I’ve been hearing from immigrant community members in my locale that the Republicans are losing Latinos for this reason. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s been going on for a while — the 1980s definitely had a lot of pro-Reagan Latinos, but after Clinton I’m not sure if that holds true any more as much as it did. I’ve definitely heard more anti-Republican talk than pro-Obama though lately, so it’s clear this issue is turning moderates off.

Of course I’m no position to gauge how many people are thinking this way, but if the best the GOP can do is turn red and have a blood vessel beating on their forehead talking about “illegal invaders” destroying white culture, at the same time as they’re blocking the kinds of policies that help middle class families stay afloat in our troubled economy, I’d say there’s not much hope for bringing out the Latino voters in droves.

At the very least I haven’t seen any immigrant families come out in support of the GOP proposals, even the ones who feel very strongly about curtailing unauthorized immigration. This issue is one that makes the link between the hard right and racists most visible and it’s not an easy problem to ignore, especially when you can feel the racial tension in your skin.

Both the US & Mexico face complex problems.Mexico’s economy & possibilities of upward mobility are serious & deep seated problems.

Mexico has used temporary (& permanent) immigration as a safety valve for a greatly dissatisfied population. To prevent a distinct possibility of civil unrest & political upheaval due to continued corruption in government and a very wide margin between the “haves” & “have-nots”: that “safety valve” will not close anytime soon.
Further, the exploitation of both migrant workers and indigenous labor brought about by several international “trade agreements” have benefited private corporate fiefdoms to the exclusion of the various nations as a whole.
Unfortunately this issue has been brought about by BOTH political parties in the USA. If some folks did their homework they would have found that powerful multi- national corporations have a long history of contributions to BOTH political parties. As disillusioning as that may sound it’s the unfortunate truth. {Documentation can be found via contribution reporting laws available through the GAO.}
A wise man once said “you can’t be disillusioned if you don’t have illusions in the first place”.

In times past, guy and gals from Mexico have come north to attempt to get away from a locked economic climate & corruption that breeds injustice. Now that we are getting a taste of that ourselves, we are reacting with fear toward a people. – A foolish error, as the person is not responsible for a infinitely more vast phenomenon.

The biggest mis-label is the term “middle-class”. The US is rapidly becoming a country of a very, very limited middle class. The proper economic label is “working class”; one who does not own the means of production & may be a few paychecks away from serious poverty.
Our neighbor to the south knows virtually no middle class – has not for generations & has been a controlled political powder keg for just as long.

On Facebook, many anti-rights groups create Discussion pages that are free and open to all to open dialog.

I encourage us all to find and share on these before they lock them down.

My goal is to connect with such fearful people and encourage them to care more deeply about what the effect of their proposals means for us all — deep deep suffering.

Here’s a sample Facebook discussion page, please keep searching for more, and spread your connections with fearful people to encourage tolerance:

http://www.facebook.com/board......5397221155

There are more — keep looking.

Click!
Love and hugs,
Peter Blaise

If my memory serves me correctly, wasn’t it just recent (presidential elections) that Tom Tancredo said Miami looks like a 3rd World, and didn’t Calif Gov. Schwarzenegger say that parts of Los Angeles looks like Mexico?

Didn’t they hang Julus Striecher for crap like this at Nuremburg?

Yes.

For the record, Herr Streicher was the editor and publisher of Der Sturmer (The Attacker), a pornographically lurid tabloid weekly as was said to be Der Fuerher’s favourite reading thanks to its “written-so-you-can-understand-it” approach to anti-Semitism.

Which, in its turn, only made the atrocities of the Holocaust all the more disgusting.