Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Mayor Rallies Illegal Immigrants
Is it right that an elected official in an American city (Los Angeles) tries to rally illegal immigrants? He seems to be supporting the practice and ignoring the rule of law. It seems as though Mayor Villaraigosa is trying to gain political support, but to what end. Illegal immigrants do not have say in our political system. Also how does it look for illegal immigrants looking to change their status of illegal immigrants to citizen as they burning American Flags?
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3 comments:
I am not quite sure about the motives of the mayor in organizing the rally. Is he trying to gather the political support of Hispanic American citizens, or appealing to pro-Mexican and pro-immigration interest groups. On the other hand, a big proportion of California's population is exasperated by the ever increasing numbers of illiegal immigrants in their state. In the midst of debate in Congress and Senate on illegal immigration, if the mayor is making such a bold political statement there has to be a reason behind that. Does anyone have any idea?
The only political statement I see is that the mayor is trying to make a big splash on the political scene and push immigration to the front of the political scene. He is also trying to make a big name for himself in the media. The problem is with the rally and the fact that the illegal immigrants wanted to become Americans Citizens but instead burnt American Flags and waved Mexican Flags. Hey I know how everyone likes a good flag burning every now and again but come on. If someone wants to become an American Citizen then I don’t think one should burn the American Flag and protest the American way of life. To me is looks like a hypercritical action with no true political point. If the rally became a podium for immigrants to voice their opinions and to explain why they should become American Citizens and explain how they would help the country then that would have been a worth while adventure, which would ultimately draw more of a positive response to the issue of immigration.
Los Angeles, as a growing city, used to be one of the traditional migration points for Mexicans since the beggining of the 20th century. But because of its history, the city has a large number of older, settled (legal and illegals) and so more politically involved Mexican and Mexican-Americans as opposed to other cities in the country. And actually Los Angeles does not have a large percentage of newly arrived hispanic immigrants.
In California, and specifically Los Angeles, hispanic voters carry a lot of weight. Hispanic interest groups and politicians in the state (mostly Mexican) have a good network relation and have the ability to influence the voters. So in California political leaders are forced to take a STRONG stand either in favor or against illegal immigration. It is sort of like the national debate on abortion. So before Villaraigosa was elected he stated his pro-immigration stance and received wide support from the hispanic groups. Once elected he had to deliver his promises and show that he was indeed pro-immigrants.
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