The following is a translated version of an editorial will appear in the Spanish weekly newspaper Gente de Minnesota on the Friday September 3rd edition. This paper reaches over 30,000 Spanish speaking readers every week.
Governor Pawlenty and the Latino Community: He loves us, he loves us not Last week we received at the offices of Gente de Minnesota a copy of a letter signed by governor Tim Pawlenty directed to the president of the Minneapolis City Council. The City of Minneapolis signed last year an ordinance that prohibits members of the Minneapolis police department from inquiring about immigration status if such an inquiry is the sole basis for questioning or detaining an individual. Pawlenty asks the city Council in his letter to amend or repeal this ordinance. We are worried and confused about this letter, just a week before a national Republican convention that is trying to show a tolerant moderate image to the nation's voters. We don't believe the governor, who happens to co-chair the George Bush campaign in Minnesota, is helping the president much in helping him get Latino votes in the state. It's sad to see a governor who's done so much to keep taxes in our community low, has promoted the buying of cheaper prescription drugs for our elderly in Canada, and normally wants to project a moderate, progressive image, to sound so intolerant when he talks about immigrants. He loves us not? A big factor that contributed to Tim Pawlenty' election in 2002 was commercials he ran suggesting that immigrants with temporary visas should have in their drivers license the expiration date of their visas. One of his first actions as governor was to implement this law, marking these immigrants who legally obtained drivers licenses. This law has already resulted in several deportations. Driver's licenses are documents that should verify that the person who holds it is qualified to drive. It's important for public safety reasons that everyone that drives a car in Minnesota, goes through the necessary training to pass the drivers license test. These licenses are not passports, visas or immigration documents. Do we feel safe knowing that tens of thousands of drivers out there won't go trough the necessary drivers ed, for fear of deportation? He loves us? Pawlenty told a group of civic and business leaders, politicians and leaders in the Hispanic community, when Mexican president Vicente Fox was in town, that he greatly valued the contributions of Mexican and Latino immigrants in Minnesota. He gave a beautiful speech in which he praised Latinos, the Aguilar family (a prominent Latino family in Minnesota that entered the country illegally over fifty years ago) and our contributions to the state. Pawlenty even said in a press conference that day that undocumented residents should be allowed to get some form of legal Minnesota ID. He loves us not? How dissapointing. Tim Pawlenty is proud of Latino immigrants, but he wants to avoid in any possible way that we stay here. First he makes it very difficult for us to get a drivers license. Now this letter. He hasn't even appointed any Hispanics to prominent positions in his administration. Pawlenty argues in his letter (we're not questioning his intentions) that he wants this change in the ordinance for national security reasons. The white supremacist terrorists, who killed in cold blood more than two hundred people in Oklahoma, would have never been questioned or detained, under that change the governor proposes. But thousands of hard working, tax paying, home buying (the only ones holding the housing boom up according to many realtors) immigrants that contribute so much to Minnesota's economy could be detained and deported, not for committing violent crimes, or planning terrorist acts, or acting in a suspicious manner, but for having a darker skin color than the average in the state. The governor should quit giving pretty speeches with pretty words when he's doing PR in the Latino Community. He should instead appoint at least one of the thousands of prominent Latinos in the state to his administration. He should take out visa expiration dates out of driver's licenses, and allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. He should advise George Bush and the Republican congressional delegation to pass immigration reform legislation immediately. The republican line that Pawlenty repeats all the time is that we love legal immigrants; we just don't want illegal immigrants. The problem is they never approve any laws to allow more legal immigrants to enter the country. He should also leave the Minneapolis ordinance alone Don't Minneapolis cops have enough to do fighting violent crimes in our community under more and more budgetary pressures? Most Minneapolis cops don't want to have to act as immigration agents. Shouldn't we listen to them? Pawlenty: make up your mind up for once: You love us? You love us not? Latino voters will be making up their mind: In the voting booth. Alberto Monserrate President CEO Latino Communications Network (LCN Media) Publishers of Weekly Spanish Newspaper Gente de Minnesota Bi-weekly Latino Entertainment Publication Vida y Sabor Yearly Minnesota-Iowa Hispanic Yellow Pages Directory 2019 E Lake Street #7 Office: 612-729-5900 Office: 612-243-1283 Fax: 612-729-5999 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: www.lcnmedia.com REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
