Steven Greenhut: GOP (CA) takes low road on immigration

[pampango]

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/law-295651-government-immigration.html

Republicans in the state Assembly, still high-fiving each other for stopping Jerry Brown's one proposal that actually made sense (ending redevelopment agencies), congratulated themselves last week for their tough stand on illegal immigration...

Predictably, Assembly Bill 26 failed the next morning in the Judiciary Committee, but the Assembly members were able to preen before the TV cameras and play to their base voters. I found the news conference to be crass, illogical and counterproductive. During the rally, the Republicans featured families who were victimized by illegal-immigrant criminals, thus making the not-so-subtle suggestion that Mexican immigrants are a danger to us all. Never mind that crime among Mexican immigrants is lower than crime among the general population – it's not until the second generation, after the newcomers' kids are exposed to American values, that the crime rates soar.

The rally, attended by OC Assembly members Diane Harkey of Dana Point, Don Wagner of Irvine and Allan Mansoor of Costa Mesa, along with Steve Knight of Palmdale, Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks, Shannon Grove of Bakersfield, Mike Morrell of Rancho Cucamonga and Brian Jones of Santee, had an old-fashioned feel, and not in a good way. It was if the state's massive demographic changes had passed by these lawmakers, and they had no sense of how their rhetoric might sound outside the small world of GOP voters.

I was annoyed by the sign, held by an official rally participant, stating that she was happy to show her papers anytime. The featured speaker was Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce, the main backer of SB1070. His involvement made it clear that these Republicans support that law. Pearce's rhetoric was harsh, as he hammered businesses for putting "profits over patriotism." He couldn't understand why the law was controversial, and said the law separated us into two camps: law keepers and law breakers. It's clear what category he would put me in.


Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, left, discusses his proposed measure that targets illegal immigrants
during a rally at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, April 4, 2011. More than 100 people gathered to
support Donnelly's bill that if approved by the legislature and signed by the governor would punish employers
who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, make it a misdemeanor to be the the state illegally and mandate life in
prison for those convicted of bringing immigrants in the state to act as sex slaves.