Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA): White supremacist groups behind AZ immigration law

Ah, yes. Another day, another instance of a Democrat politico shamelessly playing the race card over a point of disagreement with the opposition party:

A California congresswoman is pointing the finger at white supremacist groups, who she says have inspired Arizona’s new law cracking down on illegal immigrants.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., told a Democratic Club on Tuesday that white supremacist groups are influencing lawmakers to adopt laws that will lead to discrimination.

“There’s a concerted effort behind promoting these kinds of laws on a state-by-state basis by people who have ties to white supremacy groups,” said the lawmaker, who is of Mexican descent. “It’s been documented. It’s not mainstream politics.”

Click here to listen to the audio tape.

Sanchez said front organizations for white supremacist groups are approaching lawmakers to propose the language to the bills and urging them to push them through state legislatures in an effort to legalize discrimination.

“It creates a Jim Crow system where based on the color of your skin you could be treated as a second-class citizen or harassed based on how you look,” she said.

[…]

Sanchez told the newspaper after her speech that she based her accusation on online stories, particularly a blog written by Andrea Nill, an immigration researcher for ThinkProgress, an offshoot of the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Nill wrote that the Immigration Law Reform Institute, the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), helped write the law. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled FAIR a hate group, a designation that the organization disputes.

Sanchez sought to clarify her comments Thursday.

“I never said that everyone who supports the Arizona law is a racist or white supremacist,” she said in a written statement. “Anyone who says different is just trying to inflame the issue and get away from the real discussion of how to reform the immigration system in this country.”

“The only way we are going to fix this problem is to have federal legislation,” she added. “Unfortunately, the people who get on the airwaves to stir up anger by misconstruing my comments are not interested in constructive solutions. They’re interested in dividing this country into ‘us’ and ‘them’ and totally undermining attempts to bring about real solutions.”

Um, um – but we already do have federal legislation, Rep. Sanchez. It’s what this law was based on. If the feds were doing their danged jobs, this law would have been unnecessary. Oh, and did you know that, er, your own state has a very similar law to Arizona’s?

Clueless ninny. That’s what you get for believing what’s written at Stink Progress. And for playing the race card.

While we’re on the subject of the Arizona immigration law, President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer met today at the Oval Office to discuss the bill and attempt to work together for “solutions”:

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer emerged upbeat from a White House meeting with President Barack Obama, boasting that the president agreed to send federal officials to her state to engage in β€œsome really direct dialogue” on Arizona’s new immigration law.

Brewer, a Republican, said her Oval Office meeting had been β€œcordial,” but a White House statement on the meeting suggested tough topics had been raised. The White House said the president β€œreiterated his concern” about the law and listened to Brewer’s concerns, but told her that his administration had reduced border crime and illegal immigration.

Brewer said Obama didn’t directly discuss a potential federal lawsuit against her state, instead indicating that it was an issue for the Department of Justice.

The Arizona governor signed a bill in April that requires law enforcement officials to question people stopped in the course of duty who they reasonably believe to be in the U.S. illegally. Opponents argue that it could lead to racial profiling.

Brewer said she and Obama had β€œagreed to come together to find some solutions” on how to overhaul the country’s immigration system. She did not provide details, but told reporters that she believed that securing the border was an essential first step.

The two also discussed the deployment of National Guard troops to the border, and suggested she would know more about that after federal officials visited her state.

Two days before her’s and Obama’s meeting, Brewer was questioned on the possibility of the DOJ trying to sue the state of Arizona over the immigration law. Her response? Bring it:

Bring it on.

That’s the attitude Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is taking toward the possibility that the Obama administration could file a legal challenge to her state’s immigration law.

“We’ll meet you in court,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “I have a pretty good record of winning in court.”

You go, girl.

Related: Los Angeles Students to Be Taught That Arizona Immigration Law Is Un-American (via Left Coast Rebel):

The Los Angeles Unified School District school board wants all public school students in the city to be taught that Arizona’s new immigration law is un-American.

The school board president made the announcement Tuesday night after the district’s Board of Education passed a resolution to oppose the controversial law, which gives law enforcement officials in Arizona the power to question and detain people they suspect are in the U.S. illegally when they are stopped in relation to a crime or infraction.

Critics of the law say it will result in racial profiling.

The school board voted unanimously on Tuesday to β€œexpress outrage” and β€œcondemnation” of the law, and it called on the school superintendent to look into curtailing economic support to the Grand Canyon State. About 73 percent of the students in the school district are Latino.

But supporters of the law say the school board is way out of bounds and that the measure will just distract from the children’s education.

β€œThis is ridiculous, it’s ridiculous for us to be involved in Arizona law,” said Jane Barnett, Chairman, Los Angeles County Republican Party. β€œThere is a 50 percent dropout rate in some parts of the school districtβ€”is this going to keep kids in school?”

According to its press release, “The Los Angeles Board of Education also requested that Superintendent Ramon Cortines ensure that civics and history classes discuss the recent laws with students in the context of the American values of unity, diversity and equal protection for all people.”

“America must stand for tolerance, inclusiveness and equality,” said Board President Monica GarcΓ­a, according to the release. β€œIn our civics classes and in our hallways, we must give life to these values by teaching our students to value themselves; to respect others; and to demand fairness and justice for all who live within our borders. Any law which violates civil rights is un-American.”

In response to the Fox News piece, here’s what the LA Unified School District BOE had to say:

β€œThe Board of Education has directed the Superintendent to ensure that LAUSD civics and history classes discuss the recent laws enacted in Arizona in the context of the American values of unity, diversity, and Equal Protection for all. This very important piece of current events would be taught in our classrooms along with a number of controversial periods and laws which are a part of our history and are currently being taught including: slavery; Jim Crow laws and segregation; reservations and residential schools for Native Americans; The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; the anti-Irish racism in the 19th century; racism against immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe during the 20th century; anti-Semitism; internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II and the Mexican Repatriation Program during the 1930s.

Let’s remember that these laws were all deemed as β€œnecessary” (in some cases for the security of our nation) during particular times in our history. To ignore what is currently happening in Arizona would be total denial of current events and a part of our history. At the very least it’s a discussion that should take place in the classroom.”

You know what they say, get ’em when they’re young …

Isn’t it scary that these Stuck on Stupid folks are in charge of education the young minds of the students in the LA Unified School District? Not only is the district obviously left wing (remember this and this?), but they’re clearly ignorant of what the law actually says (like the much higher ups in our federal government). Oh wait. Left wing. Ignorant. Sort of goes without saying, doesn’t it?

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