LatinaLista — One consequence of the immigration debate is that it has tagged all Latinos with the same labels: immigrant, Spanish-speaking and illegal.
Nothing matters to those who are intent on seeing every brown face or hearing every Spanish accent as illegal and a worthy candidate for abuse.
But in a second example, we’re seeing Latinos are fighting back.
In California, it’s reported that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a suit on behalf of a group of Hispanic construction workers who were the butt of racially offensive remarks and actions.
It seems the construction contractor is being hauled into court because the workers say that a supervisor would refer to them as “stupid Mexicans” and said “Latinos are the slaves of the twenty-first century.”
(Source: holamun2)
This same supervisor was said to use “crude” language when talking about them and would single them out from the rest of the workers to make them answer questions about alcohol and drug abuse.
Obviously, the supervisor didn’t get the memo that while there may be some types of Latinos who will endure that type of treatment to safeguard their jobs and lives, there are a lot more who won’t.
It’s interesting to note that the case was only pursued in the courts after the EEOC couldn’t reach a voluntary settlement with the company.
Guess they didn’t think a bunch of Mexicans could win.
Time will tell just how false that assumption has become.
Comment(5)
Frank
That is an outright lie! No one is tagging all Latinos as being illegal. By the way if they are legal, citizen Latinos, they are not Mexicans but Americans.
miguel
Frank, when the litmus test used to pull you out of a crowd at the Home Depot is the color of your skin, what part of being an American is being ignored?
David O.
Frankie,
Since when do you speak for all gabachos? I am a U.S. citizen and prefer Mexican American do don’t go about telling us what we are.
Frank
Who is being pulled out of Home Depot because of the color of their skin? I see more Hispanics working there than any other ethnic group here in Calif.
You can prefer Mexican-American all you want but you are an American by nationality if you were born here. It is just a fact.
Horace
Published: 10.09.2007
Union: Allow Phoenix cops to call immigration officials
The Associated Press
PHOENIX – A union for police officers broke with leaders of the Phoenix Police Department on Monday in calling for an end to an immigration policy that the union says makes streets in the nation’s fifth-largest city more dangerous.
The policy prevents police officers from asking federal immigration authorities for assistance in situations where illegal immigrants commit civil traffic violations.
The restriction and other city rules for handling illegal immigrants have long been criticized by advocates for tough border enforcement, who reject the long-held notion that immigration is a sole responsibility of the federal government. But such criticism has never surfaced publicly from the officers themselves.
“If we allow a little bit of lawlessness, what prevents more lawlessness from occurring?” asked Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, which represents more than 2,200 officers and detectives in the Phoenix Police Department.
Spencer said the call for a change was based on frustrations that officers feel in seeing crimes tied to illegal immigration and wasn’t inspired by last month’s death of a police officer at the hands of an illegal immigrant.
After his release from prison and subsequent deportation, the immigrant came back into the country and was arrested for misdemeanor assault in Scottsdale but wasn’t reported to federal immigration authorities. The immigrant was fatally shot by police as he pointed a gun at a carjacking victim’s head.
Spencer, whose group isn’t advocating local immigration enforcement, said criminal threats can sometimes be eliminated when officers confront people committing minor violations.
Jack Harris, who leads the city’s police department, said he was open to the union’s suggestion, but that he must consider whether such a change would be in Phoenix’s best interest.
He said the policy centers on immigrants who haven’t committed crimes other than entering the country illegally.
While few local law enforcement agencies in Arizona enforce immigration law, many local police have arrested illegal immigrants who violate state crimes.
Phoenix’s policies for handling illegal immigrants are frequently cited by some state lawmakers who have pushed unsuccessful proposals that would have done away with those practices.
Under the policy, the Phoenix Police Department can call federal immigration authorities in cases where immigrant smuggling vehicles are pulled over or scores of illegal immigrants are found hidden in houses run by smugglers.
But officers aren’t allowed to stop people for the sole purpose of determining their immigration status. Also, Phoenix police aren’t to arrest people whose only violation is an infraction of federal immigration law.
The union was requesting changes only to the prohibition on calling federal immigration authorities for those with civil traffic violations.
Harris and other police bosses in Arizona held a news conference Monday to renew their opposition to suggestions that local police conduct day-to-day immigration enforcement.
The police bosses said local immigration enforcement would jeopardize the trust that police officers have built with immigrant communities and detract from their traditional roles in cracking down on thefts, violence and other crimes.
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