No Immigration Vote in 2013 Spells Trouble for the GOP in 2014 regarding rising Hispanic voters.
I wanted to share the below opinion from many local Arizona activists I work with. Viva and I have worked on getting out the vote, political and immigration reform activism in our State of Arizona. For the record, Rep. Nancy Pelosi confirmed we have the immigration reform votes right now. We have 190 votes with at least 28 Republicans supporting CIR. The question is when will the GOP put the topic up for vote in the Republican-led House of Representatives? And do they really have an urgency to fix the broken immigration system before the end of the year?
That said, politicians have told me they really don’t fear undocumented immigrants because they know they can’t vote, however, Mexican American / Chicanos can vote and we support CIR. Many of us were born here in the good ol’ U.S.A. and our families were here before those landed on Plymouth Rock. In other words, as an American citizen, we can vote and we will. Just as we did in 2012 when many didn’t believe we would come out in record numbers.
A Holiday Message for the GOP: Learn a Lesson From Scrooge… Depart From This Unforgivable Course
By Viva Ramirez
“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me.” — from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
Dear GOP,
I just saw an article in HuffPo saying that Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore) says that they will ‘act’ on an immigration reform bill before the midterm elections in 2014. Wait— Did you say 2014? As if 10 years wasn’t enough time for you to work it out? Nel ese! 2014 is too DAMN late! You think you’re doing us a favor by taking your sweet ass time before you acquiesce to the inevitable? Listen here you GRUMPY OLD MEN… if you think for one second that the Mexican American Voter will EVER forget that you made a conscious decision to allow 11 million immigrants waiting for reform to languish in the shadows for one more holiday season, to spend one more Thanksgiving praying with their families that you’re hearts open to their plight, to spend one more Christmas eating tamales with their children while the specter of deportation taps on their windows… So be it YOU IMMIGRATION MISERS…BE THEE WARNED.
If you choose the path of indifference instead of LOVE, if you continue to divide classes and families, if you continue to obscure the light of the American Dream from the masses clamoring for its warmth, you will become the SCROOGE of the American Dream! And make no mistake, just like ol’ Ebeneezer your political future will be visited by your deeds in in the present. The Ghost of Elections Past will remind you of the decades you spent fleecing Chicanos to your ranks with empty promises, The Ghost of Elections Present will recount your torturous political games you are playing with the lives of the many, villainizing and degrading our people, and turning your backs on those who are taxed to pay your salaries with out representation. Finally, The Ghost of Elections Future will show you the wages of your sins. Political Death. Take heed miserly old men! For the future is not yet decided. Time remains for you to do right by the people you serve and preserve your viability in the American political process.
Do the right thing gentlemen, PASS THE CIR BILL NOW and you may prolong your political existence. Ignore this call, and you will find yourselves in the spotlight of an awakened political GIANT determined to hold you accountable for this condescending denial of our American voice. Estamos wachando ese…
We will NOT be absorbed.
C/S