Marco Rubio's Immigration Plan demands Latino’s continue to be the Working Underclass, Second Class citizens

There are discussions across all the Cable News Channels about passing Immigration Reform. The President has said passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform is at the top of his agenda this year. Republicans are saying they are amenable to passing some form of Immigration Reform as a means to obtain the Latino Vote especially since they did so poorly with the Latino Vote during the 2013 Presidential Election.

Yesterday, on ABC This Week, Rick Santorum said the Republican Party is “ready to do something about Immigration.” However, he said, Republicans are NOT willing to allow a Pathway to Citizenship for the 11M here. Instead, he said (sounding like Marco Rubio) Republicans are ready to target specific areas of Immigration, especially “the rule of law” and “fortifying our borders.” In other words, he was talking about Walls, ICE Raids, Deportations and Racial Profiling Laws. They also want to “ease restrictions” for those with advanced degrees.

It is clear that Santorum, Rubio and most Republican politicians don’t have a clue as to why Latinos are not voting for them nor why we want Immigration Reform.  The answer is very simple. Latinos are not voting for Republicans because over the last several years, as a result of their Border Enforcement and Rule of Law measures, racial profiling laws like Arizona’s sb1070 have been passed. They have been passed in several states. Because of Enforcement Laws like sb1070, all 55 Million Latino U.S. Citizens have been targets of racial profiling and harassment by law enforcement. Sheriff Arpaio and his ski-masked volunteer posse are key examples of this abuse. Any Latino driving or walking in Maricopa County knows this. Ask anyone in the town of Guadalupe, Arizona about Arpaio and his “suppression sweeps.”

What those who are pushing these racial profiling laws don’t understand is, the vast majority of the 55M Latino US Citizens are like my family. We are NOT NEW IMMIGRANTS. We have lived here for over 200 years.  In fact, by ethnicity, our ethnicity is 50% Native to Northern America. We ARE Native Americans.  Yet, those pushing the “Rule of Law” Racial Profiling laws say -- Latino Citizens should “accept” this racial profiling because “we fit the profile.” How ludicrous. That’s like saying “teens and twenty somethings” should accept Profiling any time a school shooting occurs. Or when a serial killing occurs or a Wife Murder occurs, all White Males in their 40s and 50s should be profiled, just because “they fit the profile.” Would this be acceptable? Of course not! And neither should racial profiling against Latino Citizens or sleepy little Latino neighborhoods like Guadalupe, Arizona.

All 55M Latino US Citizens in America want to be treated equal to all other Americans. Through our own hard work, we want to have the ability to achieve the American Dream. It is that simple.  

We Latinos will never vote for a party that insists upon these racial profiling laws – or – as they term them “Rule of Law” and “Border Enforcement” measures. Those that support these heinous laws say they are not racial profiling laws and even put these words in their bills saying they are NOT racial profiling, but there is NO DOUBT that these laws are intended and enacted as racial profiling laws specifically targeting Latinos.
Another troubling aspect of Rubio’s Immigration Plan is his refusal to include a pathway to citizenship for the 11M here. Instead, his Plan allows a Legal Status only. As reported in the Wall St. Journal:

Rubio would grant temporary legal status to those who passed background checks, underwent fingerprinting, demonstrated English skills, and could prove having an extended residence in the country. These newly legalized immigrants could apply for permanent residency leading to citizenship but would not receive any expedited consideration. They would have to apply through the same channels as aspiring immigrants outside the nation’s borders.

This has caused some concern among Latino advocates who worry that some immigrants would have to wait years or even decades to convert their temporary status to permanent legal status. But Rubio has assured potential critics that he does not want to create a worker underclass akin to what exists in France and Germany.

“I don’t have a solution for that question right now,” Rubio told reporters and editors at The New York Times. He has proposed accelerating the process for granting green cards to legal immigrants.

It is clear. In Rubio’s plan, Latino’s continue to be the Working Underclass, Second Class citizens, here only to do the jobs Anglo Americans don’t want to do. His Plan calls for easing restrictions for the Elitist Northern Europeans with Advanced Degrees. Yet, there is NOTHING in his plan asking for Citizenship status for the Latinos who have been working on their hands and knees, harvesting fruits and vegetables for the American Dinner Table.

We Latinos want ONE THING:  We want to be treated equal to all other Americans. Through our own hard work, we want to have the ability to achieve the American Dream. It’s that simple.