A Compact with America. The Answer to the Anti-immigrant Tsunami.

A Compact with America.  The Answer to the Anti-immigrant Tsunami.

By DeeDee Garcia Blase

The initial tsunami of Arizona’s harsh immigrant SB 1070 law left our state economy in devastation, and we see a series of similar anti-immigrant bills being introduced in approximately 25 states across the nation.    As a result of this, we have had to re-evaluate our political organization’s immigration principles due to the harsh rhetoric and inaction of cowardly politicians.  We are at ground zero here in Arizona with regard to the immigration issue, and in order to prevent ourselves from reinventing the wheel, we had to go back to square one.

Square one is the Mayflower Compact, where leaders of the Mayflower expedition recognized that early immigrant settlers came from diverse backgrounds.  The Mayflower Compact, which John Adams referred to as the foundation of the United States Constitution,  was arranged to set up a form of government from within themselves and was written by those to be governed.   It was an act of good faith that served as a covenant to combine each other into civility.

The courageous leaders from the Beehive State re-introduced the concept of the Mayflower Compact in the form of The Utah Compact because they were concerned about the tone on immigration.  Utah’s positive message sent a seismic change within the hometown of the legislator who sponsored the SB 1070 law.  The positive results we witnessed and the unified message that came from religious leaders, business owners, American citizens and officials was the answer to combat the waves of anti-immigrant sentiment.

The COMPACT WITH AMERICA will be an effective national program and tool that will empower Americans to combat the anti-immigrant bleak outlook.   Expanding the vision of the Mayflower and Utah Compact into a national program will remind Americans that it was immigrants who helped make this nation great.  The Compact gives purpose to the ordinary citizen who seeks a healthy discussion and atmosphere to address the complexity of immigration within their own state.

The drawbacks of SB 1070 has left our state in disarray as we heard the sucking sound of legal and undocumented Hispanics leaving in mass exodus.  With the increased supply of empty houses, it is no wonder the housing market continues to suffer as we see foreclosures rise in our state.  Hispanic, Asian and other families from diverse ethnic backgrounds who were legal did not want to see their undocumented grandma or grandpa put in jail, so they moved out of the state in order to maintain their family unit.

In addition to the suffering housing market, the controversial immigration law cost our state more than $140 million in lost meeting and convention business alone.  This year we are suffering an $800 Million dollar budget deficit and next year we will suffer a $1.3 Billion dollar deficit crisis.  The families and their related immigrants who left en masse will no longer contribute to our tax revenues.  Agricultural fields are being neglected and we don’t see our Governor directing the unemployed to those jobs that are available.

Concerned leaders in Arizona, Colorado, California, Texas, Illinois, Nebraska and Florida want to reduce the anti-immigrant tone, and they are currently building coalitions and relationships within their own states in an effort to emulate Utah’s success. We encourage all to roll up their sleeves as the leaders of Utah did in an effort to reduce the intensity and magnitude of this destructive nature.  The anti-immigrant bias is perceived by many throughout the world as a destructive seed of hate.

Why the sudden anti-immigrant sentiment?

Supporters of the anti-immigrant laws use fear tactics in their messages.  They use falsehoods claiming immigrants are a drain to society when in fact a majority of economists agree that illegal immigrants are a net benefit for the U.S. economy.  Isolationists correlate terrorist attacks as one of their reasons to support restrictionist ideals; however, it was the original goal of the terrorists to see Americans continue to live in fear almost a decade later.  They hunger to see the dissolution of treaties we have made with neighboring countries as they see the message of isolationists waxing stronger.

We hope to see State Compacts shock us out of isolationism soon. The COMPACT WITH AMERICA is a beacon of light we see in the distance guiding us back to that “shining city upon a hill”.  May the world see us being guided by freedoms and not by fear.

About Somos Republicans:

The Mission of Somos Republicans is to promote political education and information needed to make more informed political decisions. To inspire the Hispanic people to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their neighbors through collaborative political education, volunteer commitment and responsible participation in society. Our vision is to increase the Latino Republican voting block by 100% within two years. To increase voter registration, precinct committeemen recruitment, campaign volunteering, fundraising and events to reflect quality and integrity of future Latino leadership.