I met Chicano activist Viva Ramirez several years ago at a political function, and we continued our work together when he was the Arizona Director for Voto Latino and when I used to be the President of the National Tequila Party Movement. Both of us had a common goal: To get more Chicano / Mexican-American eligible voters to register to vote and support legal immigration friendly ideas. We both believe in the need for a strong Chicano resurgence and we are currently working on Chicano projects that will strike a nerve in political hearts. We know that politicians are not afraid of immigrants because they know immigrants do not have the right to vote — however, politicians know that Chicanos can vote and we are voting.
Here is Viva’s recent opinion with regard to DREAM Act activist tactics and it is unfortunate some people are hell bent on embarrassing President Obama … after all, it was Obama who supported DACA against the wishes of many in the Republican Party. Personally, I believe efforts should be targeted on the House Republican Controlled Congress who will not vote in support of legal immigration reform.
Viva writes:
This pointless arguing over the Dream9 tactics at the border is OFFICIALLY out of control.
As an advocate for immigration reform myself, I was disappointed to see that this once robust and precisely focused immigration reform movement is now shooting blanks with this action at the border. There is no denying that a zealous twenty- something Dream9 organizer [Mohammad Abdollahi] telling a veteran immigration advocate like David Leopold that he has no agency because he’s a ‘whitey’ is where the conversation lost control—and credibility. I also found it fascinating to watch this Arab- American Organizer proclaim his authority over the future of the immigration debate (which will ultimately impact more Mexicans and Mexican-Americans than anyone else).
People like Mr. Leopold and myself have taken a great personal interest in the immigrant movement and it was a movement which I understood to be an exercise in creating a voice and leveraging grace for persecuted immigrants [residing in the US]. And their true allies being citizen activists, like Mr. Leopold, who would advocate on their behalf. This was a movement to KEEP PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY!!
As logic follows, voluntarily walking yourself out of the county and then asking the entire nation to comply in essentially lifting up the fence for you to walk back in without consequence offers no profit to the movement that I can see. It gets even more ridiculous now that people are calling on President Obama to extend some unprecedented grace to people who voluntarily deported themselves.
Bottom line is this: We do not live in a Monarchy…. Asking President Obama to ‘just let them come home’ is nothing less than delusional. He isn’t KING OBAMA… HE is an elected Head of State.
HE WORKS FOR ME, THE AMERICAN CITIZEN AND VOTER!
WE THE PEOPLE have not endowed him with the unbridled authority to do with our country as he pleases and this is exactly why Congress exists.
Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not an Obama apologist by any stretch, but the simple truth of this matter is that it is the HOUSE and the Senate (and the racist politicians like Rep. Steve King who occupy them) who have stripped and dismantled the only hope for reform that they (the DREAM9) had.
Instead of calling on us all to focus our energies on an effort to salvage the pittance of a reform bill that is left in the HOUSE, they have called on us to collectively usurp the laws of our country in order to defend a haughty and bold stunt which promises NO profit whatsoever. No, Obama can’t just wave his royal scepter and proclaim that 9 people among millions are forgiven of their transgressions and be allowed to return to the kingdom.
A letter from congress signed by a mere 34 members out of approximately 425 is proof positive that they are NOT moved one bit by a tactic such as this—and they don’t have to be. The bill is already in the house and theatrics like this are rendered futile.
As a result, It seems that the majority of Congress just ain’t gonna touch it. And now what have we got? Three more Dreamers who voluntarily added themselves to the burden of the 1.7 million we are already struggling to reconnect to their families.
Yeah … they went too far.