Red, Brown & Blue

Shared Culture, Shared Burden

It is hard to conceive of a more complicated relationship than the one between Mexican immigrants who only recently arrived in the United States – legally or illegally – and Mexican-Americans whose families have lived here for generations.

It’s a relationship that is center stage now that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed SB 1070, a ghastly piece of legislation intended to get rid of one group by targeting and inconveniencing the other. It is no surprise that, when opponents of the law turned out recently in dozens of U.S. cities to condemn what is a license to racially profile in trolling for illegal immigrants, Mexican-Americans were well represented among the protesters.

They know a bad thing when they see one. The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act is a hypocritical and self-destructive law that is probably – in a legal sense – not long for this world. Hypocritical because Arizona now wants to play the victim of an illegal immigration problem that it helped create by offering illegal immigrants a friendly hiring climate for decades. Self-destructive because Arizona – if it succeeds in ridding the state of illegal immigrants — is sure to suffer from boycotts, diminished productivity, and lost federal revenue tied to Census figures. Not long for this world because it violates the 4th Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure, the 5th Amendment’s right to due process, and the Necessary and Proper Clause which makes plain that enforcing immigration law is the job of the federal government and not of individual states.

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An Experiment America Can’t Afford

I walked out the doors of the Washoe County Detention Center the other day, five or so feet behind a middle-aged gentleman, a woman who looked like his wife, and a thinner version of the man who appeared to be his son. The man held the door for his family and for me and chuckled when I said thank you and complimented his T-shirt which read “I’d like to help you but I can’t fix stupid.”  He volunteered that he had worn the shirt on purpose because his other son had “decided” to land in jail the night before just as he had done on another occasion in the not too distant past.

When I got to my car, I tuned into KUNR and listened bemused at the news that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer had signed that state’s new immigration bill into law. It was to be expected after all. Arizona has been the flashpoint for many immigration-related acts of stupidity over the last several years if not decades and Arizona officials seem to repeatedly “decide” to take same unconstitutional, un-American, anti-immigrant positions despite the best efforts of rational, cooler heads, including until recently, Senator McCain. To illustrate Arizona’s latest plunge into idiocy, let me cull out portions of this foolish experiment.

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National Survey of Undocumented Immigrants Points to Big Turn Out in 2010 Census

SAN ANTONIO, TX – RedBrownandBlue.com (RBB), a news and commentary website aiming to increase multicultural perspectives in mainstream media – in conjunction with Interlex Communications, a Top 25 Hispanic-owned advertising agency – has released important data pointing to a potentially unprecedented turnout in 2010 Census participation by undocumented Latino immigrants.

With 1100 undocumented immigrants interviewed in six cities – New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Phoenix, Miami and Washington, DC – 76 percent of all respondents said they would participate in the 2010 Census. Furthermore, of respondents who have lived in the U.S. 10 years or more, 43 percent said they participated in the 2000 Census and 85 percent said they would participate in the 2010 Census.

“The increased participation could be the result of a perfect storm,” says Rudy Ruiz, founding editor of RedBrownandBlue.com. “Never in the history of the Census has so much been invested in ensuring that Latinos, especially the undocumented, participate in this milestone. The Census Bureau has gone to great lengths to reach out and dispel myths and misconceptions about the Census among the undocumented, helping dissipate fears of deportation by participation.”

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Reasons for Congress to Tackle Immigration Reform

After going it alone to pass an unpopular health care reform law, Democrats in Congress can’t decide whether to keep passing transformative legislation – or keep a low profile. And frankly, it’s hard to find many in Congress in either party who are eager to take on immigration reform.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-SC, seems to be backing away from a partnership with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, to write a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Graham says the White House hasn’t done enough to push the issue.

Still, this is the perfect time for Congress to restart the immigration debate because of…

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“Soda: It’s Bad for You.”

“Soda: It’s bad for you.” That’s the main reason why a growing number of public health experts and government officials propose taxing it, because soda consumption contributes to the obesity epidemic. Experts at Johns Hopkins call the trend “a public health crisis,” projecting that by 2015, 75 percent of Americans will be overweight or obese. No one’s more at risk than Latinos. So tough as it is, Latino leaders should put down the bubbly and step up to the plate in support of soda taxes.

Most of us grew up with a soda in our hands and a twelve-pack in the pantry, but it’s time to wake up and smell the stench of empty calories. Diabetes Health reports that researchers from UCLA and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy discovered “a strong correlation between soda consumption and weight.” Specifically, they found that “adults who drink a soda or more per day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight than those who do not drink sodas.” The results were published in a study called, “Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California.”

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Latino Pundit Grades Obama.

Following President Obama’s first year in office, it’s time for Latinos to channel Janet Jackson and ask the president: “What have you done for us lately?”

America’s largest minority is certainly entitled to the question. Nearly 10 million Latinos cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election. Two-thirds of those votes went to Obama, whose record with Latinos was scant; let’s recall that UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, while stumping for Hillary Clinton, called Obama a “Johnny come lately” to Latino issues.

Still, Latinos stood by Obama, and now they expect him to return the favor. But has he done so? The results are mixed. In some respects, Obama has done a lot for Latinos. In other ways, not so much.

Let’s start with the issues. Polls show that the top concerns for most Latinos are the economy, education, and health care.

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