Another benefit from immigration: Cinco de Mayo

Land of the Free? Show me your birth certificate, buddy

I understand this actually happened, and though it was in Arizona, it's not related to their new law. No, it's federal policy. Carry your birth certificate if you don't look like the cop you're about to encounter.

http://www.azfamily.com/video/featured-videos/Man-says-he-was-racially-targeted-forced-to-provide-birth-certificate-91769419.html

Backlog could deny vote to many new citizens

This is concerning. A Washington Post story Thursday says the disorganized Bush administration is unable to process the doubling in new citizens' applications, so a lot of people we're counting on the Vote Democratic may not become citizens in time for '08.

Repeat: This is concerning.

And it was leading the DailyKos when I logged on at midnight. Here's the link to the Washington Post story.

Jeb backed driver’s licenses for the undocumented

Not often in agreement with our former governor, I found myself nodding positively through Beth Reinhard’s column in the Saturday Miami Herald. The other day I was mentally arguing against “Big Ed” Schultz on normally reliable Air America, WINZ AM940, as he raved against letting undocumented immigrants have licenses.

Schultz’ argument was that immigrants “take jobs” from American workers (Evidence, Ed?) and “drive down” wages (Maybe true), and so “80 percent” of Americans are against letting such immigrants have licenses. Ed, I’d like to hear what wording was used in the survey to get that overwhelming result. Maybe this: Should illegal aliens be given driver’s licenses so they can run down your grandmother?

Because I also have heard that Americans in general feel that immigrants should get a path to legalization and eventual citizenship, and it would seem contradictory that they not also get a driver’s license along the way.

My life experience includes living overseas a lot, and I’ve had driver’s licenses from Israel, Britain, Japan and Germany – as a legal resident, of course. Seems pretty routine to me – you live somewhere, you get a driver’s license there. If you get stopped it’s one less problem. It’s also part of living openly.

Reinhard’s column recalls that three years ago Jeb Bush supported a bill by a fellow Republican, Sen. Rudy Garcia of Hialeah, requiring background checks before granting such licenses. It failed utterly with other Republicans and did not become law.

Now it’s a fuss in New York with Gov. Elliot Spitzer’s proposal and Hillary Clinton’s wavering reply in this week’s Democratic presidential debate.

From neo-con paradise (The Hoover Institute) emerges a quote from Jeb: “Politicians use this as a wedge issue – it’s a loser.”

Again, I agree with Jeb on this. Thanks to Beth Reinhard for laying it out. Click here for a link to her column.

Dear editor

The Sunday Miami Herald gives almost three pages to readers’ letters in the Issues and Ideas section, in two areas in addition to the regular letters section next to the editorials.

One is the back page of the section where 10 letters appear with reaction to the recent “Poverty Peddlers” series.

The other is on page 2L with about as many letters on the columns on immigration by the Herald’s ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, who revealed the amazing story of himself being an illegal immigrant.

Bravo, Miami Herald!

Talk about health care …

While we’re thinking about the millions of children whose health care becomes more difficult or impossible with the president’s veto of the SCHIP bill, give a thought, too, to the people who do not survive their encounters with our health care system.

Edwidge Danticat’s uncle, for instance, who died in the Krome immigrant detention center for no good reason. She has a book out about this, powerfully told in the Miami Herald at this link and other places recently. Some of the comments at the link are of the viciously anti-immigrant variety. Adult supervision suggested.

Another victim: Martin Lee Anderson, 14-year-old inmate of a boot camp in northern Florida, who was beaten by guards for a half-hour. Not exactly health care, you say? What about the nurse who was present?

As we fix the health insurance business in the near or middle-distance future, let’s not forget that government health care is not the perfect answer.

UPDATE: Airports need to be considered along with hospitals as venues for critical health care. You'd think that people traveling should be in pretty good order, but in fact they may be in delicate condition. Roger Cohen's column in the Monday NY Times reminded me of the recent death in the Phoenix airport of Carol Ann Gottbaum. She became hysterical after missing a flight and was shackled and left alone in a holding cell, where she died. The column has a memorable phrase describing airports as "temples of zealotry." Remember the poor deranged man shot to death getting off a plane in Miami a few years ago? Here's the link to Cohen's column.

Somehow, we look down on some other cultures for lack of respect for life.

More Cuba -- it's the Univision weekend

This story is the big feature on the front page of Saturday's Miami Herald, so many of you have already seen it. It talks about the increase in migration from Cuba since Fidel Castro's illness was announced a year ago. The story also finds the reason why more are leaving, or at least what they say: they don't see much chance of freedom or prosperity after Castro, so why wait.

One more point of interest for me: the Herald's repeated use of the word illegal to refer to these migrants. This usage is, of course, quite common. But as it happened, I had just read a post in the MYDD blog in which Rudy Giuliani rejected the use of illegal to refer to people in the country without visas. And as he said, he was U.S. attorney in New York and he oughta know what's illegal and what's not. It's not a federal crime to be an immigrant without a visa, and those in that situation are processed through civil court, not criminal court. There you are: from Rudy's lips.

Now let's see what words our Democratic presidential aspirants use in this situation. And I will continue to wonder at the Herald's use of illegal. No doubt they've hashed it over and decided that's the word to use.

This and that in the news

Regarding immigration, looks like the Roman Catholic church is on our side. At least in Miami this weekend.

Harry Reid sees enough Republican defections to try again and try harder to end the war by Congressional action, according to the New York Times.


Republicans are said to be tired of Cheney, too. Not to be missed in that article is the quote from Orrin Hatch praising the Veep as a "straight shooter." Is Hatch forgetting something?

New citizens big in news again

Chairman Joe Garcia (standing) with two tables of volunteers waiting for new citizens to register to vote. June, Miami Beach.

Here’s the lead headline in Thursday’s New York Times (as seen in Florida, anyway): “Sharp Rise Seen in Applications for Citizenship.” First subhead: “A Sign of Hispanic Unease.” If this sounds familiar, check back to the June 22 post here about articles in the Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald about the flood of people taking the oath of citizenship at ceremonies in Miami Beach.

The NY Times piece has a related drift, focusing on a big jump in the numbers of people applying for citizenship. In May 115,175 applied, almost double the 65,782 last December.

What we’ve been doing in Miami-Dade County is to give vigorous help to the non-partisan groups that register new citizens to vote. Thousands of people concentrate in one place to attend these ceremonies, and all we have to do is be there afterward with a clipboard, smile and sign them up. Recently the ratio has strongly favored Democratic registration, sometimes more than 2 ½ to 1 over Republican signups – without overt persuasion.

The Times story adds detail to help explain this bonanza for our D side. It quotes a Californian who hadn’t considered becoming a U.S. citizen until he felt it was time to get politically active because his people were “not getting enough support.” Another said the same thing: “Now if I don’t like the way things are going, I can let the government know my opinion.”

This seems to be a new wrinkle in our country’s long history of immigration. In the past, haven’t most new immigrants concentrated on work and family and kept quiet politically? The NY Times report seems to find budding political activists among the newest citizens – people not willing to wait for the next generation of the U.S.-born to be active in politics. Is anyone surprised that they are unhappy with the way the Republicans are treating them?

So if someone stands up at the next county party meeting and urges that we redouble our efforts to register new citizens to vote, I’ll second that motion.

Beyond that, the NY Times story mentioned an initiative financed by the Illinois state government to help immigrants learn English and prepare for the citizenship test. It’s called the New Americans Initiative. Do we have something like that in immigrant-rich Florida?

Bush takes a whuppin'

Yet another article in the Florida press on how the Republicans are flailing. This one from the St. Pete Times.

And while we're at it, take a look at the LA Times today, which reminds us that W has taken two body blows now this week: first it was Sen. Lugar bowing out as a Republican backer of the failed Iraq policy, and then the Gang of 37 Republican senators said no to Bush on immigration.

Don't count him out, though. They found a bomb today in London. That should be good for a new round of fear-mongering.

Don't neglect to scroll down a couple items and check the related stuff about Fred Thompson.

More immigration in the news

The new edition of U.S. News and World Report (July 2) has a cutting quote from Joe Garcia. But Joe, should we really be telling the Republicans what they're doing wrong?

The succinct article is yet another indication of how Democrats need to hold that line on a rational immigration policy. Don't let yourself get sidetracked by otherwise good-hearted people who have been suckered by fear-mongering talking points.

• If they think immigrants reduce general wages and living standards, say it's not true.
• If they think immigrants are terrorists, say it's not true.
• If they think immigrants take work from "Americans," ask why the economy needs more immigrants to fill essential jobs, from farm fields to hospitals.
  
• No doubt that the border needs to be an orderly place, but walls are bad symbols and just displace the traffic to other areas.

Our Republican senator, Mel Martinez, is portrayed in the article as working hard on the immigration bill. He's also blitzing new citizens, as the featured speaker on July 4 at Disney, according to the Miami Herald. Check out that article, and, like me, you may wonder if Republicans have a lock on speaking/performing at naturalization ceremonies.

Joe hits 'em with sarcasm

Tuesday's Miami Herald had a nice long piece on the dubious immigration status of a host of a Republican fundraiser event in Miami. Kudos to DEC Chair Joe Garcia for a quote commending the hard work of an undocumented immigrant "like throwing fundraisers for the GOP." Link to fights deportation.

And on p. 1 of Tuesday's Herald, did you see the long workup on the wobbly condition of a religious right institution in Broward, the Center for Reclaiming America. Here's a link to political crossroads.

This is about the Coral Ridge Ministries of the Rev. James Kennedy. It raises interesting questions. As Howard Dean pointed out in his recent talk to us at Parrot Jungle, new churches today are as likely to be big on the environment and global warming as on their more usual hot-button social issues. Are we ready to welcome them to our revival tent?

Howard Dean wows Miami Dems

Howard Dean and Joe Garcia

Who would have thought that Tuesday noon was a great time to draw Democrats out of their dens? Just bring Howard Dean to Miami, announce a $20 lunch on Tuesday May 1 to meet him, and presto – 200 people turn out to clap and yell.

We are going to have some fun on the way to the summit of electoral success. This fine party was held at Parrot Jungle, in an amphitheater where people usually see trained birds perform. It got off to a cute start with a parrot using its beak to pull the halyard and raise the Stars and Stripes up a 5-foot pole for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Gov. Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told the crowd he’d come to Miami partly to draw Cuban-Americans back home to the Democratic Party, though his main message was related to the day’s demonstrations for comprehensive immigration reform.

Republicans scapegoat immigrants and blame them for all sorts of problems, he said, while the Democratic program stresses secure borders and enforcing the law. It’s impossible to round up 12 million people, he said, so Democrats favor giving honest immigrants a chance to get in line, pay a fine and earn citizenship – the kind of deal that 78 percent of Americans back in polls. Law-breakers would be deported.

“It’s not amnesty,” he said, but rather “earned legalization.”

Gov. Dean applauded Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to restore felons’ civil rights as a way to “make them more responsible people.”

The event included honors for two of the most veteran members of the Democratic Executive Committee of Miami-Dade County, Ginger Grossman and Eufaula Frazier, who received congratulations from the national chair as well as strong applause from the audience.

DEC Chairman Joe Garcia shared officiating with Executive Director John Hornbuckle and BJ Chiszar, whose position as a Florida field director reflects Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy of putting paid staff in as many places as possible.

UPDATE

The Miami Herald's Beth Reinhard attended and put this post up on the Naked Politics blog.