Thu, 03/29/2012 - 3:31pm — Michael Keegan
Originally published atHuffington Post.
The Senate GOP seems to be banking on the assumption that Latino
voters are stupid, or don't read the fine print -- or are not paying
any attention at all.
Panicking from a series of polls that show their years of bashing
Latinos haven't been endearing them to Latino voters, prominent
Republicans are scrambling for a solution. They seem to have found
one, at least for now, in a new attempt by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to
rewrite the DREAM Act, the widely popular bill that the Senate GOP
derailed in late 2010.
Rubio has come up with a "non-citizen-for-life" concept as he
rejiggers the DREAM Act to make it pretty much dream-free. It's a
tough trick: how do you create the illusion of a law that looks like
it's giving something to Latinos, but which the Tea Party know means
nothing?
The authentic DREAM Act offers a path to citizenship for children who
were brought to the country without documentation, who graduate from
high school and go on to college or the military, allowing them to
create a stable life and give back to the country that they call home.
Rubio's dream-free proposal gives these young people a nebulous
legalized status, so that rather than become American citizens, they
will have permanent second-class status - allowed to live, work and
pay taxes in the only country they have ever known, but never
permitted the ability to vote or exercise any of the rights of full
citizenship.
The real cruelty of this Republican proposal is that it seeks to take
advantage of the desperation of some DREAM Act-eligible youth to avoid
deportation. The Republican proposal offers them that in the short
term, but at the price of second-class status for the rest of their
lives.They deserve better. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way:
not long ago, before the Tea Party drove the GOP's agenda, the
authentic DREAM Act enjoyed the support of many Republicans in the
Senate. The GOP has paid the price for abandoning the authentic DREAM
Act and promoting numerous anti-immigrant policies. Senate Republicans
are living in a fantasy land if they believe they can win back Latino
voters by inventing a new second-class status for these young people.
They should take a lesson from history. I went to South Africa over 30
years ago, where the government created many different levels of
citizenship as a means to keep an unjust system going in a modern
world. In addition to "Whites," different categories of "Blacks,"
"Coloureds," and "Asians" for South Asians, South Africa had to create
the category of "Honorary Whites" to accommodate the Japanese and
Chinese. We should learn from the lessons of Apartheid and the dangers
of creating different levels of citizenship for different people.
That system, thankfully, has fallen, and it has been rightfully judged
an historical disgrace, but if today's Republican Party has considered
history at all, they're not learning the right lessons. Instead of
pushing towards more equality for all people, they've perfected a
method of legalizing discrimination by inventing new classes of
citizenship for those on whom they don't want to bestow full rights,
creating a unique and disturbing American Apartheid.
Add these new immigrant ersatz citizens to a growing list. Republicans
want gay people to have a form of citizenship that doesn't include
marriage rights -- and if they had their way gay Americans wouldn't be
allowed to serve their country in in the military either. Muslims can
be citizens, but must fight legal and PR battles just to exercise
their First Amendment right to the freedom of religion. People who
have served their time in jail for felonies are citizens - but in many
states, they aren't allowed to participate in our democracy by voting.
And Republican-controlled state legislatures pass laws that make it
harder for young people, the elderly, and low-income people to vote --
again, all citizens, legislated out of one of their fundamental
constitutional rights.
For a party that claims to be interested in limiting government,
today's GOP is surprisingly eager to create new levels of bureaucracy
for the sole purpose of depriving some Americans of their rights.
Whatever happened to simple? How about an America with equal rights
and equal justice for all and a fair path to citizenship for
hard-working people who play by the rules?
With the new dream-free DREAM Act, Republicans are trying to create
one of their patented new levels of citizenship while pulling a fast
one on Latinos and others who care about the fate of immigrants. The
problem is, American voters are smarter than they give us credit for -
and we know when they're trying to fool us.
More:
http://blog.pfaw.org/content/american-apartheid-republican-dream-scheme
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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