PHOENIX (By Jon Garrido, Hispanic News) May 23, 2006 — Hispanic voters, many of whom (including me) responded favorably to President Bush’s campaign appeals emphasizing patriotism, family and religious values in Spanish-language media in 2004, now need to turn away from the administration on immigration and a host of other issues. Polarization on immigration brought about by Lou Dobbs, Kyl, Hayworth, Tancredo, Sensenbrenner and others expose true beliefs by not supporting comprehensive immigration reform. Therefore, the only way to make change in Washington is to have all American Hispanics vote for Democrats in 2006.

Some of the reasons I am changing my registration from Republican to Democrat:

• The Senate on Thursday voted to make English the national language of the United States, a historic move that arose out of its debate of comprehensive immigration reform. The vote also appeared to be an important moment of reaction against multiculturalism in the U.S. In recent weeks, large protests across the U.S. by supporters of immigrant rights have pointed to America's increasingly polyglot future. Although the immigration bill passed by the House last year doesn't have a similar provision, there is a separate "official English" bill in the House with strong support. The Senate's action on Thursday raises the prospect that when Senate and House members meet to iron out differences in their immigration bills, the final product will include an "official English" provision. Senator Inhofe's legislation originally called for English to be the nation's "official" language, but to draw enough support to pass his amendment, he made a subtle change, calling for English to be the "national" language. To some, this softened the measure slightly, but supporters said it made little difference. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the legislation struck him as invidious--if not in motivation, then in result. "While the intent may not be there, I really believe this amendment is racist," he said. "I think it's directed basically at people who speak Spanish."
• Former Jimmy Carter in an editorial wrote, "Competing legislation from the House of Representatives has strong racist overtones and is almost entirely punitive in nature. It would automatically brand all undocumented workers as felons and call for their mandatory deportation. Many of their children who are U.S. citizens would be left behind to be raised by distant relatives, friends, churches or state governments. The House bill would impose severe penalties on any employer who has hired them and calls for the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. Collectively, these moves are impractical and would be catastrophic to the American economy."

• This past week CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the United States Attorney General if his grandparents were legal or illegal. If the Attorney General was not an American of Hispanic heritage, this question would never have been asked. Full transcript below:

   

  BLITZER: Give us your — tell our viewers who aren’t familiar your personal story, how you got to where you are, your grandparents, your parents. They struggled, they came here. I don’t know if they came here legally or illegally. But give us the story.

  GONZALES: Well, three of my grandparents were born in Mexico. They came to Texas. My parents — both my parents were born in Texas extremely poor. My mother…

  BLITZER: When they came to Texas, were they legally documented, were they un-legally documented?

  GONZALES: You know what? It’s unclear. It’s unclear.

  And I’ve looked at this issue, I’ve talked to my parents about it and it’s just not clear.

  But in any event, my mother had a 2nd grade education — my father had a 2nd grade education, my mother had a 6th grade education. And my father worked construction.

  And so, for me, my life has — represents the American dream.

Jon Garrido, Owner and CEO
Hispanic News
www.Hispanic.cc
Jon@JonGarrido.com

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