immigration

This is that time in the cycle (short session in a federal election year) when people run bills through the General Assembly for purely political purposes. Case in point: Sen. Robert Pittenger, who is running for Lt. Governor, has introduced the NC Citizen Protection Act. It includes about everything you'd think, most of which have already been ruled unconstitutional. I think a more accurate title might be the Permanent Exploited Underclass Act. It would probably criminalize most churches.
But it's a big bill and in some venue there'll be a discussion and the senator will have his campaign ad that talks about how he's protecting us from the hordes.
Stand by for more heroics.

A while back I thought Roy Cooper was a pretty solid citizen. I contributed to his campaign and even helped drum up support in a couple of fundraising events. But that was then.

Cooper's decision last week to intervene in the debate over undocumented immigrants and higher education was just plain dumb, as has been widely discussed. But it's hard to understand why he has to get all petulant just because the mean old media won't play stenographer for him. That's flat-out embarrassing.

North Carolina's Community Colleges have just announced that they are closing their doors to undocumented students.

The Adelante Education Coalition and 83 community organizations are calling for the state of North Carolina to continue allowing the undocumented immigrants to attend our state's public universities and community colleges. A press release from the Adelante Education Coalition about this issue is below.

We're looking for allies to help us with our advocacy efforts. You can learn more about the roles you can play at the Adelante website. My organization, Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate, is part of the Adelante Education Coalition. I will be going to the state capitol on May 27 to talk with legislators. Let me know if you'd like to join in.

In 1795, the great state of North Carolina opened the first public institution of higher learning.

In 2008, we may become the first state to take away access to post-secondary education from an entire class of people.

Yesterday, Attorney General Roy Cooper's office issued an advisory statement that says our state's community colleges and universities should close their doors to the children of undocumented immigrants.

The AG's statement is based on the same kind of moral reasoning that southern states used to withhold public education from blacks and women. It uses a tenuous interpretation of federal law to exercise a state's rights argument, knowing full well that this state will not give undocumented immigrants the right to an education.

McHenry uses tax payer money to misrepresent his stand on Illegal Immigration and other issues.

Mr. McHenry’s close friends and neo-conservative allies like Tom DeLay, Carl Rove and Dennis Hassert are now gone from Washington, leaving a bad smell behind them. Suddenly Mr. McHenry wants us to believe he has helped Veterans and that he has always been against Illegal Immigration.

Welcome and thanks to Steve for posting this. Frontpaged. A.

On Christmas Eve, the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP weighed in on the issue of undocumented immigrants’ access to higher education. The NAACP joined together with the Adelante Education Coalition for a joint rally and press conference.

Standing on the steps of the NC Community College System administrative building, NAACP President William Barber called upon the leaders of our state to open the doors of higher education. Calling it his Christmas message, Rev. Barber asked the question “Is there no room in the inn?”

Here are the first few minutes of Rev. Barber’s message.

Frontpaged. A.

Higher ground

Like the civil rights movement of the last century, which by necessity is still, well, necessary, resolving the moral and legal issues around immigration won’t wait for politicians, business leaders and polite society to work things out. Like the civil rights struggle, law and economics and the basic guarantees of human rights are in profound disagreement. Just as it was under Jim Crow, an underclass has been created, one full of individuals who are only permitted limited participation in society and are disenfranchised politically just as hardily as they are exploited economically.

[First, a cheap plug for my blog Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races.]

Earlier this week, the Charlotte Observer slammed Elizabeth Dole on immigration:

Sen. Dole worked hard to help kill a decent immigration reform bill in the U.S. Senate in July. It wasn't perfect, but it provided a practical, intelligent way to secure the border -- and pay for it. It also took the sensible step of providing illegal immigrants a conditional path to legal status. Too bad lawmakers such as Sen. Dole were more interested in shouting "amnesty" and opposing any step toward legal status than they were in helping the folks back home.

One could write volumes about the sad state of modern journalism. The collapse of quality and integrity are nothing short of mind-boggling. The collusion of reporters with right wing sources. The gushy pandering of small town newspapers to their hometown favorites. The wholesale swallowing of manufactured opinions by by once great newspapers.

But even against those sorry standards, Doug Clark at the Greensboro News-Record reaches a new low today in a comment he makes about the immigration issue.

Politics trumps whatever your idea of morality is on this issue, and many other issues for that matter.

 "Give me your tired, your poor,
  Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
  I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"



This is what greeted my 10 year-old great-grandfather when he and his family sailed into New York Harbor in 1893. They stepped onto Ellis Island without documents. They were quarantined, processed, and then sent on their way to build our country. After a few years, they filed naturalization papers and became citizens. My ancestors were looking for a sanctuary country and they found it in the United States of America.