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Title: Immigration Debate Prompts Growing Jewish-Latino Ties
Source:
The Forward
URL Source: http://www.forward.com/articles/124 ... romptsGrowingJewish-LatinoTies
Published: Jan 31, 2010
Author: Nathan Guttman
Post Date: 2010-01-31 17:13:07 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 1185
Comments: 106
Washington — Even as health care reform twists in the wind, immigration policy looms as the next big political debate — and Hispanics and Jews are moving to the forefront in a burgeoning political alliance. The next three months are seen as critical in the fight for immigration reform, but the weakening of the Democrats’ grip on Congress with the recent loss of a key Massachusetts Senate seat does not bode well for the passage of reform legislation. The Jewish-Latino alliance on immigration issues builds on the heritage and experience of the Jewish community and on the enthusiasm and urgent needs of the Hispanic community, which has a strong interest in issues of family unification and the status of the some 12 million illegal immigrants, most of them from Latin America. But Jewish activists also see the joint work as an opening for cooperation with the Hispanic community on other issues, such as Israel. “If we want to engage with the Latino community on issues that are of concern for us, including Israel, we need to engage on issues that bother their community,” said Gideon Aronoff, president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. “We want to create growing bonds with the Latino community, and we cannot create these bonds if we are indifferent to the issues that are of concern to them.” Alliance: Luis Gutierrez (left) and Charles Schumer are trying to drive reform through Congress.Some advocates view the ethnic backgrounds of the two key lawmakers leading the drive for immigration reform as symbolic of the growing alliance on the issue. In the House, the main immigration reform bill was presented Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, and in the Senate it is expected that New York’s Senator Charles Schumer will soon present his version of immigration reform legislation. The Gutierrez bill has been praised by advocates for immigrants as providing answers to most of the concerns of the Hispanic community, but so far it has failed to gain any Republican support. Schumer’s bill, now in the making, is expected to have more bipartisan appeal, by taking a nuanced approach to the thorny issue of providing a path to legalization for millions of illegal immigrants. While Democratic-backed health care reform legislation was uniformly opposed by Republicans and now seems to be stuck in Congress, advocates agree that immigration reform stands no chance of passage without bipartisan support. But immigration advocates believe that the blow suffered by health care reform supporters following the Massachusetts Senate election does not necessarily dictate the same fate for immigration reform. Indeed, said HIAS’s Aronoff, it might even help the cause, due to increased pressure on lawmakers to show progress on key issues. “All Americans have seen the gridlock in Washington and are very frustrated with it,” he said. “Now the president and Congress need to show that they can solve problems for Americans.” But with the political clock ticking, supporters of reform fear that major legislation is becoming harder to pass, and so they set the first half of 2010 as a desired deadline for passing legislation. “Every day we get closer to the elections, the harder it becomes,” said Richard Foltin, director of national and legislative affairs at the American Jewish Committee, referring to upcoming congressional elections. Jewish communal support for immigration reform is organized around several principles, including the need for a path to legalization for illegal immigrants; a mechanism for dealing with future immigration waves; speeding up work on family unification; integrating new immigrants into American society; and finding, as Jewish immigration advocates put it, an “effective and humane” way of enforcing immigration laws and border control. This last point seems to be a growing concern within the Jewish community, said Jane Ramsey, executive director of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs based in Chicago. Ramsey, whose organization has been working closely with Hispanic groups, stressed that while both communities strongly support immigration reform, there is still a need to instill in members of the Jewish community the importance of the issue, which for most Jews carries a symbolic, not personal, importance. “Our community is one step removed,” she said, “and therefore it is very important to make it real for people by interacting with the Latino community.” While the Jewish organizational world is essentially united on this issue, some have argued that the Jewish rank-and-file is not on entirely the same page as communal leaders. The supposed divide between religious leaders of various stripes and their rank-and-file was the focus of a recent survey, sponsored by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based group that opposes granting illegal immigrants a path to legalization and instead argues that many will return to their home countries if immigration laws are better enforced. That poll, which was conducted online by Zogby International in December, found that Jews were roughly equally divided between those who prefer a stepped-up enforcement approach and those who prefer granting legal status with a path to citizenship. Jewish immigration advocates have questioned the survey’s methodology, but they agree that there are diverse opinions within the community. Yet the CIS poll also found that Jews were still considerably more likely than members of other religious groups to support granting legal status to illegal immigrants, a finding that immigration advocates say rings true. The organized Jewish community is more committed than ever to immigration reform. A letter supporting immigration reform, which will be sent out to all Senate offices in early February, was signed by dozens of national Jewish organizations. Joining forces with the Hispanic community has been a longstanding goal for Jewish groups. But what seems to be a rare chance to reform immigration laws has helped galvanize the relationship. At a January 10 roundtable in Durham, N.C., Jewish and Latino activists shared their immigration experiences and looked for ways to work together in support of the legislation. “We broke into groups and spoke about the similarity between our grandparents’ immigration and their experience nowadays,” said Stephanie Grosser, who has been coordinating outreach efforts for HIAS. One of the issues activists from both sides discussed was hate and hostility directed at immigrants — both past and present-day, whether they were Jewish newcomers at the turn of the 20th century or Latinos in recent decades. “After we talked about why the Jewish community cares about immigration, two Latino women from the crowd came up and hugged me,” Grosser recalled. Cooperation between the two communities goes beyond the issue of immigration reform and includes many joint programs on the local level. On the national level, Jewish and Latino groups are part of broader coalitions organizing a Washington rally in March in favor of immigration reform, which will be preceded by advocacy work in congressional districts during the February congressional recess. Jewish groups bring to the table their experience and well-established network of political contacts, a contribution highly appreciated by Hispanic organizers. “For us, as newcomers to the society, this experience is extraordinary,” said Gutavo Torres, president of Casa Maryland, a Hispanic group active in the metropolitan Washington area. “They know how to work through the system, how to lobby, how to advocate. The Jewish community has a lot of experience and a lot of power.” Jewish organizations have been increasing their efforts to reach out to the Hispanic community for several years, and most national groups have established joint programs and sponsored Jewish-Hispanic events. With the rapid growth of the Hispanic community and with its rising political clout, Jewish groups see added value in building bridges to the community. “We are working on immigration, because it is the right thing to do, because it is part of our values,” said the AJC’s Foltin. “But the dialogue also creates better understanding for the needs of our community.”
Poster Comment: The Israelis have mined their border with Lebanon. Then they come here and preach to us about tolerance toward illegals. On the bright side, it appears the Hispanics no longer need Blacks. I wonder if they'll catch on to the game?
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#58. To: Deasy (#57)
Suppose you're right. So what?
It's not socialism if it's the white man's money.
All we need is for the majority of legal Americans to realize that their votes don't matter. As soon as that happens, change will begin. I don't know how it will begin, but it will. Convincing people that the tea parties or that Palin are "real" isn't helping us to get there.
Name one sudden change you've experienced. You're not going to get your SHTF moment. The PTB know better than to give you one.
and you refuse to acknowledge that liars are so firmly entrenched in powerful media positions that there's no way to dislodge them, short of shooting them. and they know that, and they're preparing themselves to deal with it. why do you think obama was elected rather than hillary? ...surely not to forestall more black riots. in the meantime, the only thing the media people have to worry about is stacking up enough loot to buy refuge someplace once the shit finally hits the fan, as it surely will. do you think that american power will last forever, or at least long enough to protect israel from the idiocy of its founding? or are you admitting that israeli leadership is nothing but a gang of thuggish looters, who will abandon israel once the american tit goes dry?
You refuse to acknowledge how they got there in the first place. It's called a free market. When you get this so-called freedom back, what will stop it from happening all over again?
what's free about a market when the sellers buy and sell the government that supposedly regulates them?
I'm talking about how we got here. It'll happen again if we simply change the government (or the media, or anything else) and don't change the way we think. We thought certain ways in the 18th and 19th centuries, which is how we got to where we are today. We have to change, or else we will repeat the cycle again and again.
and for one more time of asking: do you think that israel's use of its samson option would qualify as "TSHTF"? or do you think america will be able to protect israel forever? because it seems to me there might be quite a bit of shit flying if israel exterminates a few million people as it goes under... ...not to mention how badly jews' status as "most holocausted" would be jeopardized. not good.
how are people supposed to find the truth when it takes so much effort to find the truth? they have other things to do, mainly survive, and they dont have time to spend years sifting through the dreck to find a nugget once in a while.
The Samson option is a very unlikely scenario. It's good for them to help terrorize the world, but in doing so, they will maintain the status quo.
how long do you suppose the status quo can be maintained as the looting of israel's protector progresses?
What law states that the "people shall be given the truth?" If they don't ask for it, then they're going to get similar things as what we're getting. That can and will repeat if we do not change. I think necessity is the mother of invention, though.
anybody with half a brain can see that israel was a fatally bad idea from the very beginning, and the samson option, once america can no longer protect israel, will be the crowning achievement of zionism. meanwhile, as long as the system lasts, supposed support for israel provides supposed zionists with an exemption from criticism.
ah. taking refuge in legalities. what if people ask for truth, but are given more garbage that's sold as truth? faux news, the "most trusted network". and we dont even know if the polls that found faux news "most trusted" are on the level, do we?
I'm an America firster. Now convince 300 million others.
meanwhile, as long as the system lasts, supposed support for israel provides supposed zionists with an exemption from criticism. I'm tired of paying for UN sanctions. Is there a way to tell the US government that I refuse further abuse?
"The most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I am here to help." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1976
I'm not. I'm saying that no universal law dictates that the outcomes we wish will indeed occur. Americans will have to want to change in order for that to happen. So far I'm not seeing this.
and you're blaming 300 million victims, as they're victimized by lies, in accordance with neocon theories of government. too bad you're sounding so much like hitler's description of jewish debate tactics.
Total and complete anarchy in April 1968 when MLK was killed. You were probably in diapers, right? Ya' think things will get stinky if something like that happens again? Street smarts you haven't.
Who cares about legal Americans? Whites need to consider well that they are white. I say Palin helps them get there. Voting might actually matter then. And if it still doesn't, then they'll say "to hell with it!"
It's not socialism if it's the white man's money.
Has it ever occurred to you that the majority of Americans may be getting some sort of payback for some terrible series of mistakes that were made before they were born? I know you may not like to hear that.
The anarchy that terrified you was used to convince others to enforce the Civil Rights act. Those came because of similar threats before. I'm probably more aware of these things than you realize. Fear is a double-edged sword.
yup. all the time. isnt it ironic that zionists constantly trot out an argument that boils down to this: if europeans were entitled to exterminate the natives of north america, europeans are also entitled to exterminate the natives of palestine. two wrongs make a right, three wrongs make an even more ironclad right, and might makes the final right. good deal.
Jethro, I know you are want to be one of the brightest bulbs in the sky because of your persistent Y2K threads but don't forget you have friends. And don't pick on our friends. Deasy just may slam you a new enchilada..... hard as it may be to believe.
"The most terrifying words in the English language are, I'm from the government and I am here to help." -- Ronald Reagan, circa 1976
and as time marches on, it's gonna be interesting to see at what point ashkenazi supremacists, already in control of most of america, become overt enough with their racism to start exterminating whites who have an inferior pedigree, isnt it?
These things are very difficult to disentangle.
I see you blew right past the historical SHTF event you asked for - the one I supplied - and ascribed an imagined cause. Nice deflection :)
These things are very difficult to disentangle. ah. so now you're overtly trying to justify "might makes right" good enough. if i hired thugs mighty enough to throw you out in the street, i'd then be entitled to move into your place. if you resisted, i'd be entitled to bring out the heavy stuff and wipe you out, and i'd be entitled to wipe you out because i had more firepower. very good.
It wasn't really a SHTF moment. And think about it: if nothing happened then, what would you expect today after 30 years of tolerance training?
Didn't say that. What I did say is that people have an opportunity to improve their situation. They may not. Present patterns suggest that they won't.
ah. so now you're trying to say the situation's so complicated that... what? ...shooting zionist television executives wouldnt motivate them to tell the truth about israel, PNAC, 9/11 and the war on terror?
You had to be there, which you weren't because you are too young. The nation in the late 60s was on the brink of revolution, at least from my perspective on street level. Please don't dismiss something you know nothing about.
when the government and media are owned by people who believe in "might makes right", then what? do we have to dig around in some holy book to find justification to use might ourselves, shoot a few network execs, and try to reestablish a truthful government? are we entitled to defend ourselves from lies that are hindering our chances of dealing with peak oil and global warming? or is our right to self-defense invalidated by overwhelming might? at what point do resources get so scarce that supremacist ashkenazis start exterminating inferior whites?
It didn't happen then, so why would it happen now? The control over the people is even more complete today than it was then. Just look at how 4um, even 4um, got in a tizzy about the flu.
It didn't happen because you say it didn't happen? Is that your position?
I'm saying that reaction to the riots was controlled. The media told us how to react, and that's what most people did.
whose fault was that? it was the peoples' fault, obviously, because they havent shot enough tv execs... is that what you're saying?
You keep saying that. I keep saying that the people aren't thinking for themselves. If you want to take over the media and continue to tell the thoughtless people what to do, how does that help them?
My pathetically naive friend. A riot, by definition, is uncontrolled. The corner of Fulton & Nostrand Ave in the heart of Bed Sty was really, really uncontrolled. But i give up trying to break through. The System will have you back under the bed shortly.
there's no such thing as truth... and so it's impossible for the media to tell the truth... wonderful. for instance, it isnt true that the PNAC people said they needed a new pearl harbor in september of 2000, just before they were installed into positions from which they could make their new pearl harbor happen. i guess you're subscribing to the neocon theory that they're an empire now, and when they act, they create their own reality, presumably to include truth.
JT, we're talking about different things. You're saying the SHTF when the riots broke out, and I'm saying that the media and government leadership kept the situation from expanding from there. See the difference? This pattern will repeat itself.
Comments (99 - 106) not displayed.
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#59. To: Prefrontal Vortex (#58)
#60. To: Jethro Tull (#52)
Your historical view strays significantly with reality.
#61. To: Deasy (#56)
(Edited)
You don't seem to understand that the people are the ones who have to protect their own freedom.
#62. To: groundresonance (#61)
#63. To: Deasy (#62)
free market.
#64. To: groundresonance (#63)
#65. To: Deasy (#62)
#66. To: Deasy (#64)
(Edited)
We have to change
#67. To: groundresonance (#65)
#68. To: Deasy (#67)
maintain the status quo
#69. To: groundresonance, Prefrontal Vortex (#66)
how are people supposed to find the truth when it takes so much effort to find the truth?
#70. To: Deasy (#67)
#71. To: Deasy (#69)
(Edited)
What law states that the "people shall be given the truth?"
#72. To: groundresonance (#70)
#73. To: groundresonance (#70)
anybody with half a brain can see that israel was a fatally bad idea from the very beginning, and the samson option, once america can no longer protect israel, will be the crowning achievement of zionism.
#74. To: groundresonance (#71)
taking refuge in legalities.
#75. To: Deasy (#72)
I'm an America firster. Now convince 300 million others.
#76. To: Deasy (#60)
Name one sudden change you've experienced.
#77. To: Deasy (#59)
All we need is for the majority of legal Americans to realize that their votes don't matter.
#78. To: groundresonance (#75)
#79. To: Jethro Tull (#76)
Total and complete anarchy in April 1968 when MLK was killed.
#80. To: Deasy (#78)
(Edited)
Has it ever occurred to you that the majority of Americans may be getting some sort of payback for some terrible series of mistakes that were made before they were born?
#81. To: Jethro Tull, Deasy (#76)
Street smarts you [Deasy]haven't.
#82. To: Deasy (#78)
(Edited)
#83. To: groundresonance (#80)
and might makes the final right.
#84. To: Deasy (#79)
The anarchy that terrified you was used to convince others to enforce the Civil Rights act.
#85. To: Deasy (#83)
"might makes the final right."
#86. To: Jethro Tull (#84)
I see you blew right past the historical SHTF event you asked for - the one I supplied - and ascribed an imagined cause. Nice deflection :)
#87. To: groundresonance (#85)
so now you're overtly trying to justify "might makes right"
#88. To: Deasy (#87)
people have an opportunity to improve their situation. They may not
#89. To: Deasy (#86)
(Edited)
It wasn't really a SHTF moment.
#90. To: Deasy (#87)
(Edited)
#91. To: Jethro Tull (#89)
#92. To: Deasy (#91)
It didn't happen then, so why would it happen now?
#93. To: Jethro Tull (#92)
#94. To: Deasy (#93)
(Edited)
The media told us how to react, and that's what most people did.
#95. To: groundresonance (#94)
#96. To: Deasy (#93)
I'm saying that reaction to the riots was controlled
#97. To: Deasy (#95)
(Edited)
If you want to take over the media and continue to tell the thoughtless people what to do, how does that help them?
#98. To: Jethro Tull (#96)
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