How conservatives and Republicans are letting me down
Two big things happening this week: the Arizona immigration law and the Puerto Rico status bill—two events that are very close to me as a Hispanic and a Puerto Rican.
I’m not ready to come out in full opposition to the Arizona law, but I am very close. Although I agree with the general spirit of the law—illegal immigration is out of control, particularly in Arizona, and the Feds have not done their jobs in securing the border—I find the law, and its use of “reasonable suspicion,” to be misguided.
Conservatives have been incredibly quick to enthusiastically praise the law. They point to another part of the law—“lawful contact”—to fend off criticism that police officers will be targeting suspects based on appearance and whether they look Hispanic. Meaning, police officers have to first stop you for some other offense and, if they deem you reasonably suspicious as far as your immigration status, they can demand proof of citizenship. They also point to specific language that strictly forbids police officers from using race, color or national origin to implement the law.
Fair enough. Arizonians won’t be stopped because of their appearance, but will merely be questioned about their immigration status in the process of questioning some other offense. This still doesn’t answer specifically how will the law be enforced and if it will be applied evenhandedly to every individual living in Arizona. The big question in my mind is: what is “reasonable suspicion”? The only answer I can get to is: “reasonable suspicion” is appearing to be Hispanic. And that concerns me. It concerns me a lot. It concerns me as an American and it particularly concerns me as a Hispanic. And, apparently, it also concerns Marco Rubio.
Another bill conservatives seem to be opposing (although, thankfully, I can say there is some conservative support for it) is H.R. 2499—the Puerto Rico status bill. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) is leading the charge against allowing Puerto Ricans to determine their political future and granting them equal rights. As it stands now, we are second-class Americans. I posted a response to Rep. Doc Hastings on RedState but he seems to be set in his ways. He wrote a very similar piece a few days later for the Washington Times.
Phyllis Schlafly’s conservative group, Eagle Forum, organized a conference call today (which should be wrapped up by now) to organize agaisnt H.R. 2499. Steve King (R-IA), Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Paul Broun (R-GA) were scheduled to be part of that call. Both me and Rafael Rodriguez, president of the Center for Puerto Rico Equality and Advancement, tried to get on that call but our requests were declined. Mr. Rodriguez was told it was closed and I was told it was only open to members of the media. And Eduardo J. Soto, from the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association, was able to RSVP for the call last night, but I am not sure if he was able to get on the call. I await members of the press to report on what was discussed on that call.
This whole Republican opposition is bizarre and has caught me completely by surprise. A big reason why I’m a Republican (other than my generally conservative views) is because growing up in Puerto Rico I always saw the Republican Party being a strong ally to the NPP, the pro-statehood political party in Puerto Rico. In my mind, the Republican Party was the party that stood up for true equality. The PDP (the party that advocates for the current Commonwealth status, i.e., colonial status) has generally aligned with the Democratic Party.
The conservative opposition is bizarre because statehood, essentially, is a conservative issue. The platform of the NPP is conservative. Some on the left even fear that Puerto Rico might become a red state. Puerto Ricans are notoriously hawkish and, in fact, join the U.S. military in disproportionate numbers. Puerto Ricans have fought and died valiantly in every major American war since World War I. We are Americans, we love America, and we are damn proud of it. Yet, we are denied the right to vote for the President and have voting representation in Congress while living in Puerto Rico. This cannot stand any longer.
But in the end, it doesn’t matter which political party will benefit from Puerto Rico’s statehood. It doesn’t matter if it goes red or blue. This is about what’s right and what’s wrong. This is about democracy and equality. And this is about treating the 4 million Americans living in Puerto Rico with dignity and respect.
I’ve spent a lot of time defending conservatives against unwarranted charges of racism, xenophobia, bigotry and overall nastiness. The left’s caricature of conservatives as backwards racists is completely unfair and inaccurate. Racism and bigotry comes from both the left and right. I still stand behind that assessment. But I find myself questioning what is going on with my movement and my Party. With the way conservatives and Republicans have been acting lately, you would think they’re purposely trying to alienate Hispanic voters and decrease the size of the Party’s tent. Is it true what the leftists claim? That the Republican Party is an entirely different machine from what it used to be, and that the conservative movement is becoming increasingly close-minded?
I hope not. I really, really hope not.
