!No More Immigrant Bashing in Dupage! !Deja de Golpear al Inmigrante en Dupage!

6th District Congressman Peter Roskam has embarked upon another "Blame Pedro" Campaign designed for short-term political gain heading into November's elections, says Cristobal Cavazos of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage as they plan for their Oct. 23rd Rally at Peter Roskam's office.

"On September 19, Peter Roskam, a freshman in Congress seeking a second term, became the first congressman to make use of anti-immigrant ads in Illinois this election cycle with a direct-mail piece sent out to supporters," says Cavazos, as they planned for their Oct. 23rd rally at Peter Roskam's office. "We are a bi-partisan group and denounce Roskam because of his willful demonizing of the growing immigrant community in DuPage," he added.

Speakers at the rally will include members of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, local religious leaders, student leader Erika Sanchez and allies Jorge Mujica from the March 10th Committee and Tim Bell from the Chicago Workers Collaborative.

The ads, paid for by the Illinois Republican Party, immigrants argue "

use the inflammatory word "illegals" in reference to the nation's undocumented immigrant population. The Roskam campaign also incorporates anti-Latino stereotypes by featuring images of "border-hopping" Hispanic types while questioning whether "we" have "enough border-security."

What happens when such words are bandied about is people have gut reactions and are thrown into an us vs. them mentality without taking the time to research the facts and see for themselves whether they agree or disagree with the policies being negotiated.

As a Muslim, I've seen this "gut -reaction" to the words Muslim and Islam happen over and over. It triggers a reaction which is based more on emotion, than on actual investigation of what the faith stands for. And when it comes to the immigration debate, what fuels our emotions ? It's not always
the details of a policy and is more likley sound-bites and political ads. And very often, where do we turn to for our news, or for other opinions for that matter ? We look to sources that validate our perspective. It's a vicious cycle.

"We deserve better than this," suggests Roskam. Yes and so do people who spend their lives contributing to the American economy. Day after day after day.

"The congressman sent out these ads a day after Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) an anti-immigrant, enforcement only, extremist group announced their endorsement of Roskam giving him an "A" rating," says Cavazos. Roskam made use of similar ads two years ago in his campaign against Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth and is adding to the surge of hate and violence that has surrounded the immigration debate.

"It is the desire of us in Immigrant Solidarity DuPage to publicly denounce Roskam's use of rhetoric and imagery that demonizes immigrants and Latinos, while expressing our solidarity with the nation's underclass of undocumented workers," said Cavazos.

However, the Democratic contender for the same office, Jill Morgenthaler, also has issues to contend with. According to Politico,

...[Morgenthaler] normally backs Democratic candidates, but according to state election records, she voted in Republican primaries in 2002 and 2005, and only began voting in the Democratic primary last year.

Politico also reports the following on Morgenthaler's connection to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal:

A previously unknown group, calling itself "Patriotic Democrats of DuPage," distributed fliers to Democratic activists in the district last week highlighting Morgenthaler's role as Army spokeswoman during the episode, when U.S. forces were accused of mistreating Iraqi prisoners.

The fliers focused on a June 2004 entry in her online journal from Iraq that seemed to justify soldiers' actions. "As people get upset about Abu Ghraib, one thing that should never be forgotten: These are men who have murdered Americans and would continue to murder Americans if given the opportunity."

The fliers, which were delivered before she announced her candidacy, also highlight statements Morgenthaler made in 2004 that were critical of the news media for ignoring the positive aspects of the Iraq situation.

Follow Naazish YarKhan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@yarkhan

Comments

[wmarincic]

As a Independent I have looked at all sides of the issue. Illegal Aliens regardless of where they are from are here illegally and need to leave. Most Americans are against any form of Amnesty and our voice is the one that should matter because this is OUR country. Americans spent 338 Billion dollars of illegals last year. Most illegals are from Mexico which has some of the toughest immigration laws in the world. I have also looked at ALIPAC and found the people there to be reasonable and they do not tolerate any racist comments or attitudes, in fact they tell you up front that no racists need apply. ALIPAC is not anti-immigrant but they are anti-illegal no matter where you are from. America is tired of the expense of illegals, the crime and gangs and the refusal to assimilate themselves into America. If you want to blame anyone you can blame the illegals from S. America as they come here for years and refuse to assimilate and then tell America that they have the right to be hear. I dont think so, and with the economy in America now I really dont think they have much future here. I would say it's time they go home or they can expect a wakeup some night in the near future by I.C.E.

[Naazish YarKhan - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Readers,

Firstly thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Think for a moment, if you had a five year old or a seven year old who goes to school each day not knowing if she will come home and find dad missing, hauled off to a detention center or even deported. There has to be a more humane approach. Whether we admit it or not, immigrants, whether here with the right paperwork or not, do contribute to the economy. For arguments sake, even if they didn't, life is not black and white, its dilemma's aren't black or white. If we can use our inate sense of humanity to work for a middle ground - a win, win, situation - whay is that so wrong? Isn't building bridges better in the long run? The US immigration policy will not cure all the ills of the world, but the right approach can help solve one part of very large puzzle.

[jshhmr]

Sorry Arianna, nice try. I am a liberal American that believes in illlegal immigration control. They are costing more money than they put in, and they refuse to assimilate into our culture. We need tougher enforcement and fines for any businesses that hire them.

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

MOST U.S. citizen DO NOT favour an AMNESTY for ILLEGAL ALIENS as this author states: "IMMIGRATION REFORM" is itself not a policy, a stand, if you will, but merely a indication of a direction away from the status quo. Most U.S. citizens favour ENFORCEMENT of existing IMMIGRATION law which would mean, that OVER TIME, all ILLEGAL ALIENS would be DEPORTED!!!

It is a LIE to state that MOST U.S. citizens want to grant ILLEGAL ALIENS the rights of citizenshi­p.....no matter what they do whilst STILL in the U.S. ILLEGALLY!

Like most apologists for ILLEGAL ALIENS (80% of which are Hispanic!!!!), YarKhan seeks to paint opponents of massed, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION as racist or having an ethnic axe to grind....w­hen, it is OBVIOUS, that her ilk have made the CULTURAL transmogrification of U.S. society as THEIR primary aim....., i.e., to render the commonwealth into the chaos which characterizes Pakistan, Mexico, Somalia, et al.!!!

In identifying so-called "coded," political words as "offensive," she raises the most OBNOXIOUS and DISTORTING aspects of POLICITAL CORRECTNESS to a new level of PERVERSITY!!!

[celticjag]

Ms YarKhan, undocumented immigrants are in this country illegally! Regardless of their ethnicity, if they are here illegally, then they are violating the law and are illegal. Please note that the majority of legal immigrants sworn in as U.S. citizens are ethnic minorities. The highest numbers come from the Caribbean Islands, China, Vietnam and South America!

[goethean]

Actually, overstaying one's visa is not a criminal offense.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=overstaying+visa+crime&spell=1

[celticjag]

Overstaying one's visa is a civil offense, but like a criminal offense, it is still a violation of law and therefore illegal!