Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Texas Republicans Adopted An Arizona-Style Get-Tough Policy On Immigration

Texas Republicans adopted an Arizona-style get-tough policy on immigration and bilingual education during the party's state convention last Saturday. The Texas Republican Party platform encourages state lawmakers to create a Class A misdemeanor criminal offense “for an illegal alien to intentionally or knowingly be within the State of Texas,” and to “oppose amnesty in any form leading to citizenship for illegal immigrants.” Texas Republicans also want to limit citizenship by birth to those born to a U.S. citizen “with no exceptions,” eliminate day-labor work centers and emphasize border security by encouraging “all means … (to) immediately prevent illegal aliens.”


The Texas Republican Party platform also calls to make American English the official language of Texas and the United States and to all end bilingual education. But, even as Texas Republicans seek to eliminate the Spanish language from Texas and the United States the party produced a Spanish language campaign video telling Hispanics that the party wants to, "establish bonds and express our common ideals with Texans whose language might be Spanish, and whose hearts and minds align with Republican principles,” according to Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri.

Within a dozen years, Latinos could be electing Democrats “because Democrats have the right message and Republicans have the wrong message,” longtime Republican advertising executive and political consultant Lionel Sosa said of his party's future, according to a Houston Chronicle news story. If it happens, then Texas will turn into a Democratic state and once Texas turns Democratic ... We'll never elect a Republican president again ... The figures are irrefutable. I am extremely concerned.”

Latinos make up a very large percentage of the population growth in Texas, and in direct contrast to the Spanish language campaign video released by the Texas Republican Party, articles in TexasKaos and Waco Tribune-Herald point out that many conservatives, who now control the Republican party, do not welcome Latinos, or indeed any minority, into the party fold.
According to an article in the Waco Tribune-Herald - Conservative Hispanic activists created the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County to reach out to Latino, African-American, and young voters. Part of the clubs stated mission would be to fill the vacancies in the 40 out of 92 precincts in county that lack precinct chairs. Many of the precincts that have vacancies are in predominately minority areas. However, the McLennan County Republican Party chairman M.A. Taylor does not consider it important to fill those vacancies, and apparently does not think that minorities hold conservative views.
Latinos represent 51% of population growth in the United States as a whole since 2000 and Texas has seen the highest percentage of Latino population growth. Latinos comprise 63% of the population growth in Texas since 2000 and are the single largest reason that the state is projected to gain four seats in the U.S. House — the greatest change, positive or negative, among any state in the nation — once the 2010 census is complete.

In Texas, the Latino share of the voter population grew between 2000 and 2008 to encompass over one-fifth of the electorate. Although Texas has had a large Latino population throughout its history, Latino voting registration and turnout jumped by approximately 30% from 2000 to 2008, and the Latino share of the overall electorate increased to over 20%. [From NDN]

Hispanics will make up 78 percent of Texas' population growth over the next 30 years, compared with only 4 percent for whites, according to demographic projections. Minority children already make up 66 percent of the state's 4.8 million public school enrollment — and Hispanics could surpass whites in the state's overall population by 2015, estimates show. (see Changing Voter Demographics In Collin County and The U.S. Census in Texas and Collin Co.)

Here are just a few of the Republicans put into their platform:
  • Want deep-water drilling to continue in the Gulf of Mexico and other places.
  • Want to abolish the Energy Department.
  • Wants to abolish the Education Department.
  • Wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and institute a national sales tax.
  • Want to withdraw this country from the United Nations.
  • Opposes the establishment of time-frames for withdrawal from Iraq or Afghanistan.
  • Supports the "democratically-elected" governments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  • Want to abolish Affirmative Action.
  • Wants to eliminate the Endangered Species Act.
  • Want to outlaw driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.
  • Want to let religious organizations engage in politics without fear of losing their tax-exempt status and want to eliminate the separation of church and state.
  • Want to eliminate the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
  • Want to abolish Supreme Court jurisdiction in abortion, religious issues and the Bill of Rights.
  • Want to require a presidential candidate to submit a birth certificate before they can be placed on the state's ballot.
  • Want English adopted as the official language.
  • Want to abolish "no-fault divorce" laws.
  • Want to ensure marriage can only be between a "natural man and a natural woman".
  • Wants to re-institute sodomy laws and deny the Supreme Court the right to review the law.
  • Want to make it a felony crime to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple.
  • Want all human life respected from fertilization to natural death.
  • Supports the death penalty and want to extend it to rape cases.
  • Want to outlaw the sale and use of RU-486 and any other "morning-after pills."
  • Want to eliminate social security and the social security tax and transition to "private pensions."
  • Want to "defund, repeal and reject" the health care act passed by U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama.
  • Oppose government mandating the vaccination of children.
  • Oppose pre-school, kindergarten and any government programs dealing with early childhood development.
  • Support "open carry" laws and oppose "Gun Free Zones."
  • Supports the formation of an armed state militia.
  • Want the Minimum Wage Law to be repealed.
  • Opposes the Fourteenth Amendment which gives citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.
  • Opposes a Palestinian state being carved out of "historical Israel."
  • Calls to cut off money to the RNC and any group or candidate that does not fully support every plank of the the Texas GOP platform.

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