Efforts to Exclude Abortion From HCR Trumps Concern About Undocumented

by Prerna Lal

category: News

Published November 07, 2009 @ 07:20PM PT

By a vote of 220-215, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962 (Affordable Health Care for America Act) with an anti-abortion amendment rather than adopting any anti-immigrant amendments or tort reforms from the GOP.

For some conservative Democrats and the GOP--appropriately identified by Representative Edward Markey as Grandstand Oppose Pretend party--veterans, working poor, women and undocumented immigrants are not a priority for health-care but the unborn have to be protected. Apparently, a fetus is the only category that cannot pull itself up by its bootstraps.

Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) offered an anti-abortion amendment to the House health care bill last night as a compromise when 40 anti-abortion Democrats threatened to vote against the bill. According to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), the amendment makes little sense since it prevents women who pay with their own money from getting a plan that covers reproductive care. For now, segments of the GOP and Bluedog Democrats have replaced their hatred of immigrants with their contempt of women and the right to choose. The amendment passed 240-194 with the help of 64 Democrats, making it next to impossible for low-income women who need abortion to afford health care in the United States.

Last month, Representative Luis Gutierrez (IL-4) blasted President Barack Obama for caving in to Joe 'You Lie' Wilson's inappropriate screams, stating that not only would excluding undocumented immigrants from buying insurance on exchange put the brunt of health care costs on taxpayers, but undocumented immigrants who currently had private insurance could possibly lose coverage due to rising costs of private health insurance.

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Nativist Tom Tancredo Chased off MSNBC

by Prerna Lal

category: Nativism

Published November 07, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT

While arguing over health care, former Congressperson and wanna-be President-hopeful Tom Tancredo was chased off MSNBC in this priceless video whilst 'debating' Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos.

It's just as well that Tancredo saved some face and left after Markos pointed out how Tancredo was a pro-Vietnam War chickenhawk who got a 1-Y deferment. Given his rabid anti-immigrant views, if he had stayed on the show longer, it would have turned into another unworthy "illegal immigrants are taking over America" rant.

Just earlier this year, students shut down his anti-immigrant tirades at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Tancredo and his bandwagon of hate responded by slandering Dream Act students and blaming them for causing violence. Never mind that someone only threw a brick at the window and the person wasn't undocumented.

Tom Tancredo believes that it is completely fine to use Holocaust photos at rallies to oppose health care reform but college students who testify for the DREAM Act must be arrested and detained. He is now using the Fort Hood tragedy to make claims about a 'Muslim Mafia' attacking the United States domestically.

It's always good to see someone take Tom down a few more notches. Thanks for the comic relief Tancredo!

(Video Credit: Daily Kos)

My Name is Maria and I am Undocumented

by Prerna Lal

category: DREAM Act

Published November 06, 2009 @ 03:00PM PT

[This week's DREAM Act guest post comes from Maria, who believes that undocumented students deserve the chance to prove themselves. Visit Dreamactivist.org to find out how you can help pass the DREAM Act].

The year of 1996 was the year when I began to try new things, the year when my mother, two-year old brother and I moved from Costa Rica to America. Moving to a new country as a six year-old was more than an adventure; it was a chance for me to reunite with my father again as he had moved to America two years before us. It was also the first time I met my dad’s family. It was the first time I had ever held the soft, pure, cold snow, the substance that made me fall in love with America. My love for America grew even more when I realized that I was now living in a country where all dreams could become reality; a country with golden opportunities.

That same love stayed with me through middle school even when I was isolated by my classmates because of a language barrier. That same love stayed with me when I was forced to sing the “Star Spangled Banner,” but did not know the lyrics. I wanted to be accepted by classmates, but they only knew me as the girl with an “accent.” I knew I needed to be the best in order to prove to everyone I was equally as good. With that realization, I tried my best to be on top of my class, and in seventh grade, I was encouraged by my teachers to apply to a program called NJSEEDS, a program that prepares economically disadvantage inner city students with strong grades to attend college preparatory boarding or day high schools. I was one of 200 students throughout New Jersey to be chosen for this prestigious program.

I attended Garrison Forest School, an all girl boarding school in Maryland. I felt more than honored to be selected among hundreds of applications to attend this private school. The love for America, which had grown over the years, stayed with me even as I applied to colleges my senior year at Garrison Forest, but had little hope of getting into them due to the fact that I was an undocumented student.

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Senate Gets Rid of Vitter-Bennett Amendment

by Prerna Lal

category: News

Published November 06, 2009 @ 02:59PM PT

Good news for all pro-immigant rights advocates. The Senate voted 60-39 and refused to wreck the census, getting rid of the Vitter-Bennett amendment that would have discouraged undocumented immigrants from participating in the 2010 Census and wasted millions in redoing forms as well as trainings. Senator McCain missed the vote and given he also missed the DREAM Act floor vote two years ago, it doesn't bode well for the once-strong supporter of immigrant rights.

Today is the 23 year anniversary of the landmark immigration reform bill signed by President Reagan in 1986, which gave amnesty to 2.7 million immigrants. The Vitter-Bennet amendment, much like most GOP plans, threatened to wreck the inclusive nature of the Census while doing nothing of substance to rectify the issue of 11.8 million undocumented immigrants living and working in this country.

(Video Credit: SayItVisually)

Will Pelosi Cave to Anti-Immigrant Sentiments on HCR?

by Prerna Lal

category: News

Published November 06, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is currently tussling with both the Speaker of the House and the President for a health care bill that includes undocumented immigrants. Currently, the House bill (H.R. 3962) has no bar against undocumented immigrants and toughening the health care bill with verification measures may lead to thousands of immigrants losing their access to private health insurance.

The question is simple: Do you want undocumented immigrants in your overburdened emergency rooms on 'taxpayer dollars' or do you want them buying health insurance to pay for their own medical bills? Never mind the fact that the undocumented pay taxes to mitigate the costs of receiving any so-called 'free health care' and are the least likely to use emergency health facilities.

Dragging undocumented immigrants into the health-care debate for political purposes is a way to derail health care reform without offering any real solutions for  the estimated 11.8 million out-of-status immigrants in this country. Excluding undocumented from participating in public exchange while increasing costs of private premium health insurance due to competition threatens a loss of coverage for even those who have private health insurance. It goes without saying that including everyone in the marketplace of health insurance is far more economical than excluding given more people would carry the burden and hence, lower the costs of health care.

Lets see how long it takes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to ignore facts in the face of right-wing paranoia without putting forth a solution to fixing a failing system that prevents so many immigrants from adjusting their status to get health care.

Photo Credit: Neil Parekh/SEIU Healthcare 775NW / CC

Post Fort Hood: Please Resist Muslim-Bashing

by Prerna Lal

category: Foreign Policy

Published November 05, 2009 @ 03:59PM PT

Speculation, anger and hatred is ripe on social networks such as Twitter after the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas that killed at least 12 and injured dozens more.

Tweeples are asserting a 'jihad attack' on one end and incompetent Obama policies on war on the other end.

When I first heard about the attack, my first thought was "let the perpetrator not be a Muslim or person of color." I remember the anti-immigrant, Muslim-bashing that this nation engaged in post-9-11 and how many lives were ruined in the aftermath. Eight years later, a recent Pew research found that 58% of Americans admit Muslims face discrimination in the United States but 38% also see Islam as a violent religion when compared to other religions.

Hope slowly died when Major Malik Nadal Hasan was named as the lone shooter allegedly responsible for the unfortunate incident. If he was White with a name like 'Major Tom Thomson,' his religion or color won't draw any attention. After all, the media did not declare Timothy McVeigh to be a "White Christian Terrorist" but Major Hassan has already been stripped by many of his soldier status and labeled a jihadi. It's sad that in a country where Barack 'Hussein' Obama is President, racism and religious persecution continues to run rampant.

I strongly oppose the many wars that this nation-state has engaged in over the course of our history. At the same time, I also know that in such situations people of color have to be more silent because anything we say can be labeled as 'Anti-American' and used against us. I do ask that we not be silent to any persecution of innocents. I ask everyone to pray (in their own way) for the families of the victims. But also keep in mind and pray for the victims of the unwarranted backlash that may just intensify against Muslims and people of color in this country.

Violence begets violence. Haardik Shubhkaamnaon Sahit.

(Photo Credit: Broken Thoughts)

One Year Later: Remembering Marcelo Lucero

by Prerna Lal

category: Nativism

Published November 05, 2009 @ 02:23PM PT

Where were you on November 8, 2008?

I clearly remember that I was smarting from the passage of Prop 8 and demonstrating out in the streets of San Francisco one week prior to the huge Join the Impact rallies in 16 states. The brutal killing of Marcelo Lucero in New York was not on my radar at the time but the hatred directed towards people who are deemed 'different' was certainly plaguing my conscience and affecting my choices.

While local law enforcement officials pledged ignorance to tensions in the community, an investigation by the New York Times established a clear pattern of white youths preying on Latino residents for several years. One of Lucero's attackers told law enforcement that they would routinely go "beaner jumping," which meant they would hunt down and assault Latinos.

I wish I could say that we have come a long way as a country since the election of the first Black person as President of the United States. However, it is wrong to make any such proclamation especially in light of the latest deportation of the Mejia-Perez family. The comments at Marin Independent Journal are vile and racist, one in particular calling for the execution of Gilbert Mejia--their DREAM-eligible Guatemala-born son still in the United States fighting for asylum.

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