Raoul Lowery Contreras
March 5,  2002

Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado appears to be a nice man, a well-mannered man, an educated man who has only one minor defect—on Immigration, he is, perhaps, the most uninformed man in the Congress of the United States. Either he is uninformed, or he is a blatant liar.

For example, in a long speech he delivered to an empty House of Representatives chamber that I watched live on C-Span on Tuesday, February 26th, he stated the following:

(1) That he sat next to a Mexican government official named “Levy” that is a Deputy in the Mexican Congress and a “citizen” of Los Angeles, California;

(2) That the Mexican government passed a law making dual-citizens of Americans who used to be Mexicans;

(3) That the Mexican government was trying to enact a law allowing naturalized American citizens who were formally Mexican citizens to be able to vote in both countries;

(4) That new immigrants, especially Mexicans, were not assimilating and becoming Americans;

It is true that in the last Mexican Congressional elections at least one Deputy was elected to the Mexican Congress from Los Angeles, California, but that man is not a U.S. citizen.  He is a Permanent Resident Alien not eligible to vote in American elections, but fully capable of voting IN Mexico, in person, for absentee balloting is not permitted in Mexico. Besides, no one can be a “citizen” of Los Angeles.  Tancredo knew better than to so state, but misstated the facts anyway.

The Mexican government has not passed a dual-citizenship law of any sort.  What they passed was a law allowing former Mexican citizens who have become American citizens to reclaim their property rights and the right to travel on a Mexican passport.  Such Mexicans “Nationals” cannot vote in Mexican elections, for they are not citizens.  They can own land along the coasts or borders of Mexico, rights denied American or other citizens. 

There is absolutely no effort by the Mexican government o legalize voting in Mexico of American citizens of any sort, much less those of Mexican blood or former citizenship.  

Tancredo’s dumb statements about lack of assimilation and the “melting pot” idea do not stand scrutiny, but since when do ignorant or misstatements of fact ever stand scrutiny?

As the Congressman was misleading C-Span viewers, a report was being issued in Florida that was written by experts from the Universities of Florida and Miami that strongly concluded that Tancredo is wrong.

The book-length report published by the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research concludes the following about immigrants in Florida who are mostly--Hispanic:

That Florida’s foreign-born residents are generally learning English at the same pace as immigrants early in the 20th Century (including Tancredo’s grandparents who came from Italy);

That they are paying their “fair share” of taxes (they are 16% of the population and pay 15% of state taxes);

That they are becoming citizens and intermarrying with U.S. native-born;

That they are catching up to average American income levels within 15 years of arriving;

That the adult. U.S.-born children of immigrants , especially Hispanics--have significantly better status than their parents, with higher occupational and income levels;

That immigrants in Florida are relatively light users of welfare, though they have higher use of food stamps and Supplemental Security Income.

So, if non-English speaking immigrants are matching Tancredo’s grandparents in learning English and if their children are doing significantly better than their parents and if the use of welfare/public benefits is declining among immigrants, what is Tancredo’s problem?

If, Tancredo is misstating the facts about Mexico, what else is he misstating? Is he ignorant or is he a liar? Is one worse than the other?

Raoul Lowery Contreras'
columns are syndicated by the New York Times Syndicate, New American News service.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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