Washington, DC – Yesterday, a U.S. District judge lifted an injunction against the “show me your papers” provision of Arizona’s SB 1070 anti-immigrant law, allowing this Draconian provision to go into effect. It’s widely agreed that implementation of this provision will involve rampant racial profiling of Latinos in Arizona, and additional legal challenges will be brought to stop it.
Meanwhile, in the infamous leaked video from a campaign fundraiser, Mitt Romney laments that had his father “been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this,” referring to the 2012 presidential race and his low standing with Latino voters. The full version of the same video also features Romney dividing immigrant strivers into two categories, and denigrating those on the lower end of the economic scale: “we make it hard for people who get educated here or elsewhere to make this their home. Unless, of course, you have no skill or experience, in which case you’re welcome to cross the border and stay here for the rest of your life.”
Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice asks Romney, “If you got your wish and were born of Mexican grandparents, we wonder if you would still view Arizona’s immigration approach as a ‘model’ for the nation? Would you be for a law that would likely cause you and your loved ones to be stopped because of the color of your skin or the ethnicity of your family? Somehow you don’t sound like the kind of guy who can relate to how unfair and unnerving it is to live in a state that sanctions discrimination based on where you are from and what you look like. In fact, your absolute lack of empathy for those trying to build a better life for their families is appalling. Really, is it any wonder you are polling so poorly with Latino voters?”
This evening, Romney will take questions from Univisión’s Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas. Given Romney’s past endorsement of the Arizona approach to immigration, his vocal support for the “self-deportation” concept at the heart of Arizona’s law, and his ongoing evasiveness about immigration policy specifics, it will be interesting to see if Mitt’s Mexican fantasy might finally lead to some actual empathy on his part.
America’s Voice will be live-tweeting tonight’s interview. You can follow along online via the America’s Voice twitter page.
- Five Key Immigration Questions for Romney Ahead of Today’s Univisión Interview: http://americasvoiceonline.
org/press_releases/univision- face-off-tomorrow-last-chance- for-romney-to-answer-five-key- immigration-questions/
America’s Voice — Harnessing the power of American voices and American values to win common sense immigration reform.
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