Undocumented workers, to some people, are not criminals.They are crimes. Hence the term “illegal aliens,” as if their very beings — not their acts — were against the law. The immigrants, if you take this attitude one step further, have no right to exist; like drugs and child pornography, they have been outlawed.

When viewed in this context, it is easy to see why people judge them so harshly. They are not individuals, after all. They are part of a nameless, faceless horde that takes our jobs, drains our economy and fills our politicians with blasts of hot air.

On this canvas, there are no shades of gray, no splashes of nuance. The landscape is black and white, and the message is bold and unmistakable: These people are illegal. Period.

This entire piece by Robert Seltzer is worth reading but I am only going to focus on the beginning. This is really the core of the immigration debate. One side sees human beings and the other sees nameless hordes.Some of us remember that we are a country built on immigrants and others have collective amnesia or better yet, see their ancestors immigration in a totally different light. They have dehumanized “illegal aliens” and see no resemblance between them and the immigrants of their own families. We seem to have forgotten that for the majority of our countries short life our borders have been open to all that come and the cost of citizenship was just showing up.

Which ever side of the debate you fall on take some time to look into the dangers of dehumanizing people and maybe think twice about your word choices in the future.

Technorati Tags: immigration, illegal aliens, dehumanizing,

Star-Telegram | 02/05/2007 | Public opinion doesn’t follow the numbers

Wow, it sure looks like illegal immigration has increased Farmers Branch’s crime rate and has hurt their property values something awful doesn’t it? That was the reason for the anti-immigrant laws that their council voted for, wouldn’t it have been a good idea to make sure that your reasons are sound before you voted. Alright, well maybe they were wrong about the crime and the property values but their argument that their schools are suffering must be true.

Public opinion doesn’t follow the numbers:

The Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district’s average SAT score bounced up and down for the last seven years but is still up 83 points from a decade ago, according to the Texas Education Agency. The class of 2005’s average SAT score was 1008. The state average was 992.The district’s state accountability rating, which is based on how well its students score on standardized state tests, rose to recognized from acceptable. The rating’s rise came after more and harder tests were introduced, agency spokeswoman Suzanne Marchman said. She said most school districts’ ratings went down under the tougher standards.

Oh my, how could that be! Their crime rate hasn’t gone up, their property values haven’t gone down and their schools are doing just fine. Well, then where are these horrible problems that immigrants are causing? Tim O’Hare, never to be one to turn down publicity does comment.

Public opinion doesn’t follow the numbers:

City Council member Tim O’Hare, who proposed the city ordinances now in dispute, dismissed the numbers and argued that Farmers Branch is not doing well compared with other cities in the county. He said real estate agents and teachers tell him in private that illegal immigrants are hurting the city.

“We have a large population of illegals in our city, and to say that does not affect property values or schools is just plain ignorant,” he said, pointing out that property values increased only 1.07 percent from 2005 to 2006.

He said property values are harmed partially because of illegal immigrants’ low incomes and their tendency to pack into one house or apartment.

O’Hare said such low-income areas tend to have higher crime, and he also linked that, in part, to illegal immigrants.

“Illegal immigrants, as a rule, don’t make a ton of money,” he said.

What incredibly sweeping generalizations you spew, Mr. O’Hare. I am so glad people have told you in private that they perceive a problem. I suppose if we stretch far enough every evil in the world could be linked to illegal immigrants can’t it? My goodness, there isn’t possibly any American Citizen that is low income and of course we know American Citizens who are low income don’t commit crimes, it’s only the low income illegal immigrants. Yeah, that makes sense. Not! So, what we are really talking about in Farmers Branch isn’t reality it is mass delusion.

Public opinion doesn’t follow the numbers:

Harvard University sociologist Robert Sampson said many people may not see the progress shown by state figures because they see so many Hispanics.

“People tend to perceive higher rates of crime and disorder in neighborhoods where there are higher concentrations of immigrants and minority groups,” he said.

Sampson and University of Chicago sociologist Stephen Raudenbush interviewed more than 3,500 Chicago residents about their perceptions of disorder in their neighborhoods. Their research found that increased concentrations of blacks and Latinos significantly increased people’s perception of disorder.

Maybe a reality check is in order. I think Tim O’Hare is beyond hope because it sure seems he has an ulterior motive for his actions but the rest of Farmers Branch needs to do a gut check and look at why they perceive disorder when the reality doesn’t bare that out.

Technorati Tags: Farmers Branch, Tim O’Hare, Illegal Immigration, English only laws, Texas, hispanic, latino,

MySA.com: Latino backlash against GOP immigration policy a gift to Demos

Republican efforts to placate anti-immigration voters by calling for enforcement-only laws, including a 700-mile border fence, appear to have backfired.

They also offer newly empowered Democrats with a gift-wrapped opportunity to press their advantage.

An exit poll of 1,215 Latino voters in eight states, including Texas, showed that in the midterm elections, 66.6 percent of Latino voters supported Democrats in congressional elections this year, while 28.7 percent supported Republicans.

The poll, released Friday by the William C. Velásquez Institute, showed that 17.8 percent of Latinos made their voting decisions based on immigration policy, compared with 3.4 percent in 2004.

I am looking at the bills that Leo Berman and Texas House and Senate Republicans are filing against Latinos and am just dumbfounded. They are oppressive, horrific pieces of legislation. They seem to have forgotten that our state is over a third hispanic. Well,  I think they remember but just don’t care. I can’t imagine how they can expect to be reelected and that gives me hope that my state will finally come around.

Under Berman’s proposal, these citizens would be excluded from public education, health care, disability assistance, unemployment payments, welfare and food stamps. The bill would even make them ineligible for state employment when they become adults.

He added that he plans to remove the prohibitions on public education and health care in his proposal because the federal government requires the state to provide those services.

But anything more, he said, should be off limits to legal U.S. citizen children of undocumented immigrants.

This is the dangerous part, as written now HB 28 is an outrageous piece of legislation and it will get people up in arms. If he removes those bits from it, it is still an outrageous piece of legislation but I can see that people wouldn’t be as angry or feel as much of a need to call or write their own representatives. Make no mistake with or without the education and health provisions of this bill it is still a racist, oppressive piece of legislation.

Oddly enough Leo Berman lists his 3 top priorities for this upcoming legislative session on project votesmart.

Project Vote Smart – Representative Berman – Issue Positions (NPAT):

Please explain in a total of 75 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
1. Secure the Texas – Mexico border – (using federal and state dollars)
2. Increase criminal penalties against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.
3. Administrative consolidation of independent school districts. (Savings = hundreds of millions in Public School Funding).

I have read every bill he has authored and nothing he is offering lends itself to his top 2 priorities. The bills he has authored are anti-latino and anti-citizen but do nothing to “secure the borders” or even touch businesses that hire undocumented workers.
There are almost 23 million people in Texas and 34.6 percent of them are of hispanic or latino descent. The republicans swept our state this year do you think they will next time with legislation like this?

Get involved!

Write to Leo Berman and tell him what you think of HB 28 and HB 29.

Find your representative and tell him/her to vote no.

Tell the texas house and senate members that we are not a racist state and we will not put up with oppression of any kind.

80(R) HB 29 – Introduced version – Bill Text:

A money transmission business shall charge a fee on a money transmission that originates in this state and is transmitted to a destination in Mexico or in Central or South America. The amount of the fee is eight percent of the total amount sent by the money transmission.

This only affects people from Latino countries. If I am say a terrorist from a middle eastern country he isn’t bothered if I send money back to an Al Queda camp, only if anyone sends money to one of the impoverished countries south of us. I just don’t know how to spell this out any more to show just how racist this man’s bills are. I think it speaks for itself. Aren’t the people of Texas proud to have him representing us?

In HB 29 he does allow a refund of the fee if you fill out the correct form and provide 2 forms of identification within 90 days. I don’t know about everyone else but I don’t even send in rebates that I only have to include a receipt with. I always mean to but in the end I never do. Leo Berman is a blight on Texas, I know we have some time to wait but we can’t allow him to spend another term in office.

]]> http://digdeepertexas.com/2006/11/18/what-is-wrong-with-this-man/feed/ 1