until they see what happens when the general populace gets energized if the stupid Senate gives away the store!
He starts with an ignorant zinger
Ends with a milquetoast plea to be recognized as, well, not ignorant.
Trouble mind there.
You slimy creep! Take your Communist propaganda and go to North Korea. Tell them you're moving in.
"They were protesting the draconian Sensenbrenner-sponsored bill approved by the House of Representatives in December, which among other things calls for criminalizing undocumented migrants and building a 700-mile wall across the U.S.-Mexico border."
would someone 'splain this to me? I thought they were ALREADY CRIMINALS for crossing the border..
You know what, I feel nothing but empathy for Mexican citizens that remain in their nation and are thereby condemned to live a life less successful due to their government's policies. That still does not influence me to turn our nation into Mexico del Norte.
Trying to play this off as a dislike for latins, reveals an individual so out of touch with reality, that they disqualify themselves as a person with any wisdom to offer on this subject.
I respect law abiding Mexican nationals on their own soil. I even respect recently arrived Mexican nationals that followed the rules of our nation to come here. I cannot respect people who crash our nation in deference to our sovereignty.
Whether Mexican nationals, Guatamalans, Brazilians, El Salvadorians, Russians, Libyans, Israelis, French, the British or the citizens of any other nation, foreign nationals need to come here by following the guidelines that are prescribed by our nation's laws.
The color of their skin and the language they speak has NOTHING to do with it. I will provide one caviot on the last part of that sentence. We do not wish to relinquish English in vast regions of our nation due to a flood of new immigrants in numbers unable to assimilate.
Unabashed extortion alert!!
Me? Or Andres?
I read that you're Cuban in your profile. Knowing what you know, you have much more insight than the average American. You know either through story or life what would/could happen if these borders aren't controlled. It's good to know were on the same side, as I think our pro-law stances are the most tolerant and respectable views. It's not the skin that makes us American, it's the reason/respect of our good side.
No, it was as if a huge part of the Mexican population suddenly emerged to let us know that they snuck into our country illegally and they have demands.
Anti Latin?
Anti Immigrant?
I guess the poor ole Mongolians who crossed over the ice flow through Siberia and migrated down the Pacific coast line and then diffused throughout the continent just don't count enough genetically to even get third billing
Not even when the whole continent is claimed are they even mentioned as the reason for the claim...
imo
Not to assume too much (because I don't know where your directing your comments), but I think the poster doesn't share the views of the article.
Totally speculative.
Pure garbage! The "unprecedented crowds" of ILLEGALS and their sympathizers was drummed up, largely because of anti-American scum like C.A.N.S.W.E.R. and other communist groups who will stop at nothing to destroy this country to fulfill their communist utopia!
Keep up the rallies. All they're doing is backfiring.
500,000? I'm not impressed.
It sure surprised many people who thought illegal immigration wasn't that much of a problem.
They can see the millions who think our laws are to be ignored.
ping
Well, I was born here. I consider myself more of an American than Cuban. I just see this as a country's right to control their own borders. I don't see anything wrong with that. I had a huge argument with my Costa Rican boss over this a few months ago. He called the fence the next Berlin wall. I told him that was impossible since the fence is not meant to keep people in, but it is meant to keep people out.
I think Krauthammer said it best:
When you build a wall to keep people in, that's a prison. When you build a wall to keep people out, that's an expression of sovereignty.
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