LatinaLista — It was only a matter of time before the hardline GOP members would agree with the immigration reformists, and the day has finally arrived.
In the words of Terry Strine, the Chairman of the Delaware Republican Party:
“…we in the party around the country fear and feel that no one in Washington is listening to, or cares about, what we feel about issues and policy…”
Being ignored really sucks.
So, it’s not surprising that those in the GOP, who see any kind of immigration reform as a synonym for amnesty, are doing something to get their voices heard.
Forty-seven members of the 168 who belong to the Republican National Committee have signed a resolution that opposes granting legal residency to the undocumented and calling for all means necessary to secure the borders, including utilizing the regular Army, as well as, the National Guard and “complete the construction of the border fencing that has been authorized.”
The resolution is already endorsed by state party chairmen in 14 states in the Northeast, Midwest, South and West.
The resolution, fashioned by Arizona Republican Chairman Randy Pullen, asserts that the “ability of millions of unidentified persons to illegally enter and remain in the United States presents a grave risk to the sovereignty” of the nation and the American people.
The GOP members who drafted this resolution are calling it a “common-sense approach” to illegal immigration.
Unfortunately, there’s no evidence of any common sense being used in the drafting of this resolution.
To say that allowing the millions of unidentified persons to remain presents a “grave risk to the sovereignty” of the country is a fancy way to package the true fears the Republican Party has: that 12 million Hispanic immigrants have the potential to change the demographic, linguistic and cultural landscape of this country.
Even though study after study proves that subsequent generations assimilate into the fabric of American life, it’s not enough for some Republicans, who, now that it is on record, obviously feel threatened by so many brown people in their midst.
Ã…nd that seems to be the bottom line.
Analysts are saying that for the GOP committee to draft such a resolution in defiance of the Party’s leadership, especially with a sitting president of their own party, is a rare move.
It is also a desperate move.
If the signers of this resolution were so concerned with the security of this country, they would have drafted a resolution that recognized the unrealistic expectations of hunting and deporting 12 million people.
They would have brought these people out of the shadows, give them the legal means to work and pay taxes and started them on the road to citizenship while creating a program that recognizes the need this country has for low-skilled labor and the need of people in other countries that only want to come to work but return to their own countries.
But no, some members of the GOP have adopted an extremist crusade against undocumented immigrants, and even those that advocate for them.
Aside from this resolution, another example of this mindset can be found in Oklahoma.
Representative Randy Terrill, a principal sponsor of House Bill 1804 that passed in Oklahoma curbing public benefits and denying jobs to undocumented immigrants is mad that a group in Tulsa, Oklahoma is challenging his bill.
The United Front Task Force has created a pubic-awareness campaign of what Bill 1804 entails for the state’s Hispanic residents.
With the headline “Is it OK? …for Oklahoma to have a law that promotes hate among people?” planned for a billboard along a busy Oklahoma highway, the group has established a legal fund to fight the constituionality of the bill.
It seems Rep. Terrill doesn’t like that.
Rep. Randy Terrill
(Source: OkHouse.gov)
Yet, instead of recognizing the fact that in a democracy this is one route of how issues are addressed, Terrill refers to the group as a “rogue” group and is demanding that they identify their financial supporters.
The lawmaker (Terrill) said his bill passed the House and Senate by overwhelming majorities and was signed by the governor, making it clear that “it is the will of the people” that the law be enforced.
“And yet we have this rogue group working in secret, hiding behind a legal technicality to engage in what is clearly political activity,” he said.
“This group is trying to use the judiciary to indirectly accomplish a goal they cannot achieve through the political process.”
Terrill exemplifies the hypocritical nature of this debate as far as Republicans have fought it. To say it is the “will of the people” is a blanket statement that doesn’t recognize those who were not in favor of this bill.
And to accuse the group of engaging in “political activity,” well, last we checked any bill that passes through the House and Senate is an act of politics. Issues that polarize the country as immigration does, is a political issue.
All in all, it’s definitely politics.
And in politics, as everything else in life, when two opposing sides are heard, it’s only then that a true resolution can be reached.
