by Raúl Reyes
I thought I had heard it all from Lou Dobbs, CNN’s most trusted name in anti-immigrant hysteria. Still, I was surprised when he went off on President Obama recently for delivering a speech to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Dobbs accused the USHCC of being “an organization interested in the export of American capital and production to Mexico and Mexico’s export of drugs and illegal aliens to the United States.”Actually, the mission of the USHCC is “to foster Hispanic economic development and create sustainable prosperity for the benefit of American society.” The chamber protested Dobbs’ remarks and he later apologized for “misspeaking.”
End of story.Almost.
Personally, I can’t help wondering what the outcome would have been if Dobbs had made incendiary remarks about an African-American or Jewish group. Hispanic advocacy organizations are like the late Rodney Dangerfield – they get no respect. Just ask Thomas Saenz, legal advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Saenz was slated to head up the civil rights division at the Department of Justice. It was reported everywhere from blogs to The New York Times that he was offered and had accepted the position. Then the offer was rescinded. The nomination went instead to another Latino, Maryland Secretary of Labor Thomas Pérez.What was the problem? Immigration — although the civil rights division deals primarily with voting rights, discrimination and police misconduct.
The Obama White House was apparently scared off by opposition to Saenz’s past work with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. An op-ed in the Investor’s Business Daily called Saenz “a man who has devoted his life to promoting illegal immigrant rights.” I think Saenz has done an outstanding job protecting the constitutional rights of Latinos. He led the 1994 fight against California’s Proposition 187, which would have denied education and health services to undocumented workers. The real story here is that restrictionists have succeeded in distorting the mission of groups like MALDEF and the National Council of La Raza.
I am not a member of these organizations, nor have I agreed with all of their policies. However, I respect their efforts on behalf of Hispanics, and believe that their civil rights work benefits all U.S. residents.
I find it troubling that because they support comprehensive immigration reform, they are labeled “pro-illegal alien,” or worse, denounced as extremist.Ironically, some of the harshest critics of Latino advocacy groups are themselves far removed from the mainstream. Poll after poll has shown that a majority of voting-age adults favor some form of path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented U.S. residents. Anti-immigration hardliners did not fare well in the 2008 elections. It’s easy to associate lobbying groups with protecting the interests and influence of the wealthy and powerful.
Yet MALDEF and the NCLR were borne out of political underrepresentation, discrimination, and the fight for civil rights. They have also been training grounds for top Hispanic lawyers. I have faith in Obama’s commitment to comprehensive reform. Maybe he simply didn’t want a distracting confirmation hearing while dealing with the grim economic situation. But it’s disappointing to think that he caved to a vocal minority with intolerant views of Latinos. Hispanic Link.
(Raúl Reyes is an attorney in New York City. Email him at rarplace@aol.com). ©2009
