ACLU: Emails From Author Of Arizona’s SB 1070 Prove Racial Motivation

ACLU: Emails From Author Of Arizona’s SB 1070 Prove Racial Motivation

The ACLU of Arizona has released thousands of emails it says prove that SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law, was racially motivated. According to a report by the Arizona Republic, the emails, acquired through a public records request, are to and from the author of SB 1070, recalled Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce (R). The documents may help the ACLU to convince a federal judge to prevent the “show me your papers” section of SB 1070 from going into effect.

Read the original Arizona Republic articles here:

• ACLU: Pearce e-mails prove SB 1070 was racially motivated
  
• SB 1070 opponents blast Pearce e-mails

The highlights of the emails include:

• “Last week, Denver’s illegal aliens sang our national anthem in Spanish and bastardized the words of OUR country’s most sacred song.”
  
• “Battles commence as Mexican nationalists struggle to infuse their men into American government and strengthen control over their strongholds. One look at Los Angeles with its Mexican-American mayor shows you Vincente Fox’s general Varigossa commanding an American city.”
  
• “They create enclaves of separate groups that shall balkanize our nation into fractured nightmares of social unrest and poverty.”
  
• “Corruption is the mechanism by which Mexico operates. Its people spawn more corruption wherever they go because it is their only known way of life.”
  
• “Tough, nasty illegals and their advocates grow in such numbers that law and order will not subdue them. They run us out of our cities and states. They conquer our language and our schools. They render havoc and chaos in our schools.”
  
• “We are much like the Titanic as we inbreed millions of Mexico’s poor, the world’s poor and we watch our country sink.”

Does his racism raise a legitimate concern? He defends his position with an email titled “What’s a racist?”

• “I’m racist because I don’t want to be taxed to pay for a prison population comprised of mainly Hispanics, Latinos, Mexicans or whatever else you wish to call them.”
  
• “I’m a racist because I believe the News Media has a duty to tell us the names and race of criminals.”
  
• “I’m a racist because I object to having to pay higher sales tax and property tax to build more schools for the illegitimate children of illegal aliens.”
  
• “I’m a racist because I dislike having to push one for English and/or listening to a message in Spanish.”
  
• “Factual is not racial. Realism is not racism. The new definition of racist is anyone winning an argument with a liberal, minority, pacifist, bible banger, or moron.”

While I can appreciate those sentiments - we all want to defend our own country, we all don't want to have to be burdened with taxes and social issues by passively permitting illegal aliens to abuse our system, but is this the best way to deal with the issue? By turning the United States into a police state run by a Gestapo? Is it expedient to turn border patrol over to someone who is clearly racist, because that makes the problem go away (for most of us, at least), or do we find a better solution that doesn't involve racial profiling and an exapnsion of the police state?

And history repeats itself...

Let's kick out anyone of Irish heritage...



And the Asians



And the Italians...



We are a melting pot....and an alloy is stronger than steel.

Racism is rust and corrosion...morals aside, it weakens us as a nation.

You may be right, but it seems that you're making the jump from nationalism to racism a little to easily. If the problem in an environment is too many rabbits, then wanting to crack down on rabbits isn't racism (or specieism). If the author sees too many (what's the correct term now; illegals, undocumented workers, I don't know, I can't keep up), and those people come largely from one country, it may not be racism.

reply to post by Indigo5


We are a melting pot, but immigrate here the right way. Don't slap the face of the people who waited their turn and paid their dues.

Stating facts does not make one a racist.

Immigration both legal and illegal in large numbers from 3rd world nations is yet another big reason why the U.S. is headed down the toilet.

What will this country be like in 50 or 100 years from now? Certainly nothing like what it is today or has been in the past.

reply to post by charles1952


What about his comments regarding Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa? He was born in Los Angeles and has lived his entire life in Los Angeles. Pearce has no justification for referring to him as a Mexican national whose goal is to infiltrate the United States government other than his Hispanic heritage. That is an example of blatant racism.

reply to post by Xcalibur254

Dear Xcalibur254,

Thanks for that, it's a good point. But I wonder if it's as damning as all that. The first sentence is:

“Battles commence as Mexican nationalists struggle to infuse their men into American government and strengthen control over their strongholds.

I'm not sure that that is so clearly false. I'm thinking about La Raza and other groups whose goals include taking back the southwest. The second sentence is

One look at Los Angeles with its Mexican-American mayor shows you Vincente Fox’s general Varigossa commanding an American city.”

Besides the deplorable spelling, is it wrong to call him a Mexican-American? People are often called (some nation)-American to indicate their heritage. I don't think that the mayor would be offended to be called that. Are people still being called African-American to indicate their roots even if they were born here?

With respect,
Charles1952

Originally posted by charles1952
If the problem in an environment is too many rabbits, then wanting to crack down on rabbits isn't racism (or specieism). If the author sees too many (what's the correct term now; illegals, undocumented workers, I don't know, I can't keep up), and those people come largely from one country, it may not be racism.

People are not rabbits and comparing certain ethnicities to the same is a bit dehumanizing.

More like White Rabbits complaining there are too many Brown Rabbits? What would you call that?

And not for nothing, but illegal immigrants have been dropping in number by record level leaps and bounds.

An analysis of census data from the U.S. and Mexican governments details the movement to and from Mexico, a nation accounting for nearly 60 percent of the illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Roughly 6.1 million unauthorized Mexican immigrants were living in the U.S. last year, down from a peak of nearly 7 million in 2007, according to the Pew Hispanic Center study released Monday. It was the biggest sustained drop in modern history, believed to be surpassed in scale only by losses in the Mexican-born U.S. population during the Great Depression.

www.foxnews.com...

Even at peak numbers, Illegal immigrants represent .02% of the 300 M + US population? Too many??

Lastly I will point out that the emails reflect a rant toward Mexicans et. al. and Mexican Culture with only the slightest facade of discern between "Mexican-Americans" and Illegal Immigrants...and LA's Mayor of Latin heritage was even cast as "leading an invasion".


Read more: www.foxnews.com...

Originally posted by FreeFromTheHerd
Stating facts does not make one a racist.

Immigration both legal and illegal in large numbers from 3rd world nations is yet another big reason why the U.S. is headed down the toilet.

"your poor? Your weak? Your hungry? Your Tired?"

Immigration from 3rd world nations is what made us the greatest country on earth.

reply to post by Indigo5

Dear Indigo5,

Sorry, I must have dozed off. I like your thorough reply.

I'm not sure, I think I like the rabbit analogy, but to please you, let's ditch it. Can we say that it is possible that the E-mails were written by someone who saw the problem as being too many people, costing too much money, and, in his opinion, failing to assimilate? Does it make it racist to say that the majority of those people, at least in his mind, come from the same place?

Even at peak numbers, Illegal immigrants represent .02% of the 300 M + US population? Too many??

Ooops, dag nab those blasted decimal places. Your numbers would give a result of 2%, the margin of victory in many elections.

Lastly I will point out that the emails reflect a rant toward Mexicans et. al. and Mexican Culture with only the slightest facade of discern between "Mexican-Americans" and Illegal Immigrants...and LA's Mayor of Latin heritage was even cast as "leading an invasion".

I agree, he wasn't being precise in his terms. I suspect most illegal aliens are Mexican-Americans, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work the other way.

I did find something that bothered me a little, the idea that Villa...(I forgot how you spell it and I'm too lazy to check) is Vicente Fox's puppet. At worst they are partners. The Mayor (see how I got around having to spell that?) should be treated as an independent person. The more clearly you can see and understand a person, the better will be the results of your relationship.

Thanks again, Indigo5, you're good to talk to.

With respect,
Charles1952

Originally posted by Indigo5
And history repeats itself...

Let's kick out anyone of Irish heritage...

And the Asians

And the Italians...

We are a melting pot....and an alloy is stronger than steel.

Racism is rust and corrosion...morals aside, it weakens us as a nation.

Or perhaps we spit on the people who made us strong and came here legally by allowing people to come illegally and live off the hard work of those who came before them. This does not describe every illegal immigrant in the country, that does not mean it's not a problem.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Just more fuel to this fire, its been argued on ATS for years that this was a racist law, authored by a racist, yet as you can clearly see even when its been proven as racist people here still defend it.

They are defending it because there racist?

I made a thread a while ago stating that the authors of this law were all from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) which was founded by racists.

Originally posted by FreeFromTheHerd
Immigration both legal and illegal in large numbers from 3rd world nations is yet another big reason why the U.S. is headed down the toilet.

That's exactly what they said when the Irish came here.

That's exactly what they said when the Asians came here.

That's exactly what they said when the Italians and the Eastern European Jews came here.

We are on our fourth big wave of large-scale immigration and the same things are being said that were said before. The first three groups all eventually integrated and helped to build the society further and made it stronger. The ones who strike out and take the risks to find a better life in America tend to be the boldest and often the best from their home countries and tend to work hard for a better life. I see no reason why it should be any different this time.

Originally posted by LDragonFire
reply to post by Blackmarketeer

 

Just more fuel to this fire, its been argued on ATS for years that this was a racist law, authored by a racist, yet as you can clearly see even when its been proven as racist people here still defend it.

They are defending it because there racist?

The question is not the motivation behind the law, but the merits of the law itself. Motivation is irellevent.

Originally posted by charles1952
Can we say that it is possible that the E-mails were written by someone who saw the problem as being too many people,

Only too many people of mexican heritage...I didn't see any complaints about other ethnicities.

Illegal aliens represent 2% of the population. (thanks for the correction)

Originally posted by charles1952
costing too much money,

Research shows otherwise. That is rhetoric and spun numbers. Illegal immigrants significantly contribute to our economy and local taxes.

Georgia's new immigration crackdown is an excellent example..

Immigration law already hitting Georgia farmers

"Fruits and vegetables in Georgia were worth $1.1 billion. We could see a $200 (million) to $250 million loss, potentially,"

www.gainesvilletimes.com...

Originally posted by charles1952
and, in his opinion, failing to assimilate?

See my post at the top of the thread. Same rhetoric for EVERY immigrant group/wave in the USA...it always made us stronger. Have ye so little faith in the American way that you think a wave of Mexican Immigrants will destroy our culture? Never...The Irish were hated for the same reason...ditto Germans...Ditto Asians...Ditto Italians....SAME RHETORIC...SAME FEAR MONGERING...SAME XENOPHOBIA..

Originally posted by charles1952

Even at peak numbers, Illegal immigrants represent .02% of the 300 M + US population? Too many??

Ooops, dag nab those blasted decimal places. Your numbers would give a result of 2%, the margin of victory in many elections.

And Illegal Immigrants do not and can not vote...never been a documented case of it.

Originally posted by Indigo5

"your poor? Your weak? Your hungry? Your Tired?"

Immigration from 3rd world nations is what made us the greatest country on earth.

edit on 25-7-2012 by Indigo5 because: (no reason given)

Thats nothing but a little motto on the statue of liberty and thankfully carries no weight in governmental policy.

We already are a populated nation, very different from 100 + years ago when the country needed a populace.

Allowing vast numbers of 3rd world peoples who do not assimilate only weakens the country. Given our current economic forecast, it will only lead to more pain and suffering. The cries of "racism" simply need to be ignored and what needs to be done will result in some tough decisions but the future of the nation depends on it.

The outlook for the U.S. is grim. Allowing more and more uneducated and destitute people to enter the nation is the absolute WRONG thing to do, but politicians simply do not care. All they see is a new voting bloc to pander to.

reply to post by Indigo5

Dear Indigo5,

As usual, you're a great help. Maybe if I was more clear. My objection to this thread is the use of the word "racist" when there seems to be insufficient evidence for it. I could see the same sort of correspondence if the French separatists sent millions of illegals from Canada in an attempt to reclaim Michigan and several other states for Quebec.

I think the comments about Mexicans may be because that country is the one from which the majority of illegals are currently coming. We may have some Irish illegals, but I doubt they are numerically significant.

I don't happen to know what the net cost or benefit of the illegals is. If the author of that e-mail is wrong, can we just say that he is misinformed and not racist?

I'm not sure that this group is the same as every other. Did the Irish, Germans, Asians, and Italians come in illegally? I thought they came through Ellis Island and other ports, not across an unguarded border into a life of hiding. I'm still also struck by the goal of some immigrant groups (Yes they are, I think, a minority.) to return control of portions of the US to their home countries. I don't think that's ever happened before. Pointing this out doesn't seem like rhetoric, fear mongering, or xenophobia to me.

I used "election margin" as only a way to demonstrate the size of the group. I din't mean to say they were controlling close elections. I'm willing to accept that there has not been a documented case of illegals voting. But, I do not agree that it cannot and has not happened. There are so many different examples of voting fraud that have been caught, it would astonish me if it was occurring in the illegal community too.

But the voting issue isn't my point. I'm just not convinced there is enough evidence to throw "racist" around.

With respect,
Charles1952
.

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by Indigo5

 

Dear Indigo5,

As usual, you're a great help. Maybe if I was more clear. My objection to this thread is the use of the word "racist" when there seems to be insufficient evidence for it. I could see the same sort of correspondence if the French separatists sent millions of illegals from Canada in an attempt to reclaim Michigan and several other states for Quebec.

And those here of Latin heritage, illegally and legally are here to "reclaim" parts of the USA? Seriously?

Xenophobic fever beyond any credibility......

Same rhetoric of 100 years ago as today...the Catholics, the Irish, the Germans, the Asians, the African-Americans, the Muslims, the Mexicans......

Just nonsense meant to play to our lesser selves, to wake our fear and intolerance from the mucky dark places our greater selves have banished it to. America's history has witnessed it in ahundred cities for 300 years. Catholics have been beaten and churshes burned...the Irish have been killed in masse on the streets of NYC, the Germans during the 1800's in Philadelphia and Boston?

You think this rhetoric of ethnic/race/religion invasion is new? It's as old as evil.

No hoods are required for todays racists...the internet provides all the anonymity required.

America is and always will be better than that.

reply to post by Indigo5

Dear Indigo5,

I feel as though I've stepped on the teeth of a rake and gotten a smart one square across the face. I'd like to think I'm not xenophobic, or in the habit of using mere rhetoric, perhaps you were thinking of someone else.

Here are some excerpts showing why it may be understandable that some fear for the loss of part of the country.

A prominent advocate of Reconquista is Professor Charles Truxillo of the University of New Mexico (UNM), who envisions a sovereign Hispanic nation called the Republica del Norte (Republic of the North) that would encompass Northern Mexico, Baja California, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas

Truxillo believes that the Republica del Norte will be brought into existence by "any means necessary" but that it was unlikely to be formed by civil war but rather by the electoral pressure of the future majority Hispanic population in the region. Truxillo added that he believes it's his job to help develop a “cadre of intellectuals” to think about how this new state can become a reality.

From the same source:

In an interview with In Search of Aztlán on August 8, 1999, Jose Angel Gutierrez, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, stated that:

"We’re the only ethnic group in America that has been dismembered. We didn't migrate here or immigrate here voluntarily. The United States came to us in succeeding waves of invasions. We are a captive people, in a sense, a hostage people. It is our political destiny and our right to self-determination to want to have our homeland [back]. Whether they like it or not is immaterial. If they call us radicals or subversives or separatists, that’s their problem. This is our home, and this is our homeland, and we are entitled to it. We are the host. Everyone else is a guest."

"It is not our fault that whites don’t make babies, and blacks are not growing in sufficient numbers, and there’s no other groups with such a goal to put their homeland back together again. We do. Those numbers will make it possible. I believe that in the next few years, we will see an irredentists movement, beyond assimilation, beyond integration, beyond separatism, to putting Mexico back together as one. That's irridentism. One Mexico, one nation."

In an interview with the Star-Telegram in October 2000, Gutierrez stated that many recent Mexican immigrants "want to recreate all of Mexico and join all of Mexico into one...even if it's just demographically... They are going to have political sovereignty over the Southwest and many parts of the Midwest."

More:

Harvard University professor Samuel P. Huntington stated in 2004 that:

Demographically, socially and culturally, the reconquista of the Southwest United States by Mexico is well under way. No other immigrant group in U.S. history has asserted or could assert a historical claim to U.S. territory. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans can and do make that claim."

And:

Neo-liberal political writer Mickey Kaus has remarked,

If you talk to people in Mexico... if you get them drunk in a bar, they’ll say we’re taking it back, sorry. That’s not an uncommon sentiment in Mexico, so why can’t we take it seriously here? This is like a Quebec problem if France was next door to Canada.

HELP! I've never had this problem. I can't get the link to work. You should find it if you search for Reconquista, then use the "Mexico" modifier on Wiki. (Otherwise you'll get the Iberian Peninsula one.) I'm sorry.

There are also groups calling for the return of much of the Southwest to Mexico. One is the National Will Organization.

"We reject the occupation of our nation in its northern territories, an important cause of poverty and emigration. We demand that our claim to all the territories occupied by force by the United States be recognized in our Constitution, and we will bravely defend, according to the principle of self-determination to all peoples, the right of the Mexican people to live in the whole of our territory within its historical borders, as they existed and were recognized at the moment of our independence."

en.wikipedia.org...

Aw, heck. (Sorry about the language) I'm out of room, but there is more. I think there is more to this than just xenophobia though.

With respect,
Charles1952