Political Beauty Contest in Texas (Part 2)

Which position on Immigration, between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama, closely favors your own? Or do you have another alternative?

By Eddie Griffin

Monday, February 11, 2008

Texans speak a different language than New York or Illinois. When people speak of Immigration, there are those who favor going in with jackboot, Gestapo-style, ICE SWAT team in search of people with Spanish surnames. They cannot distinguish between citizens and non-citizens; therefore, literally all Latinos must carry numerous forms of verifiable ID. This loss of Hispanic freedom suits some politicians well.

This is the way it was during slavery when southern Negroes were required to carry a pass in order to walk freely in society. There is a joke handed down from generation to generation about this Good Nigger Card. If a slave or freedman was caught without it, they could be beaten. If they had it on their person, it had to have punches in it, like a railroad ticket.

The current system of citizenship for Latinos is the same. They must have driver’s licenses and birth certificates or some other form of picture ID. Without they can be deemed “illegal”, arrested, detained, and deported. Some dragnets have taken in innocent citizens and left their families in turmoil.

EDDIE GRIFFIN FAVORS A SENSIBLE AND COMPASSIONATE IMMIGRATION POLICY FOR BOTH MEXICAN AND CANADIAN BORDERS

What basic elements would you include in any proposal to reform our Nations immigration laws?

CLINTON: I support reform that provides a path to earned legalization for people who learn English and pay fines… toughen security at our borders… penalize employers who hire undocumented immigrants… stop treating immigrants like scapegoats… respect people’s human rights and preserve our heritage as a nation of immigrants.

OBAMA: We need comprehensive immigration reform that creates a system that is fair, consistent, compassionate, and emphasizes both maintaining the rule of law and security of our borders while working to keep families together and putting the undocumented on an earned path to citizenship.

We also need to bring the 12 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows. We need to be realistic about the fact that they are here, we can’t deport them, want they have become an integral part of our society. We need to give this population a chance to pay a fine, to have provisional status in the country, and to get into the back of the line for citizenship.

[Source: NAACP August 2007 Questionnaire Response]