I'm almost in denial about having to ask people to do this: sign this petition at change.org to help stop the deportation of Prerna Lal. It's difficult to think of a more stupid move for the Obama administration to make than to initiate removal proceedings against Prerna. Prerna is arguably the most visible undocumented person, or Dreamer (after the DREAM Act), in the U.S.

As her website will tell you, she helped found dreamactivist.org, one of the most powerful online hubs for migrant youth, she's a blogger at change.org, and she's a board member of Immigration Equality. She also earned her Master's degree in International Relations and is currently studying to get her law degree at George Washington University.

The Obama administration is telling us that they're focusing their resources on the worst of the worst while folks on the ground know that they're going after people like Prerna all the time. If you don't want to read on, please sign this petition to stop Prerna's deportation.

The political consequences of this for the Obama administration going into the 2012 elections are enormous. While the mainstream media is ignoring it, pro-migrant voters certainly aren't going to vote for anyone who is deporting away more of our family members, neighbors, peers, and friends than any other President, Democrat or Republican, in history.

While pro-migrant voters shouldn't be equated with Latino voters, Latinos are easily the largest, most visible, and most organized segment of the pro-migrant electorate. According to a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center a record 14.7 million Latinos stayed home during the midterm elections in 2010. It gets worse. Obama's approval ratings among Latinos has decreased from 73 to 54 percent. Obama is not going to be able to win Florida and the Southwest with numbers like that.

The Obama administration's strategy up to this point has been to try and talk about this out of both sides of it's mouth. The Obama administration tries to brag about it's skyrocketing enforcement numbers to independents while blaming Republicans for the mess. Pro-migrant voters aren't stupid. Even 7-year-old Daisy Cuevas understands that it is Obama who is responsible for forcing her to live in terror.

Meanwhile we're left to try and stop the deportation of our friends, like Prerna Lal, one-by-one.  The Obama administration deported almost 400,000 people in 2010 and only granted deferred action to 542 people. Obama deports more people in a day than we're able to save in a year.

Instead of expending our energy trying to help elect Obama we're expending that energy trying to stop deportations. As the 22 Democrat Senators who signed a letter (pdf) asking Obama to halt the deportation of all Dreamers point out, not only is this inhumane, but it's a waste of the Department of Homeland Security's resources. People like Prerna are going through the entire system only to have their deportations halted at the last minute.

Sign the petition to stop the deportation of Prerna Lal, and shout from the rooftops that it's time for Obama to stop this madness.

[Kyle de Beausset (@kyledeb) is a pro-migrant blogger at Citizen Orange]

The Politico:

In a 20-page memo on GOP electoral woes, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) repeatedly misspells Barack Obama’s name – it’s one R, congressman, not two -- and then manages to use the racially charged term “tar baby” in a paragraph about Obama and immigration.

“Remember,” Davis writes, “Hispanic voters are a swing group in this election and future elections. John McCain, being from a border state, may be out of sync with many Republicans but he has standing among Hispanics. Barrack Obama has not made the sale to Hispanic voters. Thus, this issue is a tar baby for anyone who touches it, with land mines everywhere.”

Wasn't Davis the one who recently said that if the Republican brand were dog food, it would be taken off the shelves? Ok, so this isn't the end of the world, but Rep Davis, statements like this aren't going to do much for your party in the fall.

NOW on PBS:

The booming Hispanic population in political swing states is creating opportunities and headaches in both political parties as they try to court the Latino vote. NOW on PBS travels to Florida just weeks before its important primary to examine Republican tactics to win over Hispanic Americans. A fifth of Florida's residents are Hispanic, and Republicans are scoring points on traditional issues of faith and national security. But at the same time, they're frustrating Latinos with what many of them see as harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Who has the winning approach?

On the NOW on PBS website, also check out our new Democracy Toolkit, with tools, information, and links to take you behind the election headlines.

Considering that half the Republican platform consists of playing up the fear and hatred of brown peoples everywhere, it amazes me that they could even hope for the Latino vote. Talking about voting against your interests. The entire episode of NOW is available for download and streaming at their site.

Via Daily Kos:

Last week, with little fanfare, George W. Bush announced the nomination of Joseph Holsinger to become the Surgeon General of the United States. Said Bush:

"As America's chief health educator, he will be charged with providing the best scientific information available on how Americans can make smart choices that improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury."

And speaking of choices, Holsinger and his wife:

...founded Hope Springs Community Church in a warehouse at 1109 Versailles Road. Calhoun called it a socially diverse congregation with a "very vital recovery ministry." It serves the homeless and those with addictions to drugs, alcohol and sex; and it has a Spanish-language Hispanic congregation with its own pastor. [...]

Hope Springs also ministers to people who no longer wish to be gay or lesbian, Calhoun said.

"We see that as an issue not of orientation but of lifestyle," he said. "We have people who seek to walk out of that lifestyle." Read more...

It turns out Holsinger's persecution and hatred of gays goes far beyond his little church. Keep in mind, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will have a say in Holsinger's nomination. Contact your Senators and let them know this intolerant bigot has no place in our government.

Atrios:

WASHINGTON - Former Wisconsin governor and Republican presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson told Jewish activists Monday that making money is "part of the Jewish tradition," and something that he applauded.

Speaking to an audience at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington D.C., Thompson said that, "I'm in the private sector and for the first time in my life I'm earning money. You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition and I do not find anything wrong with that."

Thompson later apologized for the comments that had caused a stir in the audience, saying that he had meant it as a compliment, and had only wanted to highlight the "accomplishments" of the Jewish religion.

I don't know if you remember Reggie White's speech to the Wisconsin Legislature:

Download | play Download | play

White said the United States has gotten away from God, in part by allowing homosexuality to "run rampant."

HOMOSEXUALITY IS a sin, and the plight of gays and lesbians should not be compared to that of blacks, White told lawmakers.

Continue reading »

In an update to my post yesterday...

USA Today:

Orange County Republican leaders on Thursday called for the withdrawal of a GOP congressional candidate they believe sent a letter threatening Hispanic immigrant voters with arrest.

Tan D. Nguyen denied knowing anything about the letter in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, but said he fired a campaign staffer who may have been responsible for it.

County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh, however, said that after speaking with state investigators and the company that distributed the mailer, he believes Nguyen had direct knowledge of "obnoxious and reprehensible" letter. He told the AP that the party's executive committee voted unanimously to Nguyen to drop out of the race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Read on...

Remember Jeanine Pirro? She gave up her Senate campaign against Hillary in favor of running for the NY Attorney General. Unfortunately, things aren't going so well there either:

TPM Muckraker:

Boy, it's been a rough year for Jeanine Pirro. First her fledging challenge to Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-NY) exploded after the worst campaign launch ever.

Now she's under federal investigation for plotting -- with onetime NYPD chief, former Iraq security head, would-be DHS secretary and crook Bernard Kerik -- to illegally spy on her own husband. (Come to think of it, it hasn't been a great year for Kerik, either). Oh, did I mention that their conversations were recorded? Read on...

Guess which big guns she's calling to help her?

"I am calling on U.S. attorney [general], Alberto Gonzalez [sic], to begin an immediate investigation and appoint a special prosecutor to get Elliot Jacobson off his witch hunt," Pirro told the New York Hispanic Clergy Association in the Bronx. "There needs to be a federal investigation of the felony of leaking sealed court documents." Read on...

You think Gonzo is going render anyone to Syria for this?

It's been three days now and Dick Cheney has not publicly apologized for shooting a 78 year old man in the face. With the President's approval ratings at 39 when the incident happened, even Chris Matthews noted that at this rate Bush will be in the 20s by next week.

Scott McClellan was cracking jokes about the shooting this morning and didn't mention to the press that he knew the old man had suffered a heart attack. Now he doesn't want to talk about it any more. The sherrif's office has acknowledged that they weren't allowed to talk to Cheney for 15 hours after the accident, but now ranch owner Katharine Armstrong has told MSNBC that people in the party were drinking (though the comment was later scrubbed from the website).

If Cheney were hispanic and not the Vice President of the United States something tells me this whole thing would be handled quite differently.