Dobbs tries to change his tune on Latinos

It has the Wall Street Journal asking "What's going on?" America's Voice, an organization supporting a workable and humane approach to comprehensive immigration reform, is skeptical.

According to the WSJ, Lou Dobbs, former anchor with CNN, is moving fast to repair his image with Latinos as he looks to a potential future bid for political office.

During an interview with Telemundo, Dobbs mentioned a legalization plan twice for the 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States saying that "we need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions." This is something Dobbs ranted against regularly calling it "shamnasty".

Frank Sharry, Founder and Executive Director of America's Voice tells the WSJ that he is skeptical and that, “For years, Dobbs used his CNN show to cross-brand Latino immigrants as criminals, invaders, and carriers of disease. In 2007, he used his show to rally opposition to comprehensive immigration reform, a bill that would enabled 12 million undocumented immigrants to work towards citizenship, and upon the bill’s demise called it ‘a glorious victory for the American people.'"

Dobbs, who has a reputation for spreading misinformation and fear about Latino immigrants, left CNN earlier this month.

Read the full article from the Wall Street Journal by linking here.

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Lou Dobbs Departure Brings us Closer to Rational Debate on Immigration Reform

For Immediate Release
November 12, 2009

Contact:
Shuya Ohno
(202) 309-5645 cell sohno@immigrationforum.org

Lou Dobbs Departure Brings us Closer to Rational Debate on Immigration Reform

Washington, DC - CNN announced yesterday that Lou Dobbs, CNN's inflammatory anti-immigrant anchor, would be departing the network. The following is a statement by Rich Stolz, Campaign Manager of the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign, a national effort to unite faith, business, labor, progressive, civil rights, and immigrant organizations to pass comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.

"Lou Dobbs's departure from CNN is welcome news, and a step toward the common sense debate on comprehensive immigration reform that this country desperately needs. For too long, he has been a voice of ill-informed, irresponsible propaganda and scare-mongering against immigrants and their families. Dobbs's brand of inflammatory rhetoric only exacerbates an already difficult problem by playing to people's fears instead of their heads. Reform Immigration FOR America is focused on achieving comprehensive immigration reform that treats immigrants fairly, requires the undocumented to register to be put on a path toward legal status, ends illegal hiring practices, encourages lawful immigration, and secures our border. Dobbs's exit from CNN clears an obstacle from a rational debate on immigration, hopefully leading to common-sense immigration reform."
# # #
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN: The Reform Immigration FOR America campaign is a coalition of more than 600 faith, labor, business, progressive, and immigration reform groups that have joined together to get comprehensive immigration reform passed. For more information please visit www.reformimmigrationforamerica.org or www.reformamigratoriaproamerica.org

CAUSA, Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition, is a member of the Reform Immigration For America coalition and is the largest Latino and Latina civil and human rights and advocacy organization in the Pacific Northwest. We work to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies. For more information, visit www.causaoregon.org

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CNN gets called out for hypocrisy and Lou Dobbs

In just a week, CNN will launch its “Latino in America” series, which tells the stories of Latinos from across the country.

Apparently, Lou Dobbs will be absent from the coverage. This has many surprised. Four hours about the Latino experience in America, and not a word about the man who spends every weeknight telling lies about immigrants, and spreading hatred and fear about Latinos.

Presente.org has joined forces with award-winning filmmaker Arturo Perez to call out CNN's hypocrisy with a powerful new video: “CNN: Lou Dobbs or Latinos in America?”



The coalition of individuals and over 40 community organizations are trying to gather as many signatures as they can before “Latino in America” airs on Oct. 21-22. For more information about the campaign, visit http://bastadobbs.com/ .

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Report on Portland Day Labor Center Protest

From KBOO Community Radio:

Protesters and supporters gathered outside of the Portland Day Labor Center at NE Everett and Martin Luther King Boulevard today. KBOO reporters Honna Veerkamp and Trillium Shannon were there, and filed this report:

Transcript of KBOO report opening:

"This morning about 10 members of anti-immigrant organizations, Oregonians for Immigration Refom, or OFIR and Oregon Minutemen joined Tom Wenning in protesting the Portland Day Labor Center. Anti-immigrant individuals have embraced Wenning as a hero for his solo protest outside the center. Pro-immigrant allies disagree with Wenning's views and further question his moral character. Wenning is a convicted rapist who has harrassed female supporters outside of the Day Labor Center. OFIR a group whose website has links to a number of white suppremecist organizations called on their membership to support Wenning today..." continue listening to full broadcast or download

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Anti-Immigrant Group Plots Takeover of Oregon Republican Party

In a guest column posted on an anti-immigrant blog yesterday, Rick Hickey, Vice President of Oregonians for Immigration Reform urged their registered Republican members to run as Precinct Committee Persons (PCP). How?

Mr. Hickey explains:

You can become a PCP by voting for yourself (write-in) and having just two others write you in on their form and mail it in with the ballot. These two others need to be registered in the Republican Party and in your precinct or the adjacent one(s). There are hundreds of slots open statewide, so your vote(s) to become a PCP should be approved.

Why? Mr. Hickey asserts that OFIR members are “frustrated with John McCain and the Republican Party leadership decision to ignore or pander on this issue of illegal immigration.” And that, “A PCP has the voting rights to influence what happens in the party. If we cannot get help from the leadership here for now, as a PCP you can change that.”

It certainly appears that Mr. Hickey and OFIR leadership are plotting a take over of the Republican Party of Oregon (ORGOP). Kind of laughable.

Read the full column from OFIR by clicking the image below.

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ALIPAC, Anti-Latino Groups Share Egg on Their Faces

Yesterday, a story made it into the national news causing a frenzy among anti-immigrant, anti-latino organizations and commentators. Not even 24hrs later, anti-immigrant organizations like ALIPAC (Americans For Legal Immigration) were sending out an emails.

The emails called for the heads of, what ALIPAC termed, the “mob of Latino students that either were illegal aliens, in illegal alien families, or supportive of illegal immigration” for attacking a 13 year old Athens, Texas teen for an anti-immigrant sign she made for a class.

ALIPAC’s email claimed the girl, Melanie Bowers, was “choked and had her face slammed into a brick wall for bringing in a class assignment”. And that, “attackers threatened to drag her into the bathroom, rape her, and stab her to death.”

Their email went on to demand that "the school suspend all students involved in this attack, that local police file charges against all involved in the attack, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement determine the legal status of the assailants and their parental guardians in order to enforce immigration laws applicable to any involved".

No investigation? No questions? Just reaction, reaction, reaction.

Enter egg. Late this afternoon, investigators determined through a surveillance video that Bowers, who ALIPAC claimed was attacked by a “mob of Latino students that either were illegal aliens, in illegal alien families, or supportive of illegal immigration” created her own injuries and made up the story of being attacked.

Had our legal system been run by ALIPAC, the "accused" would have already been sentenced and deported regardless of their citizenship.

With the seriousness of this issue, it is tragic that groups like ALIPAC would use it as an organizing scheme. There is something seriously wrong with an organization or group that cares so much about fanning the flames of hatred for Latino Immigrants and so little about justice.

Note: Checking links provided by ALIPAC for the story, video and action alert, we discovered they have since been removed. Below we have included the email alert from ALIPAC

Friends of ALIPAC:

This story is emerging from Athens Texas where 13 year old Melanie Bowers was choked and had her face slammed into a brick wall for bringing in a class assignment that read "If you love your nation, stop illegal immigration"

She was surrounded by a mob of Latino students that either were illegal aliens, in illegal alien families, or supportive of illegal immigration and attacked.

The attackers also threatened to drag her into the bathroom, rape her, and stab her to death.

If you are relying on the Associated Press out of Dallas, TX to feed this news to you across the nation, they describe the incident as a "scuffle" where "Verbal insults" were used.

ALIPAC will be demanding that the school suspends all students involved in this attack, that local police file charges against all involved in the attack, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement determine the legal status of the assailants and their parental guardians in order to enforce immigration laws applicable to any involved.

This is the United States of America. This is not Mexico. In our nation, we do not use terror tactics to suppress free speech and violate the civil rights of American citizens by attacking children as a mob!
You can help us by taking action.

Please use the FORWARD feature at the bottom of this email to distribute this news.

Please review the news articles, including the biased Associated Press article.

Please watch the news coverage, vote five stars, make a comment (No foul language or violent posts allowed) and ad this video to your favorites to help ALIPAC spread the word and demand justice!

News Reports
American child assaulted and threatened with rape and murder by illegal aliens
http://www.alipac.us/article-3090-thread-1-0.html

VIDEO
Illegal Aliens Assault & Threaten to Rape & Murder child
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiyieUFAaic

If anyone decides to contact the school system, Athens police department, ICE, or the Associated Press about this case then please keep your cool.

Any communications that use foul language or threatening language will help Melanie's attackers. If you are too angry after reviewing this material, wait until your are cool and calm before taking any actions or making any attempts to communicate.

The ALIPAC Team
www.alipac.us

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Hate Crimes Against Latinos Fueled by Groups, Commentators?

An editorial yesterday highlighted the new FBI statistics showing a 35 percent increase in hate crimes against Latinos between 2003 and 2006. In addition to the FBI statistics, the editorial points out that a Southern Poverty Law Center reports that hate groups are on the rise as well. They counted a total of 888 nationwide--44 more than it counted in 2006 and 286 since 2000. 11 of the 888 are in Oregon.

What is fueling the hate?

“extreme sentiments, once the exclusive province of white supremacists, have begun to seep into the mainstream. They’ve become the common verbal currency of nativist immigration-reform activists, talk radio hosts, cable TV commentators and even elected officials who smear immigrants as criminal aliens, invaders, terrorists and cockroaches — human detritus whose dangerous, lawless presence must be swept from this country.”

The editorial falls short of naming those “immigration reform activists", talk radio hosts and cable TV commentators and even elected officials. We can be sure that Oregon has at least a few talk radio show hosts and a couple "immigration reform groups" that fit the modus operandi.

The solution to the climate of hate we find ourselves?

“In this year’s elections, Americans should choose candidates for both Congress and the White House who will help make true reform a reality and begin healing a nation that has been too long and too deeply torn over immigration.”

Based on the rejection of anti-immigrant candidates like Mitt Romney and Tom Tancredo, it appears Americans are trying to head in that direction.

Read the entire editorial here

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Anti-immigrant Radio Host Admits Being on the Fringe

In a brief moment of honesty, talk show host and anti-immigrant activist Lars Larson admits he is on the fringe. After hearing the returns from Super Tuesday and Mitt Romney’s lack of support, a caller to the show asked Larson about his support for the anti-immigrant candidate and the results.

The caller, who went by "Adrian" asked, given the result of Tuesday's vote, "doesn’t that put you on the fringe?” Larson responded by saying that “it may in fact suggest we are on the fringe”.

Get audio clip here.

Larson, like most anti immigrant talkers and activists have always maintained that their stance on immigration and their constant berating of Latinos is supported by the majority of American Voters. In fact, given the results of Romney’s overall failure, as we discussed in our post on Wednesday, American Voters have rejected the fringe and their anti-immigrant message.

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