Michele Wucker: "The 'Illegals Voting' Hoax"

[AtLiberty]

The "Illegals Voting" Hoax

By Michele Wucker
Huffington Post

One of the favorite lines used by the get-tough-on-immigrants crowd is to claim that people who don't share their views "confuse legal with illegal immigration." This is the wall-builders' way of arguing that when it comes to legal immigration, they love the Statue of Liberty and all it stand for, their own ancestors were immigrants -legal ones, mind you-- and, in fact, some of their best friends are legal immigrants.


Now it seems that confusing legal and illegal immigrants with immigrants who are naturalized U.S. citizens is a deliberate part of the campaign strategy of some folks who sent a letter to 14,000 Orange County Hispanics claiming that they could be arrested and deported if they vote in November's election. Presumably, the strategy was aimed at discouraging naturalized citizens and U.S.-born Hispanic voters from turning out at the polls to re-elect U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat.

"You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time," said the letter, which was written in Spanish.

The letter is disturbing for so many reasons. It implies that anyone with a Hispanic surname is suspected of being here illegally and intent on voting fraudulently -- a confusion of legal with illegal if I've ever heard one. It bends the truth in its implicit assertion that even naturalized citizens could be arrested for voting. It smacks of racketeering in its clear intent to intimidate potential voters. It's hard not to read the letter as a response to last spring's "Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote," proclamations...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-wucker/the-illegals-voting-hoa_b_32158.html

[Hav]

1. .

Everyone who got a letter like this and still votes for the Repub, must be a real idiot.
And I hope that it's making enough news so that everybody learns about that.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. I saw this story last night but they weren't providing all of the

details. I knew something else was missing. Seems to be he was O.K. up to and including the word illegal, but when he got to the word immigrant, that's a big problem.

[MonteSano]

3. Any convenient lie will do as long as you can disenfranchise voters

[Wilms]

4. K & R n/t

[texasleo]

5. people who "don't assimilate" are lining up to register and vote

ok

:nopity:

[NMMNG]

7. Well hot damn, that could include rabid fundies

Should we keep them from voting?

[autorank]

6. Excellent - we need to educate people. While they accuse minorities

of electoin fraud, their real purpose is to "contract the vote," keep minorities and the poor from voting. It's pure Bush right wing...accuse others of what you do.

[NMMNG]

8. Typical. Lie like a rug to get what they want.

Claiming that immigrants can't vote. :eyes: