Latino Evangelical Voices - Issues Challenging the Latino Church

Give the DREAM Act one more Chance

2010-12-11T03:17:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

A little too late to try and amend the DREAM Act in Congress. Below is an article circulating condemning and calling for the military option to be dropped from the House version that was recently passed. The reason Senator Reid pulled the bill after the vote in the Senate, was so that when he brings up the DREAM Act again, it will be more in line with the House bill version. There will be no major changes to the bill as demanded by Alejandra Juarez in her article shown below.

Any efforts to change or amend the bill will only create more confusion and chaos for a two week lame session of Congress. All of our efforts must go to attract the two or three votes we need to pass the version of the bill that passed the House. Please work to pass the present version passed out of the House.

In over ten years that the Congress has debated and discussed the military strings option, we are left with what we have. There is no time left to try and create changes that potentially could cause the existing bill to lose support for the present bill. While I appreciate your enthusiasm, we must be realistic and understand that the present bill is most likely the only bill that will be considered.

Push for support and for the Senate to endorse the present legislation. Don't create excuses or changes that will only doom a bill that presently does not have adequate support to pass the Senate. That should be our focus and all of our efforts should be to get this bill passed.

I am sorry many supporters of the DREAM Act don't like the military option, but time for debate on that one issue has long passed the time to change it. It is time now to support the DREAM Act and to get more Senators to support this present bill.

While I may agree with your statements, "Undocumented youth are tired of the vast inequities and limited opportunities afforded to them because of their citizenship status.

We fight for the right to education for all, the right to have a job that helps our families get out of poverty, the right to live without fear of incarceration and deportation, the right to keep families together.

We denounce the Democrats for their political maneuvering offering empty promises in exchange for our vote. "

#1: "Undocumented youth may be tired of the vast inequities and limited opportunities afforded to them because of their citizenship status," but let us not forget that presently they have no "citizenship status" in our country. That is one of the benefits of the DREAM Act to provide them a legal citizenship status so that they can participate fully in the political and social debate in our country.

#2: We too "fight for the right to education for all, the right to have a job that helps our families get out of poverty, the right to live without fear of incarceration and deportation, the right to keep families together." Unable to pass "comprehensive immigration reform" through the Congress, the DREAM Act is essentially a token prize at meeting some of the promises made by the President and GOP and Democratic politicians alike. Too bad, many of the GOP politicians have forgotten their promises to support this bill and have turned their backs and reputations on the undocumented students expecting their support for the DREAM Act.

#3: We must not only "denounce the Democrats for their political maneuvering offering empty promises in exchange for our vote," but also the Republicans who at one time supported this legislation. In fact, it has been the Republicans who are preventing the DREAM Act from being enacted in the Senate. Blame the Democrats for what you call "political maneuvering offering empty promises in exchange for out vote," but don't forget to also denounce the Republican politicians who gave us their promises to support this legislation as well. As I stated earlier, it is their lack of support that prevents our side from getting the magic number of 60 in the Senate. The DREAM Act passed the House with a simple majority. In the Senate, the Republicans have imposed a super majority of 60 votes to pass legislation in the Senate.

It is imperative that we push for the present version of the DREAM Act. Please don't propose or add any confusing amendments or changes, only creating more chaos to a very dynamic piece of legislation. It is time to support the version which passed the House and allow students to dream of all the opportunities they will have to achieve their lifetime goals and ambitions.

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Fidel "Butch" Montoya

----- Original Message -----
From: To: "A.beltran
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 8:08 PM
Subject: [isn] A DREAM Act With No Military Strings Attached

A DREAM Act With No Military Strings Attached Papers for all Undocumented Youth!

by Alejandra Juarez

On Wednesday, November 10th just one week after the Midterm elections, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) came out in support of the DREAM Act.

Along with Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Pelosi has promised to push for its passage during the lame duck session.

Both legislators are keenly aware of their party’s dubious standing without Latino support.

Certainly, it was the Latino vote which helped Reid maintain his congressional seat.

Likewise, as Pelosi seeks to become House Minority Leader, her announcement to push for a vote on the proposed legislation is meant to rally support from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and progressives.

But what are they offering us?

In 2008 Barack Obama won the presidency by securing the Latino vote on the promise of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) during his first year in office.

Yet almost two years later 11 million undocumented immigrants continue to wait for a path to legalization.

Worse yet, they wait in fear as the number of raids and deportations have skyrocketed under the Obama administration, a record 400,000 this past year alone.

The intensification and institutionalization of repressive measures like S-Comm, 287(g), E-Verify, and the militarization of the border have all created an atmosphere of terror in immigrant communities.

Obama's delayed promised of immigration reform also allowed for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s strike, enacting SB 1070, which represents a widespread attack on the immigrant community not only in Arizona but throughout the nation.

Democratic leaders including President Obama have declared CIR dead.

Instead they offer piecemeal legislation like AgJOBS and the DREAM Act.

The numbers don’t add up

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of undocumented youth living in the United States, estimates are in the millions.

According to studies only around 2.1 million would potentially be eligible to apply for legal status under the DREAM Act.

However, the Migration Policy Institute reports that a merely 825,000 or 38% of these 2.1 million would meet all the requirements for legal permanent residency (LPR).

This is a tiny minority who would actually benefit from the DREAM Act, leaving the overwhelming majority with no way to legalize their status and vulnerable to deportation.

Furthermore, one of the requirements for gaining LPR is attending college or university for at least two years; an unlikely proposition taking into account the costs of higher education and the discrimination inherent in our national educational system.

Nationally, the cost of attending college has increased 439% from 1982 to 2007 (National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education).

In California, tuition fees at the UC’s and CSU’s continue to increase from 32% last year to 15% this year and a scheduled 8% and 10% increase next year for UC’s and CSU’s respectively.

The community colleges are no different.

Last year they saw a fee increase of 54% and course offerings shrink.

Along with that grant and scholarship offerings are also shrinking.

And contrary to popular belief “students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families” (National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education).

Likewise, DREAM Act students would not be eligible for federal financial aid -- only loans and work study.

Moreover, the DREAM Act gives states the prerogative to decide if these students qualify for in-state tuition (repealing Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996).

Moreover, the barriers to socio-economic progress are stack such that racial and ethnic minorities have a slim chance of success in this country.

For example, although Latino, black, and Native Americans accounted for 29% of high school graduates, they only made up 13% of incoming freshmen at the UC’s in 2007.

And that number has decreased in recent years.

The national high school drop-out rate among Latinos is around 40%.

In California the drop-out rate is 36%.

In addition, a significant percent of the 1.5 generation coming to the United States without papers arrive with very little schooling and come to work to contribute to the family income.

These undocumented youth would not even qualify for conditional LPR status.

* Guns for papers *

The other option the DREAM Act offers in order to gain LPR status is two years of military service.

Given the new higher education framework, the military option then becomes the de-facto choice to gain LPR status for most undocumented youth.

Those non-citizens already fighting overseas have gained very little as permanent residency is not guaranteed and posthumous citizenship brings no benefits to families of the deceased.

Besides, the threat of deportation even for those in uniform is still a possibility.

With the continued occupations in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as the increased militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, it is very likely that those joining the military under the DREAM Act will see combat.

And although the DREAM Act asks for only two years of military service, we must be aware that there is no such thing as a two-year military contract.

Since the National Call to Service Plan passed in 2003 all enlistment requires a minimum of eight years.

For a DREAM Act with no military strings attached!

Undocumented youth are tired of the vast inequities and limited opportunities afforded to them because of their citizenship status.

We fight for the right to education for all, the right to have a job that helps our families get out of poverty, the right to live without fear of incarceration and deportation, the right to keep families together.

We denounce the Democrats for their political maneuvering offering empty promises in exchange for our vote.

We should not be asked to assist in the continued occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, or in any new militaristic adventures in Latin America, Iran, or elsewhere in order to obtain papers for our immigrant brothers and sisters.

Nor should we have to subjugate our Peoples in their native lands or on the border.

We in the immigrant community are not discouraged by the lack of political will in Washington.

We will continue to fight for a new and just immigration policy based on human and workers' rights.

More than ever, it is necessary to (re)build an independent mass movement for legalization.

It will take huge mobilizations and strikes like those that took place in the spring of 2006 to force the ruling elite to grant our just demands.

More than ever, the passing -- and the content -- of the DREAM Act depends on our independent struggles today.

The future of the DREAM Act depends on us being able unify and push forward in united action!

Students, parents, community activists and their organizations are mobilizing on December 3 in front of the Federal Building in San Francisco to demand papers for ALL!

Join the anti-military, pro-legalization contingent calling for a DREAM Act with No Military Strings Attached!

And join us in San Francisco or organize a solidarity action in your community.

bh

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2010/12/a-dream-act-with-no-military-strings-attached.html

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Pray for Bernard Pastor

2010-12-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

As part of the effort to push for passage of the DREAM Act, the dilemma surrounding the case of Bernard Pastor, an 18 year old young man has come to light. Pastor is perhaps one of the best reasons why we must push for passage of the DREAM Act. He is an example for other young people to follow.

The Associated Baptist Press, in a news story entitled, "Christians join in last ditch effort to pass immigration reform for youngsters," used Bernard Pastor as one of the most pressing reasons why this legislation must be passed in Congress:

"Troy Jackson, an evangelical pastor in Cincinnati, cited the case of 18-year-old Bernard Pastor, a 2010 graduate of the Cincinnati-area Reading High School. Pastor -- a standout soccer player in school and volunteer Pentecostal youth pastor -- was brought illegally to the United States 15 years ago when his parents fled civil war and religious persecution in their native Guatemala. On Nov. 17, he was arrested and detained by immigration authorities after being involved in a minor car accident.

Pastor's high-school friends and classmates have been protesting his detention and deportation proceedings since, and have set up a website, Pray for Bernard, http://www.prayforbernard.com/ to publicize his case and the DREAM Act."

I encourage all of you to go to http://www.prayforbernard.com/, and join with thousands of others in pledging to pray for Bernard Pastor, and join in prayer across this country on Saturday, December 4th, at 1 p.m. (Central time).

"At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 4th at the Butler County Jail in Hamilton, students and other supporters will be praying as they conclude a pilgrimage and prayer vigil for their long-time friend, Bernard Pastor. At the same time, committed people of faith and conscience from all over the nation are called to join together in prayer for Bernard, for the thousands living in fear of facing deportation, and to pray for the passage of the Dream Act."

Please join with me and thousands of other committed persons in prayer for Bernard Pastor. As a "volunteer Pentecostal youth pastor," there is no question in my mind that Pastor understands the power of prayer and that God will play a major role in his situation, as well as the thousands living in fear of facing deportation. I urge you to click on Pray for Bernard and sign the pledge of prayer.

It is time that WE PUSH THE DREAM ACT FORWARD in our prayers as well!

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Pass the "New" DREAM Act

2010-12-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

In an effort to pass the DREAM Act in the current session of Congress, the DREAM Act has been changed to meet some of the concerns of Republicans and reluctant Democrats who have voted against the bill in the past. The changes may mean that a bipartisan effort may actually take place in the Congress.

But, it is absolutely critical that you contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the "New DREAM Act" being proposed. There are some changes, but overall it still will allow many deserving undocumented young people to seek an opportunity to continue with their education, dreams, and a journey to citizenship. The young people affected by this bill are children who were brought into this country as small children. They had no choice in the matter and came with their parents seeking a new life and opportunities to better themselves.

For the most part, undocumented immigrants have contributed to the success of our economy and country. In many cases, they have been good workers, good neighbors, and hard working individuals seeking a better life for themselves as their families.

Now with the "New DREAM Act," their children will finally get an opportunity to continue their dream of a better life. Opposition to the DREAM Act is being instigated by rumors, hate emails to Congress, and lies about what the bill will eventually mean to many young people seeking only to improve their lot in life.

We are asking that you contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the DREAM Act today. It is urgent that you please do this so we can put a stop to the thousands of emails, letters, and calls being made by individuals who want this legislation to fail.

Here is a link that will show you the changes made in the DREAM Act.
http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/blog/blog/dream-act-update-whats-in-this-new-bill/

It is going to take bipartisan support to pass the DREAM Act, please encourage members of Congress to work together to pass this important legislation.

Please pray for bipartisan support and that the bill will pass. It is time that WE PUSH THE DREAM ACT FORWARD!

Blessings/Bendiciones,

Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Now it is Facebook!

2010-11-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

Now it is facebook! This might create an interesting debate and discussion in your church or with your governing board. It is an interesting and very controversial look at facebook.

Read this article and let me know what your opinion might be about this new controversy? Will you encourage your married church officials to delete their facebook accounts as Pastor Cedric Miller has requested of his church officials?

He is now considering asking married congregants to give up their facebook accounts because 20 couples of his 1,100 membership church have run into martial problems after a spouse has contacted an ex-flame in Facebook over the last six months.

Read the article and you decide what you think is best for your church. To Facebook or not Facebook. The new 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not use Facebook." Let me know what you think?

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Pastor to church leaders: Get off Facebook or step down
By NANCY SHIELDS . STAFF WRITER . November 17, 2010

NEPTUNE - Rev. Cedric A. Miller has had it with what he says Facebook is doing to couples coming to him for help and is giving his married church leaders until Sunday to get off the social-network website or resign their posts.

Miller, senior pastor at Living Word Christian Fellowship Church, the popular interdenominational and evangelical church on Route 35, said a large percentage of his counseling over the past year and a half has been for marital problems, including infidelity, stemming from Facebook.

Miller said there was no problem when people just met with friends from high school in a platonic way.

But that has changed, he said, and now people are reigniting old passions and connecting with people who should stay in the past. He said a marriage can be going along fine when someone from the past breaks through and trouble begins.

"It's to the point now that this Sunday, anyone in our church in a leadership position and who is married and is on Facebook has to resign their church position if they do not give up Facebook," Miller, 48, said Tuesday.

He plans to speak on the subject at the 9:30 a.m. Sunday service, getting up to preach about 10:15 a.m.

"I spoke on it a few weeks back, and just admonished people that there's a reason why your past is the past and hopefully you have grown in the Lord, matured to not link up with a past that for many people is a Christless past," Miller said.

"Married couples are going on Facebook and what happens can end up in my office," the pastor said. "I know from where we stand in the Christian perspective, the connection is inappropriate."

Miller gave examples of church officers as the associate pastors, deacons, ministers, and auxiliary leaders. "I do have authority over the leaders - not the congregation at large," he said.

"The average citizen is going to see my action as controlling, not that I care about that," Miller said. "I'm not concerned with being politically correct. I'm trying to save families and marriages."

"He has been heartbroken over this situation" said Hazel Samuels of Asbury Park, who chairs the church's board of trustees. Samuels is single and not on Facebook. "It's a misuse of Facebook. People just don't use it properly."

Miller said has a Facebook account and that his wife has his password as well as one of the church elders. He has six children and uses Facebook to follow what they're doing, he said.

But he will drop off Facebook by Sunday as well.

Miller said that often the people he counsels go to another church but want to keep their marriage problems as private as possible, so they come to him. Often, it requires months of counseling to keep a couple together, he said.

Facebook, founded in 2004, has more than 500 million users worldwide.

"I wouldn't say Facebook is the problem," said William Rosenblatt, an Ocean Township psychologist and therapist. "What I would say is we live in a rapidly changing world, and we are facing stresses and opportunities that we've never had to face before.

"Facebook doesn't create dissatisfied marriages," Rosenblatt continued. "People who are dissatisfied now have better means of creating support systems and networks that are much more vast, and it's much easier to connect with people that way.

"I would see the pastor's decree as sort of another example of how, when we as a group are faced with dramatic change, there are three paths people take," Rosenblatt said.

"One path is we need to go back to the way things were, the conservative path," he said. "Another group are those who just want to rush ahead and change everything. Then a third group says, let's not paint this black and white. Let's be mindful and thoughtful how we do this."

Miller and his wife, Kim, also a pastor, started Living Word in their home in 1987. It has grown to about 1,100 people on the rolls and 500 to 600 attending Sunday services, Samuels said.

Miller has played a significant community role as a pastor and is a leader in the ongoing Asbury Park-Neptune relief efforts for Haiti.

"I've had people come to me in trouble because of the computer in general - a lot of computer widows - but not Facebook," said the Rev. Porter Brown, overseer at Faith Baptist Tabernacle in Asbury Park.

Brown said he's contemplating setting up a Facebook site to increase the church's communication with his congregation and community. At the moment, he said he sends e-mails to young people to let them know about the upcoming Sunday sermon so they can send him questions ahead of time.

"We continue to share with our folks that the Internet can be a good thing to use, but it has its own kind of dangers. Any access to people unfiltered may not be good."

Nancy Shields: 732-643-4229; shields@app.com

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Blue is Beautiful

2010-11-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

The Red Wave of the Tea Party missed Colorado as it stood in stark contrast to the Red States in the Rocky Mountain region. Colorado elected a Democratic Governor, electing Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper who crushed two challengers, the infamous undocumented immigrant crusader Tom Tancredo, and political unknown Dan Maes. Tancredo ran as a third party candidate, who was unable to sell his extremist views to Colorado voters, and hopefully has reached the end of his extremist political career.

Colorado also elected appointed Senator Michael Bennet to a full six year term, squeaking out a victory over Tea Party favorite Weld County D. A. Ken Buck. Buck was expected to win according to the political pundits who felt Bennet would be unable to withstand the Red Wave that drown Democratic control of the House, and came within four or five candidates of submerging the Senate in a Tea Party tsunami.

While Republicans were able to defeat two Democratic Congressional candidates, Democrats were able to re-elect three Congressional incumbents in spite of an angry atmosphere toward President Obama’s agenda and Democratic incumbents.

Looking at what happened in other states on election night to Democratic incumbents and candidates, Colorado withstood the anger and Tea Party addiction. Colorado Democratic candidates were able to hold their own on a night that President Obama even admitted was not a good night for his administration, telling the nation, “I feel bad.”

Senator Bennet fought the outside money that pushed Ken Buck to the brink of victory with a get out the vote strategy that even pushed his own voter projections beyond his own expectations. In many bell weather counties, Bennet was winning with larger voter percentages that came out to help Senator Bennet defeat Buck with about a total of 15,000 votes or less. While many national news media refused to call the race on election night, KUSA-TV political consultant, Floyd Ciruli called the race in Bennet’s favor on Wednesday morning after a long night of analyzing voter results.

Latino voters played a pivotal role in several key races for Democrats. In Colorado, Bennet pulled 81% of the Latino vote, which gave Bennet the edge he needed to defeat Buck. Polling by Latino Decisions projected that Latinos in Nevada supported Senator Reid with 90% of the Latino vote. California Barbara Boxer enjoyed the support of 86% of Latino voters.

All in all, it was a night that demonstrated that when Latino voters are engaged, they can make the difference. It was clear the misdirected attempt by GOP Latino operatives to discourage Latino voters from going to the polls to vote, backfired and instead, angered Latinos into turning out to vote and supporting three important Senatorial races that kept control of the Senate in Democratic hands.

Without strong Latino get out the vote strategies, there is no question that Reid, Boxer, and Bennet would have been defeated by their challengers. While political pundits have claimed that Latino voters could change the outcome of elections, there is no doubt these three senatorial races dynamically demonstrated the strength of the Latino voter. No longer just a political theory, Latino voter participation is now considered a potent political weapon that other candidates will seek to duplicate in the future if they want to win the tight race.

As we face the uncertainty and dynamic change in political power in Congress, Latinos are positioned to play a key role in determining and changing the outcome of voter expectations.

While the Tea Party influence also played a key role in electing Republican Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Republican Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada, and Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Latinos also demonstrated that they do not speak with one voice or are of one political persuasion. Martinez was elected as the first Hispanic female Republican Governor. Sandoval defeated Rory Reid, Senator Reid’s son for the governorship of Nevada. Rubio, who claims to be a son of exiled Cuban immigrants, is considered one of the strongest foes of immigration reform.

In spite of political party or favorite political beverage, Latinos are positioned on the national stage to govern and bring about change for the Latino community. Latino voter turn out in the future will need to be a priority for any group wishing to change the outcome of elections. While major emphasis has been given to voter registration, it is clear that we cannot neglect to follow through and engage in broad based get out the Latino vote in future elections.

If we neglect to push Latino voter participation in 2012, we will be failing to utilize the most important voter outcome weapon that has shown in the mid-term elections, that the Latino voters do make a difference.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Vote Republican? Not Hardly

2010-10-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

I was recently reading an article by Steve Sailer, movie critic for The American Conservative entitled, "What GOP Should Say to Hispanics - Vote like Americans." Sailer used information from the Hispanic Pew Center study released on October 5th. The survey - "Latinos and the 2010 Elections: Strong Support for Democrats; Voter Weak Motivation" attempted to explain Latino issues that might affect how Latinos vote.

The Pew survey polled Hispanics on the top seven issues which Latinos felt were the extremely important to the Latino community. Several earlier polls have shown immigration to be one of the top issues that Latinos want addressed by consistent governmental policy and legislation.

There is no doubt that comprehensive immigration reform remains one of the issues that Latinos have demanded from President Obama, and is seen as one of the main reasons his positive polling numbers among Latinos has plunged dramatically.

Sailer on the other hand took the latest Hispanic Pew survey to misrepresent the feelings of the Latino community, and used his article to demonstrate that Latinos are losing interest or steam when it comes to immigration reform. His premise was that among the top seven most important issues facing the Latino community, "Immigration reform" only placed 5th in order of importance.

Using that misdirected premise, Sailer goes on a mission to demonstrate that if the GOP reached out to Hispanics, and asked to them to vote "like Americans," Latino Democrats might consider the message, because most Republicans concur with Latino preferences as well. The Hispanic Pew study states their polling shows that while Latinos generally support the Democrats, there is little motivation to vote come the mid-term elections. It gets back to that "enthusiasm gap," that generally is being touted by the GOP as affecting all Democrats.

Sailer's main rationale is simple, but clearly out of step with reality and any sense of what the Latino community feels about immigration reform. I don't know of any Latino leader who proposes to have open borders and leave the border unsecured. Most believe that an acceptable pathway to citizenship for those undocumented immigrants who want citizenship should be part of any immigration reform.

I don't find most immigration reform proponents demanding that undocumented immigrants be deported in train box cars like "our American government," did during "Operation Wetback" in the 1950's.

What Sailer proposes is, "My conclusion: After a Bush-blighted decade, it's time for Republican candidates to address Hispanic voters directly over illegal immigration. As a general rule, human beings respond more constructively to being challenged than to being pandered to. Hence, GOP candidates should forthrightly ask for the support of Hispanic voters in opposing illegal immigration."

What an idiotic proposal and void of any political reality that anyone would actually think that Latinos would vote for Republicans, especially how in practically every race in the country, they have demonized and dehumanized undocumented immigrants, and now Sailer thinks we would even consider voting "like Americans," and vote for Republicans?

Looking back at the top issues that registered Latino voters find extremely important start with Education at 58%. Jobs at 54%. Healthcare at 51%. Federal Budget Deficit at 35%. Immigration at 31%. Environment at 29%. And finally the war in Afghanistan at 27%.

When you understand that while the American economy has edged closer to the brink of bankruptcy for the last two years and unemployment and loss of jobs has affected most Americans, it is understandable that Jobs and Federal Budget Deficit are among the top five concerns. While the Obama Administration claims national unemployment figures top out at about 9.2%, many economists will tell you, in the Black and Latino communities the unemployment rates are anywhere from 12% to 15%.

For over forty or more years the Latino community has demanded that something be done with the great social equalizer, education. Education rates first at 58%. With 50% or more Latino students dropping out of school, it is a national crisis that most Republicans probably don't even recognize.

The same concern also rises in the Latino community when it comes to a lack of affordable healthcare. Most Latinos or immigrants will stay away from the doctors and hospitals because medical care is not affordable. The problem is when most Latinos finally go the doctor; their health problem is far more serious than if they had taken care of the health problem earlier.

No Mr. Sailer, it should not surprise you that at this point in time, while most Americans deal with the Great Recession, most people of color, including Latinos are dealing with the Great Depression of 2010.

The Hispanic Pew survey should not be misleading, because consistently in other Pew surveys, most Latinos want comprehensive immigration reform taken care of. But when you can't find a job to put food on the table of a hungry family, pay the rent or mortgage, deal with higher prices for transportation or keeping the old car drivable, and worrying about what happens when one of the kids gets sick, or how to deal with the costs of healthcare, it is no wonder these issues float to the top of the extremely important issues facing the Latino community.

Also, don't be so ignorant as to think that if Republicans simply "challenge Latinos instead of pandering to them," by asking Latinos to support the GOP's hate campaign against undocumented immigrants will resonate in the Latino community. Demonizing, dehumanizing, and calling people "illegals," is not going to drive as you call Latinos, "unmotivated Democrats," to vote for Republicans.

In fact, your misguided attempt to challenge Latinos to vote for the GOP candidate because of our "Hispanic patriotism," is like asking us to commit treason.
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Menendez/Leahy Immigration Bill of 2010

2010-10-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the US Senate that includes some provisions that are certain to stimulate considerable debate among proponents of immigration reform. The coming days will determine a better perspective on whether the immigration reform coalition will continue to work together to push immigration reform forward.

For example, conservatives for immigration reform have called extending family based immigration or reunification for same sex couples as a "deal breaker." This particular provision has been discussed in the past, and perhaps making it more active to other groups seeking immigration reform, it may well create a barrier to continued support for some religious groups seeking to push reform in the Congress. While it is expected that this provision will ignite considerable debate, it will depend on the art of politics and compromise to see if the Menendez/Leahy Bill goes forward.

The enforcement provisions will also provoke considerable debate over what constitutes a "secure border," or is this simply a unattainable goal being used by the opponents of immigration reform to keep the security standard unreachable so that many provisions of the bill are not activated or triggered? At some point, enough is enough in terms of the dollars and human resources placed on the border. It is time to allow some provisions of the bill to put an end to the sacrifice and injustice suffered by many immigrant families without having to jump through so many Republican loop holes intended to delay or kill any effort for reform.

Already experiencing the failure of not being able to garner the support of any member of the "Party of No" to support the DREAM Act just last week, many critics are wondering why Senator Menendez would introduce an immigration bill that "probably will go not go anywhere in the Congress anyway." Senator Menendez has countered that criticism with the fact that this bill demonstrates the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. While Democrats are willing to push the debate on comprehensive immigration reform with a new proposal, the voters who have overwhelming indicated support for immigration reform, will see that it is clearly the Republicans who continue to refuse to consider any new proposals on reform and remain the impediment to passing comprehensive immigration reform any time soon.

In the coming days, as we all review the details of the Menendez/Leahy Bill, it will be clear that the debate over immigration reform will continue to point out the urgent need once and for all the importance of all parties affected by the legislation to sit down and find a bill that will be a just and righteous approach to extending a pathway to protecting and legalizing the status for undocumented immigrants who wish to remain in the USA.

Regardless of the potential barriers to a just reform bill, it is critically important that we all review the bill and join in the debate so our fight for comprehensive immigration reform is not perceived as a stumbling block to families separated and affected by a broken immigration system that penalizes and punishes their efforts to find a better life.

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Here for your reading enjoyment are the fundamental points related to the Menendez/Leahy Bill on immigration reform:

THE COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2010
Introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D‐NJ) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D‐VT)

Title I – Border Enforcement
 Establishes border enforcement “triggers” that must be met before any unauthorized immigrants can apply for permanent residency.
 Requires DHS to review assets and staffing needed for border security and enforcement.
 Funds port of entry improvements and tools and technology, in line with this review.
 Expands Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) staffing, in line with this review.
 Improves training and accountability for DHS border and immigration officers.
 Enhances cooperation with Canada and Mexico, as well as local law enforcement agencies, to improve border security and coordinate crime fighting.
 Clarifies that the power to regulate immigration resides with the federal government, not states and localities, and that state and local police do not have the “inherent authority” to enforce federal immigration laws (outside of 287(g) agreements).
 Involves border communities in enforcement policy through creation of a U.S.‐Mexico Border Enforcement Commission and a Border Communities Liaison Office.

Title II – Interior Enforcement
 Requires DHS to track the departure of noncitizens to ensure that individuals do not overstay their visas.
 Denies “visa waiver” privileges to countries whose citizens attempt to overstay visas.
 Refines existing law on illegal entry, illegal reentry and voluntary departure of noncitizens to ensure enforcement of those provisions and heighten penalties for those who commit serious offenses.
 Funds and expands the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program to cover additional criminal justice costs borne by state and local governments.
 Enhances efforts to ensure that DHS does not mistakenly deport U.S. citizens and residents.
 Expands penalties for passport, visa, and immigration fraud; unlawful flight from immigration or customs controls; and gang activity.
 Expands other civil penalties and grounds of inadmissibility for certain criminals.
 Provides common‐sense rules governing the detention of families, elderly or ill immigrants, crime victims, and other “vulnerable populations” like torture survivors, as well as enforcement actions that involve children.
 Improves detention conditions to meet basic standards; expands secure alternatives to detention.
 Ends the waiting period for refugees and asylees to obtain green cards.

Title III – Worksite Enforcement
 Mandates the use of an employment verification system for all employers within five years. 2
 Creates a new fraud‐resistant, tamper‐resistant Social Security card; requires workers to use fraud‐ and tamper‐resistant documents to prove authorization to work in the United States.
 Requires the Social Security Administration to create a reliable and secure way of verifying Social Security numbers and work authorization.
 Adds criminal penalties for fraud and misuse of Social Security numbers.
 Provides protections for workers to prevent fraudulent use of social security numbers, correct government database errors, and combat employment discrimination.
 Creates a voluntary pilot program using biometric identifiers to demonstrate work authorization.

Title IV – Reforming America’s Legal Immigration System
 Creates a Standing Commission on Immigration, Labor Markets, and the National interest to evaluate labor market and economic conditions and recommend quotas for employment based visa programs that Congress and the President would act on. The Commission will be made up of the Secretaries of DHS, State, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture, as well as the Attorney General, Social Security Commissioner, and seven nongovernmental members appointed by the President.
 Creates the structure for a new nonimmigrant visa program (H‐2C) to address gaps in existing worker programs that have lead to undocumented migration. The number of H‐2C workers admitted to the program is completely dependent upon the Commission’s recommendations regarding the impact on the labor market and economy. Workers must have a job offer and meet various application requirements. Once in the U.S., H‐2C visa holders are able to change jobs, provided their new employer is authorized to hire H‐2C workers.
o The H‐2C program has various features to protect U.S. workers, such as: bars to use of the program in high‐unemployment areas; requirements for employers to recruit and hire American workers first; employer‐paid program fees; employer banishment from the program for improper use or misrepresentation; etc.
o H‐2C workers are eligible to apply for green cards after having worked in the U.S. for
four years, or immediately if they are sponsored by their employer.
 Significantly expands labor protections in current H‐2A, H‐2B, H‐1B, and L‐1 visa programs.
 Ensures that the number of family and employment green cards authorized by Congress do not expire because of processing delays; expands the share of visas that each country can access within existing quotas that limit overall immigration.
 Exempts certain immigrants from counting against the annual green card quotas so that they can immediately reunite with loved ones in the U.S., including spouses and minor children of green card holders.
 Revises unlawful presence bars to immigration so that individuals with family ties are not permanently banished from the U.S.
 Incorporates the AgJOBS bill, which provides a path to permanent residency for farm workers and revises agricultural employer sponsorship requirements.
 Incorporates the Uniting American Families Act, which allows permanent partners to access the family‐based immigration system.

Title V – Legalization of Undocumented Individuals
 Creates Lawful Prospective Immigrant (LPI) status for non‐criminal undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. since 9/30/10. Requires applicants to submit biometric and biographical data, undergo security and law enforcement checks, and pay a $500 fine plus application fees. LPI status lasts four years and can be extended. It includes work authorization and permission to travel abroad; immediate family members are also eligible for status under the program.
o Immigrants may apply for LPI status even if they are in deportation proceedings at the time of application or have an outstanding removal order.
o In order to transition from LPI status to Legal Permanent Residency (i.e. a “green card”), applicants are required to wait at least six years; pay taxes and a $1000 fine; learn English and U.S. civics; and undergo additional background checks. They will not obtain green cards before those who were waiting “in line” to immigrate as of date of enactment.
o The LPI program includes a level of administrative and judicial review, confidentiality protections for applicants and their employers, and fraud prevention measures.
 Incorporates the DREAM Act, which creates a path to legal status for individuals who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, provided they meet age and other criteria and enroll in college or the U.S. military.

Title VI ‐ Immigrant Integration and Other Reforms
 Enhances programs and policies to help immigrants learn English and U.S. civics, such as: tax credits for teachers of English language learners and businesses who provide such training for their employees; a revamped DHS Office of Citizenship and New Americans to assist with immigrant integration; and grants for states who work to successfully integrate newcomers.
 Provides humanitarian immigration visas for Haitian children orphaned by the 2010 earthquake; Liberian nationals who fled civil strife and received Temporary Protected Status in the U.S.; and the immediate relatives of September 11th terrorism victims.
 Establishes a Commission on Wartime Treatment of European Americans and a Commission on Wartime Treatment of Jewish Refugees to review the country’s immigration and foreign policies during World War II.
 Improves access to interpreters in state courts.
 Evaluates the factors that drive undocumented migration from key sending countries and requires the State Department to develop a strategy to reduce migration pressures.
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Dreams or Nightmare?

2010-09-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Once again the Republican Party defied the Latino community by refusing to consider the DREAM Act. The GOP stalled consideration of the defense spending bill by voting 56 to 43, with two Democrats joining the GOP in effect killing the DREAM Act. Just shy of the 60 votes needed to push the debate forward, the GOP's dirty politics alienated Latino voters and blocked the bill.

The DREAM Act was added as an amendment to the defense spending bill and is part of Department of Defense's effort to maintain a strong "All Volunteer Force." The DOD has included the DREAM Act in its Office of Personnel Readiness FY2010 - 2012 Strategic Plan. "We must be able to recruit, retain, develop and motivate a high-quality, diverse, and properly sized workforce." Republicans claim the DREAM Act has nothing to do with national defense and was a political move by Democrats to energize the Latino vote before the mid-term elections.

Perhaps the real reason the DREAM Act failed is the Senate's failure to reconsider repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell, the right of gay service people to serve openly in the Armed Forces which was also attached to the defense spending bill.

But what troubled me even more than the Republican's motive to kill the bill, is what some Dreamers have expressed since the defeat of the bill. The accusation that we are trying to criminalize their parents for crossing the border without proper documents, is offensive.

The impertinent attacks by some undocumented youth who believe that serving in our Armed Forces is not an admirable or alternative service to our country are troubling.

This debate concerning the DREAM Act has been on the table for several years and rarely have I heard any sustained effort to keep "community service" as an option. Now, we hear from disenchanted Dreamers they had been left out of the debate. Yet because of the strong presence of Dreamers with fasts, sit-ins, and public protests were reasons we came close to passing the bill.

I believe the argument of not wanting to serve in the military is one sure basis of giving opponents reason to oppose this bill. It is the wrong argument to make as thousands of Americans have given their lives for freedom. Furthermore, it is disgraceful to service men and women and their families.

For a Dreamer who literally has no legal right to be in this country to accuse supporters of the DREAM Act of being inconsiderate or unsympathetic to their beliefs because "we do not understand what it means to be an undocumented student" shows lack of integrity and maturity. To criticize supporters of the DREAM Act as being out of touch and indifferent to their concerns is disingenuous.

I hear the questionable allegation that the Democrats are forcing undocumented youth to renounce their loyalty and love for their parents because Democrats are using the argument that parents crossed the border illegally, bringing their young children with them. Excuse me for not understanding, but these are the facts. No one is asking any young adult to turn their back on their parents.

The intention of the DREAM Act is to create opportunities for youth, who parents crossed the border without the proper documentation, to gain a pathway to citizenship, continue with their education in college, or serve in the military for two years, be given an opportunity to get a driver's license, a Social Security number so they can work, and contribute to the success of our country.

If some of the 850,000 undocumented youth find these provisions unacceptable, no one is going to force them to participate in the benefits of the DREAM Act. They can continue to live their lives in the shadows, threatened every single day with the fear of deportation.

I support comprehensive immigration reform and have been a strong proponent of reform working with faith leaders to fight for justice and righteousness. I support the DREAM Act because I feel it provides unprecedented opportunities for youth who are basically "Americans" in every sense of the word, except by the fact they were not born in this country.

When I read that undocumented youth do not want to serve in the Armed Forces because of their belief our government is at war for unjust or immoral reasons, I am convinced that they need to read the history of this country and for example, how it fought against Germany and Japan when they tried to enslave the world with their totalitarian ideology.

I am confused and dismayed that as proponents of the bill, we are called inconsiderate by Dreamers who claim their status is being exploited simply for political reasons. If we are using the wrong tactics, what are the acceptable arguments needed to pass this bill?

Apparently, it comes down to the fact some undocumented youth in our country want to enjoy the benefits of citizenship, but don't agree with the military alternative, and are taking out their frustration on supporters who support the DREAM Act, with the military option.

If the present bill is unacceptable, don't take your dissatisfaction out on your allies and friends who are working to pass the DREAM Act. Work to change it, but don't take out your frustration on supporters trying to make your life better.

Is there unfairness toward undocumented immigrants in our country? Absolutely, and that is why we must continue our fight to overcome injustice. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "justice too long delayed is justice denied." But in order to overcome this hate and paranoia, we need to work together against a common enemy, not against each other.

This unjustifiable outcry that we are criminalizing the parents of Dreamers or forcing them to serve in the military as young Americans have done in the past is disheartening. The DREAM Act offers options, and provides a very virtuous way to citizenship.

I wonder if we are fighting a losing battle against the racists and extremist Republicans, knowing that from within the DREAM Act movement, I am considered the enemy by some of the very same young adults I am trying to help.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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The Day After

2010-09-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya
http://www.elsemanario.net/

The day after the Glenn Beck “revival meeting” at the Lincoln Memorial, I found myself thinking that Beck might be on to something good. I was troubled however, because something seemed lacking from his message.

It took Bill Press, national radio talk show host, by condemning Beck to put the day after into perspective for me. “We don’t need a Mormon to teach Christians what the Gospel is all about.”

Press’s criticism wasn’t haughty or boastful, but the truth that most of us have neglected to comprehend. Mormonism is not Christianity. It is a cult that has many beliefs that simply don’t add up to Christianity.

Press clarified his condemnation of Beck after some critics were quick to condemn Press as being too judgmental. “As a Christian; however, I would never dare tell a Jew how to practice Judaism, nor a Muslim how to practice Islam. And I repeat: We don’t need a Mormon, especially one named Glenn Beck, to teach Christians what the Gospel is all about.”

Beck’s parade of what some pundits called the “Black Robes” or Evangelical leaders was a charade.

It was shameful for Evangelical leaders to lend their support at a nationalistic rally threaded throughout the day with code for hate, fear, and outright bigotry for many people in our country.

The music and some of the words and slogans about returning to God sounded like a revival meeting. But nationalistic rallies are not the way.

The predominantly white audience had very few Blacks or Latinos. It doesn’t mean that just because it was a white audience that it was bad, but it does cause me to wonder why the Beck message does not resonate with people of color?

Many Americans were appalled that Beck would stand in the very same spot a real Christian stood 47 years ago. Dr. Martin Luther King exalted in his ‘I have a Dream’ speech the true meaning of serving the poor, and those forgotten by society.

Beck has allowed guests on his show to do more to divide our country with lies and urban myths about immigration. For months now, Beck has criticized President Obama about his faith. He has criticized faith leaders who are fighting for comprehensive immigration reform as extremists. In short, Beck has not delivered on his revival message at the D.C. Mall – I believe it is called walking the talk.

Beck’s lack of understanding of the Gospel is what brought the strong rebuke from Press. Press is a theologian in his own right and if anyone understands the Gospel, it is Press.

At the center of the controversy is what does the Gospel teach us about reaching out to the poor or neglected? Beck’s distorted view is that “liberation theology” or the essence of the Gospel is “Marxism disguised as religion.” In fact, the Gospel teaches it is compulsory to help the needy.

As many of you may know, Priest Gustavo Gutierrez led the movement of liberation theology that was born in Latin America during the 1950’s. With social unrest in many Latin American countries, courageous priests of the Catholic Church disgruntled with the Catholic Church’s support of deceitful military dictatorships, taught that the Gospel required the Church to serve the poor. In collaboration with Protestant religious leaders, the Gospel became a reality in the lives of the poor and neglected who often were abused by governments who only sought to serve the powerful and corrupt.

Press explained, “While priests and nuns worked among the poor in the barrios, bishops and cardinals hung out with the generals, CEO’s, and dictators in their palaces, while supporting their suppression of the poor.” The Gospel teaches us the purpose of the Church is to serve, not ignore the poor or marginalized.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, Jesus explains his new theology – teaching those who listened how on Judgment Day the Father would punish those who neglected the poor.

Jesus went on to explain, “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged me.”

“I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care; I was in prison and you came to see Me.”

Christ made clear the path we are to take in order to serve as his followers.

On the other hand, Beck misses the clear directive of the Gospel. Serving the poor, the neglected, the marginalized, or the sick is not Marxist ideology, but inspiration of the Holy Spirit on what the Gospel instructs us.

I am shocked that some “Christians” would follow the false theology of Beck in the name of returning our nation to God. How can they follow a man who refuses to love those who disagree with his perverted world view?

I believe it is essential that we not be misled by the false prophet Beck and his teary words of hypocrisy.

It is time to call out our lying politicians, talk show hosts, and faith leaders who are seeking to cover up the sin of hate and justification for racism of undocumented immigrants, the poor, and others in need.

It is wrong for politicians to make repulsive and false statements about Social Security, undocumented immigrants, and the jobless. President Obama just signed into law $600 million dollars based on fear and false perceptions on border security at the expense of neglecting the poor and needy.

It is time in America for liberation theology to break the bonds and chains that hold Americans hostage to lies of ego driven cable talk show hosts and dangerous politicians.

Beware America of the wolves in sheep clothing who come seeking your heart and soul. Beware America of the greed and corruption that has led this nation to not only of the brink of economic disaster, but to the abyss of immorality.

El Semanario
http://www.elsemanario.net/

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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More Crazy Talk on the 14th Amendment?

2010-08-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

There is an interesting Politico.Com Op-ed entitled GOP flirting with disaster on Latinos by Janet Murguia, President and CEO of National Council of La Raza that outlines reasons why the NHCLC Voter Registration Drive is so critically important for each of us to participate in today. Unfortunately, the Republican Party is doing whatever they can to alienate the Latino vote by using Latinos and undocumented immigrants as a scapegoat for our nation’s ills. This strategy is not only going to hurt the party in the short term, but also in the long term as the Latino population continues to grow.

Murguia states the reality of the present GOP strategy to scare it base into action. “The real question is whether the GOP realizes the cost of its actions. The party is mortgaging its future. Republicans’ tunnel-vision focus on 2010 could mean they're flirting with permanent minority status.”

Interestingly enough, if the Republican Party was not out to scapegoat Latinos and undocumented immigrants, most Latinos would probably register as Republicans because of the conservative values many share with the GOP. Whether it is abortion, marriage, or other conservative issues, many Latinos share those conservative values. Yet, Republicans continue to alienate the Latino voter, and thus the party's future draws bleaker by driving Latinos to turn their backs on the Republican Party.

It is no wonder that according to a recent Gallup Poll, more Latinos identify with the Democratic Party by 53 percent, and only 21 percent with the GOP.

But to make it clear, the NHCLC is not an effort to register more Republicans, Democrats or Independents. It is a national objective to register more voters who will vote their values and beliefs and hold politicians who promise to uphold those values accountable. We must endeavor to involve more Latinos in the political process and involve them in helping to change the deteriorating morality and evilness in our country. By giving Latinos a powerful voice and political influence in taking a stand for our Christian values and beliefs, we can make a difference in the future outlook of our nation.

Janet Murguia makes two interesting points in this Op-ed:
• This Latino vote has already been credited with turning several red states blue, or at least purple. Yet, because of increasingly anti-Latino positioning, the Republican Party has been hemorrhaging Latino support since 2004. That was the high-water mark - when President George W. Bush won 43 percent of the Latino vote.
• Latinos are the youngest and fastest-growing group of voters in the country. What does that mean? In 1994, 3.5 million Latinos went to the polls. By 2008, that number was 10 million. There are still nearly 8 million Latinos who are eligible but have not yet registered to vote. Moreover, a half-million young Latino citizens will turn 18 every year for the next 20 years, according to Democracia U.S.A.

This is perhaps one of the most important reasons why we must do what we can to get unregistered Latinos to register to vote. I don't suspect we are encouraging anyone to register as a Democrat, but to register and vote the values they share with politicians running for public office. We need to ensure that the politicians we support for public office are sincere, honest, and will uphold their word to vote our agenda

But in order to have more influence in the election process, we have to get more Latinos REGISTERED to VOTE. "Imagine if there are 8 million Latinos who are eligible but have not yet registered to vote? Moreover, a half-million young Latinos CITIZENS will turn 18 every year for the next 20 years, according to Democracia U.S.A. "Imagine the potential political power and influence our community would have if we registered more Latinos who are eligible to vote if they registered.

The NHCLC Voter Drive is an opportunity that we must not squander or ignore in our haste to ensure that as Latino Evangelicals we not only preach justice and righteousness from the pulpit, but that we also walk our talk. This is our time to share the Gospel by standing up for justice and due process. Our values represent the values of justice, due process, and the rights of citizenship.

Registering and encouraging more individuals from the Latino community to vote can have a dramatic impact on every election they participate in. We must motivate them to register, and challenge them to vote in the elections. One of our problems has been getting Latinos to the polls to vote. We must inspire them this year to vote for candidates who represent the interests of our community.

One of the most important steps we must take is to ensure that pastors are aware of the issues and how they affect our Spanish speaking communities. We must not just expect Latinos to enter the four walls of our churches, but we must reach out to them by advocating the truths of the Bible that call for justice, righteousness, and adherence to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But to do that effectively, pastors must understand the issues and oppose the hypocrisy and lies of the extreme right wing of the Republican Party who are doing their best to create Latino monsters out of undocumented immigrants and Latinos.

Pastors supporting the ideology of the Tea Party or laws like SB 1070 must understand these are ideologies of hate, fear, and created to scare the average white Evangelical in believing Latinos and undocumented immigrants are criminals, or part of the drug cartel culture, gang members, immigrants wanting to rip off social services, or wanting to bring a hostile cultural heritage to our country.

Senator Lindsey Graham accuses undocumented immigrant Latinas for "dropping babies" in our country so they can be citizens is so outrageous, he should apologize to every Latina for such demagogy. "Dropping babies" as if our children were animals. It is time we make sure our pastors and faith leaders are not following the hate doctrine being used to divide our country and stand up and condemn the false accusations of these hate mongers.

The debate whether or not the Congress holds hearings to change the 14th amendment to prevent "immigrant babies" from claiming American citizenship is being used to create the false scenario that Latinos are invading the country by "dropping babies." As you may know, the 14th Amendment was adopted to give slaves and their children the right to citizenship. It would give people the right to get out of slavery and bondage and give them freedom and due process under the law.

I cannot even imagine that our country was a country that approved of slavery and bondage for other human beings and denied them and their children the right to claim their own personal dignity and citizenship. It was a point in our country’s history of immoral values and disrespect for African Americans who were forced to cross the ocean in slave ships, held in chains, and treated as less than human beings.

The history of our country is not always the shiny example of democracy that we claim to hold dear in our country. We should be ashamed of how we treated Blacks in the early history of these United States. Today, descendants of this immorality have found a new “slave” and someone to deny the dignity of humanness. We must never allow the American way of life to allow the immoral enslavement of any group as we did the African Americans.

Novelguide.com best describes one of the more important aspects of the 14th Amendment: “It also bestowed on U.S. citizens equal rights under the law. The result was to limit drastically the power of states to define citizenship or to treat their citizens in a discriminatory fashion. Thus, the states were prohibited from denying a person equal protection under the law. The meaning of this development in the long-term debate over federalism versus states' rights was that henceforth the federal government would assume the ultimate responsibility for protecting the civil rights of citizens. As part of this ruling, the Fourteenth Amendment also declared that states must respect every person's right to due process of law.” In some instances, it is clear that the 14th Amendment is not being enforced, particularly when it comes to protecting the rights of many Latino citizens “right to due process of law.”

But another thing the 14th Amendment allowed was the Confederacy, those persons who disavowed their citizenship to the U.S.A. and in place, became ex-citizens and should have been charged with "treason" by our own Constitution for becoming part of the Confederacy. In other words, after disavowing their citizenship to the U.S.A., the Confederates were no longer citizens of these United States.

Knowing our country’s history and its propensity to create a civil war for slavery, treat Chinese as non persons, using “Operation Wetback” to send back Latino citizens and Mexican undocumented immigrants by cattle cars on the railroad back to Mexico, to strip Japanese of their American rights and send them to encampments in places like the lonely wind swept prairies of Southeastern Colorado, almost wiping out the Native Indian nations from their lands, and fighting another illegal war like the war against Mexico to steal land from the Mexicans, some ask, why worry about this crazy idea to change the 14th Amendment? What more American history do you need to read, because there is a lot more that should scare you in taking your place at the polls on Election Day?

If we do not confront the hate, the “crazy idea” of amending the 14th Amendment, enacting more laws like SB 1070, allowing outright lies and rumors that are false being perpetuated by members of Congress about undocumented immigrants, many good citizens begin to accept the lies as truth, a truth so warped by hate and racism.

Harold Meyerson, columnist for the Washington Post put it more concisely. "The Confederates had renounced all allegiance to the United States. They made war on the Untied States -- the Constitution's definition of treason -- and, in an effort to keep 4 million Americans enslaved, killed more of our soldiers than any foreign army ever did."

I believe if the Congress holds hearings to consider taking away the right of undocumented immigrants’ babies from becoming citizens, we should also consider taking away the right of citizenship from people who renounced their American citizenship and disavowed their right to citizenship not only for themselves, but for their children, and their children, and their children.

The Confederates were basically charged with treason for fighting a civil war that fought to maintain a way of life that included the right to keep slaves. Imagine our country had to fight a civil war in order to eliminate the right to keep slavery in this country. Instead of addressing these issues in the Congress, our country’s leaders chose to fight a civil war, against one another, and fighting one of the bloodiest wars in our history. Out of hate and racism, we ended killing thousands of men than any foreign enemy has ever done on the battle fields.

I don’t know if you have visited the sacred and solemn place called Gettysburg. I remember it as an eerie and quiet place as I stood listening only to the wind blow across the meadow where so many soldiers died defending our United States. As I looked across imagining the bursts of gunfire, cannon balls, shouts of soldiers running toward the enemy, the shouts of pain and death, and those who thought of loved one as they fall to the ground dying on the immortal fields of Gettysburg. How could “Americans fight Americans” in such an ugly war of hate, anger, and for the wrong moral values and beliefs? If we did it once, could we do again?

Meyerson also clarifies the one most troubling problems facing our country after the Civil War. What to do with a nation where about half were charged with treason? Meyerson writes, "Yet Lincoln was determined to make it easy for Confederates to regain their citizenship. By taking an oath to support the United States and its Constitution, Confederates were made Americans again." No fines, no taxes to be paid, no indoctrination classes on American civic government, and especially, no requirement to learn the English language.

Keep in mind that Abraham Lincoln was perhaps one of the greatest Presidents in our country’s history having to bring a nation torn apart by war and slavery. Meyerson again shares his insight on the contradictory sense of political philosophy from Lincoln to one present day Republican United States Senator who should be ashamed for his hateful words uttered toward undocumented immigrants. Graham, once a man of reason, now considered a man of hate and injustice.

Don’t think extreme options are not being used by Republican candidates for office; just ask Sharron Angle of Nevada who appealed to her extremist Tea Party base that at some point we might have to use our “2nd Amendment remedies.” What does “2nd Amendment remedies” mean? Angle refuses to answer that question from Nevada news journalists, but we all know the 2nd Amendment allows us the right to bear arms to protect ourselves and our property. But when used in the same context and sentence that ends by saying, “and we need to take to Harry Reid out,” what is she talking about? Talk about scary and reality if candidates of the extreme right are appealing to followers to start thinking of “2nd Amendment remedies.”

“Suppose, though, that Lincoln had been filled with the spirit of today's Republicans. The crimes that Republicans ascribe to today's illegal immigrants pale next to those of Confederate leaders and supporters (chiefly, treason). A Lindsey Graham-like Lincoln would never have let the Confederates regain citizenship. Moreover, he would have denied citizenship to their children and their children's children. A large share of the nation, certainly of the white South, would have drifted endlessly in a legal limbo.”

And yet this is exactly what Senator Graham is proposing to happen to every “undocumented immigrant baby” born (or dropped) in the United States. They would be relegated to a state of legal limbo, with no rights or claim to citizenship of any country.

Meyerson also references a study recently completed by the Center for American Progress that tracked the demographic changes within the political parties. It shows the Republican percentage of white Christians will fall to about 35 percent of the population by 2040. Who will be largest group as time moves forward?

With the hate rhetoric and by supporting the anti immigrant movement by endorsing laws like SB 1070, using Latinos and undocumented immigrants as scapegoats for our nation’s problems, and claiming that Latinos are responsible for crime waves when FBI crime stats show that violent crimes and crime in general are down, even in Arizona, is immoral and should get the attention of every Latino so that we can work to rid our Congress of these people who despise Latinos and “dropped babies”.

Perhaps the best question that columnist Meyerson asks Senator Graham is one that we all should be asking or at least contemplating. "So, the question for Lindsey Graham is: Are you serious about revoking the citizenship of 4 million children, their children and their children's children? How about a package deal: Stripping their citizenship in return for stripping the citizenship of Confederate descendants. A sort of Missouri Compromise for our times. Bipartisan in action."

With the positive future demographics on our side, let's join the NHCLC effort to ensure we are diligent in our efforts to get more of the 8 million Latinos who are eligible but who have failed to register so far this year and to encourage them by telling them their vote in the 2010 mid-term elections in November is critically important. By registering more Latinos, we can dictate our agenda in the political process, and you can believe the politicians will be listening for our agenda for a better America.

For more on the Center for American Progress study, go to this link:
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2010/06/pdf/voter_demographics.pdf

Politico.com

GOP flirting with disaster on Latinos
By: Janet Murguia
August 12, 2010 10:00 AM EDT
The National Council of La Raza honored Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in 2007 for his work on immigration. “We are going to solve this [immigration] problem,” Graham said that night. “We're not going to run people down. We're not going to scapegoat people. We're going to tell the bigots to shut up, and we're going to get this right.”

Now, Graham talks about immigrant women giving birth in the United States as a “drop and leave” calculation — as if describing animals. This is the surest sign yet that the Republican Party has written off the Latino community in the midterm elections.

It’s your prerogative, Republican leaders, but let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, long, long ago, in the state of California , there lived a Republican governor who had abysmal approval ratings and was facing reelection. He, too, decided that Latino-bashing was his way out. And so he foisted Proposition 187 upon the land.

Yes, he won reelection. But his success placed a curse on his fellow Republicans. Not one could win a major office in the state. Until Arnold Schwarzenegger — an immigrant with moderate and pragmatic positions on immigration — broke the curse in 2003 by winning the gubernatorial race.

Now, we know 1994 was long ago. But there are several reasons why the tale of Gov. Pete Wilson and his legacy’s impact on California Republicans should serve as a wake-up call for today’s Republican Party:

The Numbers: Latinos are the youngest and fastest-growing group of voters in the country. What does that mean? In 1994, 3.5 million Latinos went to the polls. By 2008, that number was 10 million. There are still nearly 8 million Latinos who are eligible but have not yet registered to vote. Moreover, a half-million young Latino citizens will turn 18 every year for the next 20 years, according to Democracia U.S.A.

This Latino vote has already been credited with turning several red states blue, or at least purple. Yet, because of increasingly anti-Latino positioning, the Republican Party has been hemorrhaging Latino support since 2004. That was the high-water mark — when President George W. Bush won 43 percent of the Latino vote.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) received just 30 percent in 2008. A recent survey by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials shows support for this year’s California Republican candidates for senator and governor is in the teens.

The Issues: Immigration, though traditionally not at the top of Latino concerns, always has an energizing effect on voter participation because a candidate’s stance here offers Latinos a proxy for how he or she views their community. This is not surprising — considering the level of anti-Latino sentiment the immigration debate has unleashed on the Latino community, regardless of immigration status.

For years, Latino voters’ top concerns were remarkably consistent: jobs and the economy, education and health care. Today, several recent polls tell a different story — Latinos now rank immigration as either No. 1 or No. 2. And Latino voters, who overwhelmingly support comprehensive immigration reform, are likely to be looking at how candidates talk about and act on this issue.

The Voters: The anger Wilson and Prop. 187 provoked in the Latino community and its consequences are well-documented. The well-worn admonition that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it still holds. The NALEO poll reveals that strong majorities of Latino voters in five key states believe that Republicans were not making or were not interested in making an effort to reach the Latino community.

One major conclusion of the Hispanic Federation/League of United Latin American Citizens poll is that Latino voters feel that their community is “under attack.” So the party leading that systematic attack — from Arizona , to Virginia , to revising the 14th Amendment — should not think you can just come back in the next election wearing a different face, as if nothing happened..

On immigration, Republicans are choosing to trade sound national policy for cheap political points. Yet they are sacrificing more than that. If they continue, they are likely to receive little support from Latinos not just this year but for many elections to come.

Rather than trying to win hearts and minds, Republicans have chosen to scapegoat the Latino community in hopes of energizing their base.

The real question is whether the GOP realizes the cost of its actions. The party is mortgaging its future. Republicans’ tunnel-vision focus on 2010 could mean they're flirting with permanent minority status.

Janet Murguia is the president and chief executive officer of the National Council of La Raza, the largest U.S. Latino civil rights and advocacy organization.
Politico.com © 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Only One Constitutional Hearing Needed

2010-08-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

There is no getting around it; some members of the Republican Party, along with some members of the Democratic Party are bent on causing as much trouble for undocumented immigrants and Latino community as they can. It is strange in this day and age to see a political strategy which sole purpose is to bend the laws to create situations of injustice and intimidation for Latinos.

For a party whose calling card has been, “what part of illegal don’t you understand?” it is hard to understand how easily they can manipulate the law to meet their own goals of unrighteousness and injustice. Arizona Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is perhaps the best know sheriff to abuse the law to intimidate, create fear and confusion, and profile Latinos for non-violent crimes. His ethnic profiled sweeps and raids in Spanish-speaking communities are appalling and a discredit to credible law enforcement officials.

While some faith leaders are quick to criticize officials in law enforcement, we shouldn’t forget many are fighting against laws like SB 1070, federal immigration programs like 287 (g), and Secure Communities where ICE wants local law enforcement agencies to share finger prints of undocumented immigrants for minor infractions of the law. These are reputable law enforcement agencies and officials who want no part of the injustice of our broken immigration system.

Yet, everyday in Congress we hear Republican congressional leaders calling for more law enforcement and more militarization of the southern border with Mexico. Perhaps the most troubling part of this chilling and frightening movement toward finding more reasons to arrest and detain and scapegoat undocumented immigrants is a disease that is afflicting conservative Democratic leaders in Congress as well. This contagious disease of hate which is turning into an epidemic among politicians who want to scare voters into making undocumented immigrants the worst problem this country has ever experienced.

The whole silly idea and debate on holding hearings on the 14th Amendment and “anchor babies” is one of the biggest political farces being dramatized to feed the prejudice, fear, and bigotry of Americans who cannot accept the blame for the many troubles we have created and that our is nation facing.

When you listen to United States Senators calling for hearings to amend the Constitution, it is as if they have forgotten the difficult process the founding leaders of our country put in place to amendment or change the United States Constitution.

Any changes or amendments to the Constitution must pass both chambers of Congress by a two thirds majority. This unlikely scenario for a Congress that can’t get enough votes to help the unemployed, or show enough compassion for Americans needing food stamps to feed their families, or putting a bi-partisan plan forward to create more jobs for Americans. The unemployment rate in this country is above 10%, and that is not even counting the people who have simply given up looking for work. In the Latino community, the Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate the unemployment rate for Latinos is over 12.1%.

Yet our Congress refuses to address the real significant issues facing our country. Every economic indicator and forecast show the horizon darkening with a more severe economic downturn looming in our immediate future. Instead they use the political rhetoric of fear, hate, and bigotry to blame undocumented immigrants for the failed economic policies of this country. Unless politicians stop playing with fire and get down to business of creating new jobs, our country faces a much bleaker future.

Bill Hing, Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco on a Immigration Policy Center teleconference on issues related to changing the 14th Amendment explained the difficulty this process would face. "The Constitution can only be amended in two ways: The first is for a bill to pass both houses of Congress, by a two-thirds majority. Good luck with that, especially in this partisan environment. The second method requires that a constitutional convention be called by two-thirds of the legislatures of the states. Any amendments adopted would then be sent to the states to be approved by three-fourths of the legislatures. This route has never been taken. It can't be a serious proposal because it can't be done politically and is simply a distraction from true immigration reform."

Any amendments adopted would then need to be approved by three fourths of the state legislatures. Imagine the lawsuits that would be "birthed" out any changes to the 14th Amendment.

Talk about paths lined by political pitfalls, it appears almost impossible for any amendments to the Constitution could actually even have a chance to pass in our country so badly divided by partisan politics, ideology of hate and bigotry, and racism. Perhaps our founding leaders knew that at some day in the future, there would be those in the Congress who would try to abuse the Constitution with punitive changes and amendments which would only harm our nation.

Yet, we have Republican leaders in Congress calling for hearings on the 14th Amendment and how to change the Constitution so little babies which they have labeled as "anchor babies” and whom they claim are invading our country and should not be afforded the privilege and right to be born as citizens of our country.

I doubt the political leaders calling for hearings on the 14th Amendment realize their plan would only create another class of people who would have no status whatsoever and essentially be caught in a state of limbo. I would pray that people in our country have enough sense to see the veiled threats the GOP are creating about "anchor babies" and refuse to have the Constitution amended for reasons of prejudice and unfounded lies and rumors.

Some of the Republicans, lead by former immigration reform Senator Lindsey Graham are not even sure if they would support amending the Constitution. The only reason they want hearings is to continue stirring the boiling pot of racism and to keep the Tea Party, Minutemen, and other hard core right wing racists of this country pre-occupied with their fantasy of restoring America back to the days when “everything was okay.”

In an interview on Fox News, Graham alleges that undocumented immigrant mothers are coming across the border simply to have their baby born in this country, so they can become citizens of the USA. "They come here to drop a child," Mr. Graham said. It is outrageous for Senator Graham to treat the birth of a baby as something as coarse as coming to our country to "drop a child." Obviously, an unmarried man does not have any idea what a baby coming into the lives of a family means.

In other words, Graham and others that believe their own lies, want to take America back to the days when minorities like Blacks, Japanese, American Natives, and Latinos were second class citizens, treated as poor laborers, and where “white privilege” prevailed as the national attitude toward anyone who didn’t fit the profile of belonging to the right clubs of privilege and rightful ethnic profiles. Return back to a period in our country’s history where “entitlement” and “Manifest Destiny” for the white settlers of the West was a way of life.

More than ever, it is going to take a vigilant attitude, a stronger sense of believing in our heritage and cultures, creating coalitions of like minded people who share the same values and beliefs, and a willingness to stand up and fight back against this terrible cancer which is destroying "the land of the free and home of the brave". We are losing our self respect, and in order for some Americans to have their hate fix of the day, they must continue to find “brown skin” scapegoats in whom they can blame for the problems we are facing today.

What are most frightening are the facts that unless we pull together, fight against the hate, the fear, the panic, and the self fulfilling prophecy of watching our country be destroyed from within, this hate will continue to grow uncontrollably right before our very eyes. When will we stop the hate, the violence, and the fear, starting to get a death grip on our very freedoms and rights that many Americans sacrificed their lives or shed their blood, tears, and pain to preserve the USA?

We must put a stop to the partisan politics of hate, seeking to scapegoat Latinos, and destroy the freedoms we have enjoyed. We don’t need hearings on amending the 14th Amendment; or find a way to take citizenship away from mere babies born in our country. What we do need are courageous leaders to call for hearings on why we are allowing racism to rule our country and why we are doing nothing about it.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years as a journalist. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; and in law enforcement as the Manager of Public Safety, responsible for the Denver Police Department, Denver Fire Department, and Denver Sheriff Department for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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That One Question that Haunts us All

2010-08-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Much has been written and discussed about the decision of U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton who ruled that four of the controversial sections of SB 1070 should be put on hold. The controversial sections of the law were blocked by the judge granting an injunction requested by the Department of Justice.

Yet even as opponents of SB 1070 were gratified by the judge's ruling, the essence of the law still remains in force. Governor Jan Brewer said the state would appeal the decision, all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Many legal experts feel the state will have a difficult time appealing Judge Bolton's decision, but regardless of what happens next, racial and ethnic profiling will continue to still be a legal issue that Latino and undocumented immigrants will face until this hideous bill is completely thrown out by the courts.

While the injunction prohibited the state from implementing all of the sections of SB 1070, some residents in Arizona felt some relief that the full weight of the law would not fall on the Latino community. Even while many newspapers were reporting that some Arizona undocumented immigrant families were packing up and leaving, some also reported that those who decided to stay behind felt a sense of security that the most critical parts of SB 1070, like having to carry identification documents proving status had been put on hold.

But beyond the legal questions of SB 1070, and implications it still might have on churches and non-profits that help undocumented immigrant families, there remains one troubling question I believe needs to be addressed by Latino Evangelical pastors and faith leaders who support comprehensive immigration reform. It is a question that many church leaders may not want to hear or address, but none the less, it is a question that needs further clarification.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, who is a Latino Evangelical minister, was traveling through Arizona. While visiting with other Latino pastors in Arizona, he tells me, "I could not believe that the whole SB 1070 law wasn't an issue. I even found several pastors that supported it." I have to admit, I felt disappointed like he did knowing that "Hispanic pastors had an anti immigration position."

It is truly a travesty to hear that some Latino pastors in Arizona are supporting laws like SB 1070. It brings up the question that haunts many of us and must be addressed and clearly articulated throughout the fellowship of ministers who belong to Christian organizations that are pushing for comprehensive immigration reform.

Many of fundamental reasons we support comprehensive immigration reform are based on Biblical teachings and commandments. There is no question that Latino ministers who are members of these national religious organizations and fellowships should understand their personal and/or political opinions behind the pulpit do not matter.

When they joined and pledged as members of theses fellowships to follow the doctrine of the Scripture that requires us to support not necessarily comprehensive immigration reform, but to support the values that demand that human beings should not be subjected to injustice and verbal, ethnic, and violent harassment.

Deuteronomy 26: 17 & 18 are pledges we made publicly before the Lord, yet it is inexcusable how some pastors simply refuse to acknowledge that in spite of their misguided political beliefs or opinions, they allow their own personal beliefs to over shadow the scripture.

They find personal excuses not to follow what the scripture commands of us and find motive for their lack of compassion and love for the sojourners the Bible commands us to love. (17): "You have (openly) declared the Lord this day to be your God, [pledging] to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His precepts, and to hearken to His voice." (18): "And the Lord has declared this day that you are His peculiar people, as He promised you, and you are to keep all His commandments."

We have legitimate reasons to complain about racial profiling by law enforcement against "our people." But when I hear that there are Latino pastors who support the injustice of SB 1070, who are pastors who live in Arizona, ministering to sometimes undocumented immigrants in their congregation, and who openly join the hate alliances that subscribe to laws that racially profile Latinos and that promote fear, hate, and injustice, I am disappointed by our lack of scriptural consistency.

And, let's be clear it is not just Latino Evangelical pastors and ministers in Arizona who support the efforts of the hate extremists and racists who are dividing our community and country, it is a nationwide issue.

Does the local pastor have the right to disregard the Biblical scripture that so indisputably commands us how we are to teach and preach the Gospel about this issue?

I am not talking about political issues, as much as I am presenting the case for how as ministers we are to present the Biblical scripture and commandments that teach us how we are to treat the sojourner or temporary resident in our land. Political beliefs do not trump the scripture in the Bible. If our political beliefs are contrary to the scripture, and to the guidance given by our national Evangelical leadership, do we have the right to support law like SB 1070 from pulpit?

I know that different denominations have different perspectives on the immigration reform debate and this debate is for those individual denominations to have and make it clear how their beliefs are tied to scriptural teaching and commandments.

My friend stated: "They would defend the law until I helped them understand that they were against the criminal elements that were crossing not all immigrants." There is no question or doubt many pastors are relying on the rumors and gossip they hear from the hate mongers and racists who are promoting laws like SB 1070 across the country.

Officials statements like every "immigrant crossing the border is a drug mule." Silly accusations like "headless bodies" have been found in Arizona by border patrols. When we rely upon the uninformed reporters or governmental officials who help spread these lies, we will end up spreading their racist hate and lies on to our congregation in our churches.

We know about 40% of undocumented immigrants over stay their visas. Others cross the border to be united with their families and find decent job to support them. Others are children brought here at a young age and know no other life except that of an "American," without citizenship or privileges. But the hate monger would have you believe that we are being invaded by criminals and terrorists, only to create fear, panic, and racism. And some Latino pastors are spreading these lies.

Leviticus 19: 33 & 34 verses are not optional. (33): "And if a stranger dwells temporarily with you in your land, you shall not suppress and mistreat him. (34): "But the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." Am I taking the scriptures out of context? Where are the commands to hate and malign the undocumented immigrant or temporary resident in our country?

Deuteronomy 19:18 & 19 are very clear on how we are to treat the stranger and sojourners, temporary residents in our land. (18): "He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the stranger or temporary resident and gives him food and clothing. (19): Therefore love the stranger and sojourner, for you were strangers and sojourners in the land of Egypt." Many ministers like to claim that we are not the sojourners in Egypt often referenced in the Bible.

Yet we know full well that Egypt is a type used to signify the world and worldly practices as God's children we journey through life, with some still walking the streets of Egypt. As God's original plan, we were created free from sin, but because of the sin in the Garden of Eden, we are now born into sin. We still have to face the consequences of that disobedience and first sin. But I should not have to explain this, but if I don't someone will claim, "out of context, Brother Butch!"

Deuteronomy 24: 14 & 15 are crystal clear on how we are to treat the stranger or sojourners who are in our land. (14): "You shall not oppress or extort from a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is of your brethren, or of your strangers and sojourners who are in your land inside your towns. (15): "You shall give him his hire on the day he earns it, before the sun goes down; for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it; lest he cry against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you."

These verses are as transparent as they can possibly be. Talk about enacting policies and laws protecting workers and the undocumented worker in our land. These scriptures should be the basic premise where we begin. We should not take advantage of the stranger or the sojourner who is poor and dependent on upon the agreement we made to pay them. A part of this scripture that we often neglect to articulate is powerful and is a possible judgment against us if we neglect to follow God's Word. "Lest he cry against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you."

I pray that we can come together, particularly national religious organizations, denominations, and churches that support comprehensive immigration reform for the right Christian values and begin to educate our pastors on what the scripture commands of us.

We need to create a standard of scriptural values on immigration reform conceived by the church leadership, ecumenical councils, and ministerial fellowships so a consistent message of love, compassion, and justice can be preached from the pulpit with the full assurance that we are indeed preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Vote your political beliefs, but preach the Gospel.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Bizarre gang of Christian-fundamentalist - La Familia Michoacana?

2010-07-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

It is interesting to watch the social and debate dynamics change as more conservative Evangelicals begin to lead the national narrative on comprehensive immigration reform. Up until now, the debate was almost devoid of any moral instruction or divine tenet to lead those persons who based much of their beliefs on misguided or ill-conceived political rumor or misrepresentation of the facts.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on "The Ethical Imperative for Reform of Our Immigration System." It was to be a discussion involving three of our country's top Biblical scholars and theologians before the House panel.

The Biblical scholars were: Richard Land of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, Gerald Kicanas of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Mathew Staver of Liberty University. All respected theologians and scholars who have spent their lives teaching the integral teachings of the Bible.

Several of the Congressmen who opened the session, immediately took to using or better said, taking Bible scriptures out of context as they attempted to debunk the use of the Bible or scripture to defend the Biblical instruction and expectation for Christians to follow when it comes to undocumented immigrants.

Needless to say, you can't preach to the teacher or even lecture some of the most respected conservative Bible scholars when you take words from the Bible out of context. And that is unfortunately what these Congressmen tried to do.

Another most bizarre case of misusing the Biblical teachings is happening in Mexico with La Familia Michoacana, one of the most violent and brutal gangs. This is the gang that has used chopping off heads of anyone who opposes the gang or the leader. La Familia's leader is Nazario Moreno, a.ka, El Mas Loco..the craziest one.

What perhaps is most disturbing and troubling is that Time/CNN has labeled this violent, brutal, and most evil gang we have ever seen, "a bizarre gang of Christian-fundamentalist narco-traffickers known as La Familia Michoacana."

"A bizarre gang of Christian-fundamentalist narco-traffickers known as La Familia Michoacana?" This is not only despicable, outrageous, and naïve for Time/CNN editors and reporters to refer to this gang of evil and violence in these terms, but it also demands that every Evangelical faith leader condemn Time/CNN for referring to this gang as "a bizarre gang of Christian-fundamentalists narco traffickers known as La Familia.!!" (http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1997449,00.html )

As bizarre, El Mas Loco is using the book, Wild at Heart, written by Colorado evangelical John Eldredge. According to the Religion News Service, the book stresses Eldredge's theology "based on a 'muscular' view of Christianity, one that emphasizes an 'authentic masculinity' that has been lost." New recruits to the gang must read Eldredge's book, participate in mandatory prayer sessions and group readings.

El Mas Loco has taken it upon himself to follow the tenets of Christian conversion - forbidding its gang members from using drugs, or selling drugs to friends and neighbors where they live. The commandments of the Bible make it a mandatory practice of loving your neighbor as loving oneself. The Bible speaks about making the family the fundamental social infrastructure and strongest bond Christians can have with one another. The gang, La Familia has accepted these beliefs and adheres to them despite being the worst and most violent gang in Mexico.

An expert on Mexican trafficking organizations, Raul Benitez says, "La Familia uses religion as a way of forcing cohesion among its members. They are building a new kind of disciplined army that we have never seen here before. It makes them more dangerous."

In the same article in the Guardian.co.uk, advancement in the La Familia gang organization is not only dependent on how well you do on the shooting range, but how many prayer meetings one attends as well.

El Mas Loco always carries his own "Bible." According to the local press, he carries a "bible" of his own sayings and insists that his army of traffickers and hit men avoid the narcotics they sell. Using drugs personally or selling them to local people on the street can bring about the worst penalty for disobeying La Familia's rules.

Andrew Brown in his blog tries to explain how La Familia uses Eldredge's book to create a sense of family cohesiveness and the paradox of the gang's violence to intimidate and kill and maim its gang opponents.

"Brown writes, they announced themselves in 2006, rolling five severed heads onto a dance floor, accompanied by a card which read:

'La Familia doesn't kill for money, doesn't kill women, doesn't kill innocent people. It only kills those who deserve to die. Everyone should know this: Divine justice.'

It becomes incumbent upon the Evangelical pastor and minister to understand the scripture and teachings of Jesus Christ toward the 'sojourner', the 'alien,' and the 'stranger in our midst,' or it will continue to be taken out of context.

While others are trying to pervert the truth and commandments of Jesus Christ, it becomes more important that when we use scripture we use it in context of God's love for humanity. We were created in His image, and it becomes difficult to explain or to understand how we can hate or despise one of God's own creation?

It is clear that sometimes the most complex teachings of Christ come down to one's personal relationship and experience with Jesus Christ as Savior and our Friend. The fundamental teachings of the Bible do not have to become something so wrapped up in theology and complex teachings that we can't even share these teachings with our family or neighbor.

At the House Judiciary Committee where Congressmen Lamar Smith (R - Texas) and Steve King (R - Iowa) tried to portray themselves as theologians and Bible scholars, Representative Luis Gutierrez (D - III.) spoke these simple words of wisdom. "I'm not a theologian. I didn't come here with my Bible. I'm a good Catholic, you know. But I'll tell you, I learned two things: to love God above everything else and to love my neighbor as I love myself."

That is the best example of the scripture we can use to turn people from hate, fear, racism, and bigotry. It is also the best advice one can give El Mas Loco.

But perhaps in using the scripture, we must stand prepared and ready to condemn any article like the one that appeared in TIME/CNN June 28, 2010 where out of pure and simple ignorance, the writers are so naïve as to refer to La Familia, as "a bizarre gang of Christian-fundamentalist narco-traffickers known as La Familia Michoacana."

It is time for Evangelical leaders to stand ready to condemn and demand that TIME/CNN repudiate and correct such stupidity and naïveté understanding of Christianity. This ill-conceived ideology must be censured, rebuked, and denounced by all Evangelical faith leaders.

This is frightening and such misguided understanding of Christianity must be rebuked. We must take action to demand a correction and bring about the understanding that there is no such thing as "a bizarre gang of Christian-fundamentalist narco-traffickers known as La Familia Michoacana."

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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We Need More Than Speeches

2010-07-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

The debate over comprehensive immigration reform has continued to heat up throughout this summer ever since the governor of Arizona signed the Ill-conceived SB 1070 into law. The law allows for racial and ethnic profiling as a way to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants in Arizona. The controversial law has several lawsuits pending against the State of Arizona, including the United States Department of Justice preparing to file suit against Arizona as well.

The proponents of immigration reform have pressured the President and top White House advisors to move forward with a progressive plan to fix our broken immigration system of laws. There have been marches and rallies in D.C., fasts in New York City, Chicago, and other cities, civil disobedience in Denver and countless cities across the USA, and thousands of petitions and letters demanding that President Obama push the agenda of comprehensive immigration reform forward.

The opponents of immigration reform have rallied around SB 1070, threatening to introduce similar laws in the legislative sessions in at least 12 other states. The hate, panic, and fear continue to spread as rumors and lies about undocumented immigrants are fed by the Internet groups bent on creating an atmosphere of hate and fear.

To counter the ridiculous claims of the governor of Arizona that most undocumented immigrants crossing the border are "drug mules," just shows how important it is to press for the truth and not the lies of the hate mongers and those who spew out evil venom of hate, panic, and lies.

There is no end in sight of the hate mongers and racists who continue to spread their lies and false rumors. In his speech the President admitted the lack of political will to push for immigration reform. "So the politics of who is and who is not allowed to enter this country, and on what terms, has always been contentious. And that remains true today. And it's made worse by a failure of those of us in Washington to fix a broken immigration system."

When word leaked out of the White House that the President was going to give a "major speech" on immigration reform, hopes were raised, and there were new expectations of a fresh strategic legislative effort to push both parties into coming together to resolve this national disgrace of a broken immigration system.

The stage was set at American University in D.C. for the President to finally address the nation and call for a new legislative agenda to implement a new system of immigration laws that would do away with a system of grave injustice, family separations, ICE raids, and a confusing array of law enforcement MOU's like 287 (g) that have only allowed local cops to use racial profiling as a means of stopping and detaining undocumented immigrants.

The primary reason police can stop Latino looking individuals are joint law enforcement programs like 287 (g) which allow racial profiling. Police have used broken tail lights, suspicious looking drivers or passengers, and driving while breathing "brown" to pull over Latinos on our nation's highways.

While the President has tried to shame the Republicans into supporting immigration reform, the reality is that there are perhaps as many Democrats who are afraid to push for immigration reform in a mid-term election environment filled with rumors, lies, and hate messages about undocumented immigrants.

The President said, "In sum, the system is broken. And everybody knows it. Unfortunately, reform has been held hostage to political posturing and special-interest wrangling -- and to the pervasive sentiment in Washington that tackling such a thorny and emotional issue is inherently bad politics."

Presente.org - a national pro-immigrant civil rights organization pushing for comprehensive immigration reform criticized the President by saying, "We need more than speeches."

That seemed to be the general consensus from other Latino civil rights organizations across the country. What good is another Presidential speech that does nothing but cast blame on the Republicans and whose own Democratic members continue to waffle on getting out front of this debate and who blatantly refuse to support the President's own legislative agenda on immigration reform?

Polls seem to indicate that most Americans want the President and Congress to do something about fixing our dysfunctional immigration laws that do more harm than good. If one believes that more than a majority of Americans want something done, then where are the courageous leaders and advocates for justice and righteousness?

Until the President is able to put together a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders who are willing to work together to draw up a comprehensive immigration plan that addresses the immediate needs of over 11 million undocumented immigrants in our country, nothing will get done.

Much has been said and debated over the "pathway to citizenship" for the undocumented immigrants who seek citizenship. But on the other hand, not all undocumented immigrants want citizenship, but rather a work visa that allows them to cross the border when there is work to be done and then be able to return home. This visa needs to provide the undocumented or visa permitted workers the right to make a fair wage, expect worker protections, and have the ability to organize if necessary in order to protect their rights as temporary workers in the USA.

Some critics of the past worker programs have claimed that the border has been left open just enough to allow cheap labor to cross the border. The days of cheap labor are over, along with abusive employers who have taken advantage of undocumented immigrant workers in the past.

But the sad part of the Presidential speech is that he was essentially speaking to the choir. Everyone knows we need comprehensive immigration reform. We know the present system is broken and must be fixed.

The President laid out the challenge facing Congress. "Our task then is to make our national laws actually work -- to shape a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And that means being honest about the problem, and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bring it together."

While the President calls for a more secure border, he insisted the border is the most secure than anytime in the past twenty years. Yet the President admitted that, "Our borders will not be secure as long as our limited resources are devoted to not only stopping gangs and potential terrorists, but also the hundreds of thousands who attempt to cross each year simply to find work."

Unfortunately we know ICE and the Obama Administration are detaining and deporting more innocent undocumented immigrants than the Bush Administration, and the President has failed to live up to his stated goals of prioritizing criminals and stopping gangs and potential terrorists.

The drug cartels and the large shipments of drugs over the border must have a higher priority than the family that is simply looking for work in the USA.

So the President gave a speech, more likely to appease his supporters. Some pundits have claimed the President hoped the speech would motivate and challenge the Latino voter to get out and support candidates that support his policies. It was an attempt to try and make up for his failure to prioritize immigration reform in his first year and to fire up his supporters to get out and vote.

The President gave a campaign speech, with more promises on why immigration reform is important. In fact, it is more important today than ever before. Instead of giving a Presidential speech with an action plan, he said nothing about ending the ICE raids, and putting a stop to the 287 (g) local enforcement programs abused by local cops that allows racial profiling and ethnic enforcement.

We don't need anymore speeches on why immigration reform is needed now more than ever. It is time the President acted like the President and put a stop to the grave injustice and unrighteousness undocumented families face every day in this country.

Yes, Mr. President, we are a land of immigrants. Together our forefathers built this country and the infrastructure that created jobs and a better life for all who sought a job and an opportunity. Yet, along the way we have had to fight the bigots, the racists, the haters, and those whose only intent was to spew out racial hatred and push immigrants down.

Mr. President, we hoped you would have stood up to those ugly voices of fear, panic and hate. We wished you would have used your Executive Power to put an end to misdirected immigration enforcement programs that are only separating families and deporting good hard working men and women.

If you really want to put an end to the drug cartels, the shipments of drugs and millions of dollars across the border, an end to the weapons we are selling to the drug cartels, then you should have declared war to end the drug cartels that continue to meet the drug demands of those Americans who live not only in the barrios, but the high priced skyscraper apartments of every city in the USA.

Mr. President, we don't need any more speeches. We need a bipartisan plan of attack against the drug and human traffickers. We need you to quiet the voices of hate and panic and move this debate from the gutter to the halls of Congress. Mr. President, be Presidential and do what you can do to end the injustice these families must endure every day.

No one said the job of being President would be easy, but it will take a President with hope and a vision to develop an agenda that both Republicans and Democrats can accept and work together to fix our broken immigration system.

Mr. President, thank you for recommitting your administration to fighting for immigration reform, but that is not good enough. Now it is time to move beyond just words, and take bold action to fix this problem which Lady Liberty reminds the world as a national disgrace.

If you can take a courageous and bold effort to lead the battle to repair the broken immigration system, be assured that many Americans will be behind you fighting the injustice and national disgrace of an immigration system that has spiraled out of control.

Lead and we will follow your leadership. Exemplify your courage to bring down the haters and end the venom of fear, and we will stand with you.

As Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the Latino evangelical National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference proclaimed as he and others left the White House after meeting with the President, "The president reaffirmed his commitment to immigration reform. We reaffirmed our commitment to supporting him, pushing back the Republican wall that has opposed immigration reform. The president is clearly on our side. He is our senior ally."

You gave an inspirational speech at American University, now it is time for bold and courageous leadership. Can you make your speech a national priority and prove that you are indeed our senior ally?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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A Bold Outspoken Leader

2010-06-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya
El Semanario 6/23/2010

Last week, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke before the City Club of Cleveland, giving a major speech calling on union members from the economically hard hit rust-belt region to embrace comprehensive immigration reform.

Trumka acknowledged the economic predicament Cleveland union workers have endured due to the poor economy and great recession.

"Cleveland embodies both the consequences of our failed economic policies of the last three decades - and our hope for a different future. The economic crisis has hit hard here -116,000 lost jobs in the last decade in Cuyahoga County. Eighty-six thousand home foreclosures last year alone."

It was not only unusual for Trumka to give this speech supporting immigration reform in Cleveland in front of union members and business leaders, it demonstrated his exceptional leadership abilities to speak out on an issue he believes must be heard.

He criticized the low wage, high consumption society that imports more and more of what we consume and that it was time to embrace a new national strategy for a global economy.

But for our economy to change means acknowledging that the economic policies of the past have not worked and that it is going to take "world class workforce skills and workforce rights and trade policies that serve the interests of the American people."

Trumka made it clear that in order to have this national narrative about changing our economic strategy, a national introspective look at our personal opinions and political beliefs is necessary.

"Today I also want to talk to you about what may seem like a strange subject--immigration--because it is patently clear that we cannot talk about our national workforce strategy unless we face head-on our own contradictions, hypocrisy and history on immigration."

Trumka spoke of the bigotry and racism his family faced when they first came to this country. "My parents fled poverty and war from different corners of Europe. We were the last hired and first fired, the people who did the hardest and most dangerous work, the people whose pay got shorted because we didn't know the language and were afraid to complain."

He made the case that undocumented immigrants are facing the same intolerance his family faced years ago. Trumka said immigrant families who came to America to find their dream, are now biased of undocumented immigrants seeking the very same dream they wanted in America.

"And yet today I hear from working people who should know better, some in my own family - that those immigrants are taking our jobs, ruining our country. Haven't we been here before?

When I hear that kind of talk, I want to say, did an immigrant move your plant overseas? Did an immigrant take away your pension? Or cut your health care? Did an immigrant destroy American workers' right to organize? Or crash the financial system? Did immigrant workers write the trade laws that have done so much harm to Ohio?"

Trumka said the American Dream brought scores of people to this country, so that "all of us will have a fair portion of the good things in life. Time to be with our families. The chances for our children to get an education and the opportunity to make their own way in the world. Laws that protect us, not oppress us."

Trumka said it was time for immigration reform because employers like cheap labor, like workers who are afraid to organize, afraid to complain when they are mistreated or robbed of their wages and benefits. Borders that are "open enough to ensure an endless supply of socially and legally powerless cheap labor."

Outlining reasons for immigration reform, Trumka made it clear that as members of the union movement, it was time for workers to unite under a banner of fair wages, right to organize, right to work without fear of retaliation, and the right for a pathway that will allow undocumented immigrants to be part of our country from day one.

Trumka spoke passionately of how our country has turned to hate and dissension because of the lack of compelling moral leadership; allowing the voices of hate to feed the public's anger, pain and desperation. "We see today a dangerous drift toward a politics of hate."

Unless our leaders become advocates of change and push for a progressive perspective on the economy that respects workers, the voices of hate will only continue to breed and drag our country in the wrong direction.

Therein lays the problem. We need more leaders like Trumka who are not afraid to speak out to audiences who have used the undocumented immigrant as the scapegoat. The activists of hate have taken advantage of this economic recession to prey upon the anger, depression, and unemployment.

President Obama has not consistently called upon the "haters and racists" to put an end to their bigotry. There is no moral leadership from the President for comprehensive immigration reform. He has not even made comprehensive immigration reform a priority for his administration, much less articulating a political strategy pushing for legislation.

In fact, Obama has prioritized immigration enforcement concentrating on families, not those with criminal backgrounds.

Other politicians are missing in action as well when it comes to advocating for immigration reform or for calling an end to the hate and racism. Thank God, faith leaders have taken forceful steps to call upon the President for immigration reform and have condemned the unjust laws and hate in our country.

Richard Trumka has taken on a significant role as a leader and it was very bold for him to take his message into the heartland of the rust belt. As a strong American, he understands what is necessary so all can achieve the American Dream.

"We as a nation must be true to our better selves -employers must not make a buck on the backs of workers who live in fear of deportation, and workers must stand together in the workplace for good jobs, safe jobs, health care for all, and retirement security we can count on. And so when we talk about making the American Dream real, the labor movement stands for making it real for all of us who do the work of our country. All of us - no matter what we look like, who we choose to love, or where we come from. Surely there we can find common ground."

Our political leaders must change the dialogue and alter the national tone and narrative on comprehensive immigration reform. The voices of hate and dissension will only prey upon people who fail to realize undocumented immigrants only want what our immigrant families wanted and worked for, the American Dream.

http://www.elsemanario.net/
6/23/2010
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H. S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Time to Register Your Values

2010-06-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

The battle lines on the political horizon are being drawn as our nation’s voters begin to determine the most important issues facing our country in the mid-term election in November 2010. From the extremist right-wing factions, to the ultra-liberals, voters are siding up with their preferred political and social ideology and political candidates who they believe best represent their views and supporting beliefs.

Unfortunately, our nation finds itself becoming increasingly divided by biased beliefs of self preservation and ideologies of racism and bigotry. In many cases, it is our own fellow American citizens who are leading the anti undocumented immigrant crusade. By spewing venom of hate and fear of undocumented immigrants, the bigoted demigods of this hate movement are instigating the spread this racist cancer whose sole purpose is to generate an atmosphere of panic, trepidation, confusion, and racism.

Everyday we see more and more people openly express their disdain and hate for the undocumented immigrants and Latinos. Like other historically distressing times in this country, it has become fashionable once again for people to be undisturbed by critics as they peddle in public their bigotry and unparalleled hate and racism in town meetings, street demonstrations, posters, bumper stickers, and on hate radio.

The messengers of hate, divisiveness, and open racism are undaunted by standing in public and allowing others to see first hand their hate and distain for undocumented immigrants and Latinos and forcing others to endure the rancor of their bigotry. The facial expressions of these hate messengers should frighten and challenge us to stand up for our own values.

If there ever was such a time for the Latino Evangelical voter to stand up and denounce this revival of hate and racism, it is now! It is a critical time in our nation’s history and a time when Christian’s must understand the importance of getting involved not in the dirty politics and mud slinging, but in representing our values and demanding that candidates for office embody our core values and Christian beliefs.

It is time to retire those politicians who have refused to listen to our pleas for common sense in government and for the politics of divisiveness and obstruction to come to an end. We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines and allow the opposition to destroy the Judeo-Christian ethic that this nation was founded on.

For too long we have turned the other cheek when confronted by the enemies of the cross on issues affecting our nation. As Christians, we are often lectured to be tolerant and open to new ways of thinking and solving issues and concerns facing our country. If others profess their political or religious beliefs, we are expected to acquiesce to those beliefs.

Yet, when we speak up and stand up for our values and beliefs, we are accused of not being tolerant and considerate of opposing view points. Our values and beliefs are then condemned as being narrow-minded and offensive.

We are told we cannot pray in schools, public and civic functions, and if we do pray, we must be respectful and tolerant of other religious and spiritual philosophies and beliefs, by not invoking the name of Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, we are mandated to sit back and allow others to proclaim their spiritual ideologies and beliefs even if those beliefs proclaim the ultimate destruction of our personal spiritual values and beliefs...and our country!

The time for Evangelicals to stand up for their core values is now. We must be empowered to vote for those candidates and politicians who mirror our beliefs and core spiritual values.

For too long, Latino Christian voters have voted for candidates and political parties based on our family political heritage. It is time to forget who “Dad would vote for”…and remember we are living in a time when it is critically important to vote for candidates or issues that are best for our families and country. The political parties and their promises of the past to remedy our concerns no longer characterize the urgency for change and a new beginning.

Of course in order to do that, Latinos must register to vote. There are millions of potential voters who have not taken the most important step in changing the direction of this nation by putting themselves in the voter booth on Election Day.

One way we can make a difference is to join the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference Fuerza 2010 voter registration drive and encourage our families, friends, and neighbors to register to vote. And then most importantly, actually turn out on Election Day to express our political and spiritual beliefs in the election booth.

Apathy and by not participating in voting for the issues that reflect our core values has allowed other political ideologies to destroy our liberties and freedoms. We must encourage Latino Evangelicals to register to vote….and to VOTE on Election Day.

It is so important for Latino Evangelical Christians to play a fundamental role in determining the future direction of our cities, states, and our country. We must be outspoken in our opposition to those who would destroy and deny the Christian heritage of our nation.

The best way to express your opposition to the candidates and politicians who have disregarded your values is to vote them out of office. The key and most significant achievement we can have is VOTING them out of office. In order to exercise your God given liberty to stand up for your values is to be able to participate in the national narrative by VOTING in any local, state, or national election.

I encourage you to join this NHCLC FUERZA 2010 Voter Registration Drive and ask those who have not yet registered to vote, to join the national effort to change the wrong direction this nation is headed.

To register to vote, simply text “NHCLC Vote” on your cell phone and become a voice for justice, righteousness, and truth by taking the first step by registering to vote in the upcoming mid-term November 2010 elections.

To get involved in this national NHCLC voter registration drive locally in your city or state, contact National FUERZA 2010 Coordinator, Pastor Johnny Murillo at 916-343-6074 or email him at johnny_murillo@yahoo.com

Register to Vote…and then vote like your values depended on it this time!
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Border Out of Control?

2010-06-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

El Semanario
http://www.elsemanario.net/

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

When the issue of protecting one’s home or neighborhood comes up, the first thing we say as homeowners is we should have the right to determine what we want done to protect our quality of life.

If there is one thing home owners despise, it is having outsiders telling them what they think is the best approach to dealing with any safety issues. We have heard the heated arguments and the local refrain, “We live here and we know what is best for our area.”

An article in the Texas Observer explains how border communities are finally uniting to fight militarization of the border and determine what the best policies are to secure their communities.

The main complaint residents along the border have is that they have become the victims of politicians’ hateful rhetoric bent on perpetuating the fear about undocumented immigrants.

One of the main culprits is Arizona Senator Jon Kyl who tried to get an amendment passed that would throw undocumented immigrants in jail for two weeks before deporting them back to Mexico. Kyl said this would be a deterrent to them trying again. This is just another scheme to criminalize undocumented immigrants.

According to the Observer, border communities are concerned once the Democrats realize a lot of horse trading with the GOP is going to be necessary to push immigration reform forward, “Residents are already bracing to become the sacrificial lamb for Democrats desperate for Republican buy-in on immigration reform. They're already seeing it with the 1,200 guard troops and a Predator Drone dispatched to El Paso.”

Arizona Senator John McCain is so desperate to get re-elected; he has pushed aside his personal values and political beliefs and has become one of the strongest proponents of harsher laws against undocumented immigrants.

McCain attempted to have the Senate pass an amendment sending 6,000 National Guard troops to the border. Even after losing that vote, he still managed to sneak his amendment back in a defense bill that comes up for a vote later this year.

One of the leaders of the effort to unite border communities puts the nasty debate about border safety in perspective. Louie Gilot, director of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso told the Observer, “We’ve got to separate border security from immigration reform. We need to have an independent voice for the well being of the communities and so the border isn’t sacrificed the next time immigration reform is taken up.”

Gilot went to mention she is a resident of El Paso, Texas, and according to the latest FBI crime statistics just released; El Paso has the second lowest level of violent crimes per capita among the top 25 most populated cities. In plain language, El Paso is the second safest city in the USA!

Putting those statistics in better perspective, El Paso with a population of about 612,000 residents had 4 homicides last year. Our nation’s capital, with a smaller population of about 592,000 had 66 murders last year.

Yet, the people leading the effort to unite border communities rightfully complain that the border area is often described by the news media and the politicians that rarely venture out of the belt way in D.C. as “a war zone.”

Gilot says one of the main problems is that these politicians have a misperception about the border, and so when they discuss border options, they are made from a “border perceived to be a war zone.”

In March 2010, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a press release outlining the border security initiatives.

“Over the past year, our unprecedented cooperation with the Mexican government and sustained security efforts along the border have resulted in major progress in combating the ruthless cartels that threaten the safety of both our nations.”

Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has also taken a tougher enforcement approach in trying to secure the border, but has focused on capturing undocumented immigrants instead of closing the border to the drug cartels and gangs that are involved in human trafficking.

But as one reviews the press release, one has to wonder why an additional 1,200 National Guard troops are needed at the border at this time?

Ordering troops to border is just another example of how political rhetoric and bad policy decisions are meant only to exploit the politics of immigration reform, and create more fear and hate.

Texas Senator John Cornyn perhaps best exemplifies how the fear sound bite works to stall any efforts to move immigration reform forward by exploiting the issue of the border. "Until we deal with this broken border, we are not going to be able to deal with other aspects of our broken immigration system."

If the border is still considered “a war zone,” by the politicians back in Washington, D.C., we need to demand answers from them why all of the border initiatives Napolitano claims have made it safer are not working.

The DHS press release touts the facts about border improvements that are simply hard to rationalize. “Since last March, DHS has doubled the number of personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces; tripled the number of ICE intelligence analysts working along the U.S.-Mexico border; quadrupled deployments of Border Liaison Officers; and begun screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments for illegal weapons, drugs and cash—for the first time ever.”

Yes, you read that correctly. Doubled the number of personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces. Tripled the number of ICE intelligence analysts working along the U.S.-Mexico border. DHS quadrupled deployment of Border Liaison Officers.

Most startling to me is the fact that for the very first time ever, the U.S. government has “begun screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments for illegal weapons, drugs and cash - For the very first time ever!”

This means that for years, our government simply ignored the fact that shipments of weapons, drugs and cash were probably being shipped across the border without any threat of government intervention. Outrageous if you ask me!

The Border Patrol in its 85 year history has doubled its agents from 10,000 in 2004 to over than 20,000 agents in 2009.

A question that must be asked is that if the Department of Homeland Security is accomplishing all of these goals and making the border safer, why it is even necessary to talk about the border as “a war zone?” Why is Senator McCain still talking about adding 6,000 more National Guard troops to militarize the border?

It is time that the President along with his Department of Homeland Security and every elected politician in D.C. stop viewing the border as “a war zone” and need to demand accountability of all the high priced technology and border personnel being sent to the border.

It is also time to listen to the people living along the border who know better than anyone else what is actually happening at the border and stop this rhetoric of fear and panic the politicians use to politicize the immigration reform movement.

Lobbying for more troops on the border, Arizona Senator John McCain said, "The borders are broken. We have an obligation to our citizens to secure our border and allow them to lead lives where they not live in fear."

If anyone knows what border policies may actually allow residents to lead their lives where they are not living in fear, it is the residents who live on the border.

So why aren’t our politicians and President listening to these people? Militarizing our borders is bad public policy. We must stop paying attention to news media reports, politicians, and opinion pundits that claim the border is out of control.

For once, why don’t we let the people most affected by the impractical border initiatives from uninformed politicians in the DC beltway have a say in what is best for their communities?
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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More About the Numbers....

2010-06-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

by Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Thousands of marchers came from across the USA to march on May 29th in Phoenix, Arizona. It was pegged as one of the largest marches in the history of Phoenix as tens of thousands braved the dry hot conditions to march against injustice and racism. Viewing video from several news media sources, it was clear this was a mega march against SB 1070, supported by 100,000 marchers.

Pastor Eve Nunez, a Latina Evangelical pastor from Phoenix told me that she has marched from the early days with Cesar Chavez, and this was the biggest march she has seen in Phoenix. This is coming from someone who has committed her ministry to seeking justice and fighting unjust laws.

Pastor Nunez told me, “I have been in every Marcha since the 70s with Cesar. I asked police officers present (about the number of marchers), they said at least One Hundred Thousand. The Organizer Salvador Reza from Puente told me he believes there was more. This was the most Hispanic Clergy,” present in a march in Phoenix.

Yet if you read news accounts of the march, some news outlets estimated the crowd at 10,000. Others simply said, “Thousands marched against SB 1070.” The Los Angeles Times did try to estimate the crowd, one of the few to do so, but still did not give a figure. “Under a broiling desert sun, tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday slowly marched five miles to the state Capitol to rally against Arizona's controversial new immigration law. There was no official crowd estimate, but the march was by far the biggest demonstration since Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law on April 23.”

Reading the New York Times, the reporter appeared to try and present “a balanced approach” to the story. “Two sides of the immigration debate converged here Saturday: a throng of several thousand marching for five miles opposed to Arizona’s new immigration law, and several thousand nearly filling a nearby stadium in the evening in support of it.”

Why is the news media attempting to down play the number of over 100,000 people who marched on May 29th in Phoenix? It seems very odd to me that the news media went out of it way to discount the tens of thousands who marched for several miles to the State Capitol building.

Without a doubt, the news media can influence the outcome of a major mega march like the one in Phoenix. Readers and viewers who depend on these news outlets for news and information also expect for the reporters on the scene to be accurate and truthful, not just giving their opinions of what they believe actually happened. When reporters fail to accurately report the facts of a major march like the one in Phoenix, the credibility of these reporters becomes suspect.

Pastor Nunez felt strongly that it was the largest march she has seen in Phoenix and seemed perplexed by the low estimate by the news media. Aerial video of the march on CNN clearly showed that tens of thousands of people participated in the march. From viewing the video, it was clear to me that more than 10,000 people were marching. Even several police officers present at the march told Pastor Nunez that it appeared that there were 100,000 marchers on the streets of Phoenix.

Julie Gonzales, one of Colorado’s best organizers for immigration reform did attend the march in Phoenix. I asked her what she thought about the number of people who marched the 5.7 miles in the heat. “Yes, it was absolutely over 10.000. I was about 15 blocks away from my friend who was much closer to the front of the march, and I then turned around and I still couldn't see the end of the march. And we're talking both sidewalks full of people. It wasn't just people in the street, or on one lane. It was building to building full of people.”

Gonzales did admit that she could not estimate the crowd, but did say, “I can't really speak to whether it was 50 or 100 or 200 thousand. All I know is that it was massive.” But she also made it clear that it was far more than the 10,000 reported by some news media outlets.

The New York Daily News reported, “Thousands of civil rights and labor activists from across the United States – carrying banners that read:
“Obama Keep Your Promise” – rallied in Phoenix to protest the law, which requires state and local police to investigate the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally.” Again, the newspaper reporter made no attempt to estimate the crowd, just the word,
“Thousands.”

Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, one of the primary organizers of the mega march on May 29th, in an email to supporters of the march wrote, “This weekend 100,000 people marched six miles from Steele Indian School Park to the State Capitol to denounce SB 1070 and demand President Obama intervene in the growing human rights crisis of Arizona.”

It is unfortunate that the news media reporting on the march did not report on the actual number of people who came from across the country to protest a law that has created what Alvarado calls, “the growing human rights crisis of Arizona.”

Let me be very clear about one issue. It is not just about the number of people who marched, but about the number of people who came out on a very hot day to demand that SB 1070 be reversed and taken off the books as a hateful and illegal profiling law.

The fact that 100,000 people came together in the streets of Phoenix should serve notice that many thousands of people are opposed to this law. The accurate reporting on the events of the day should reflect the fact that thousands of people, 100,000 of them, were willing to travel to Phoenix and march demanding that President Obama intervene in this issue and challenge the law in the courts.

It is time that the news media report accurately the fact the “civil rights movement of the 21st century” is a real a movement and it is only beginning to grow. Pastor Nunez mentioned that this was the first time that many members of the Hispanic clergy marched along the throngs of marchers demanding justice and righteousness.

Under the leadership of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, more and more Latino faith leaders are voicing their opposition to the immoral and illegal law that allows police officers to profile any “brown person” whom they “reasonably suspect” might be an undocumented immigrant in the country illegally.

Already, many “brown” American citizens are being detained and put in detention facilities because police officers are not trained properly to determine who is illegal and who just because of their “Latino features” are immediately suspected as being illegal.

This is what brought over 100,000 to the streets of Phoenix on May 29th. This is what is causing the Latino clergy to understand that a prophetic and voice of spiritual leadership is needed today just as the Dr. Martin Luther King brought to the early civil rights movement. More and more national Latino spiritual faith leaders are demanding that we stand together in the face of hate and discrimination that has sprouted an ugly racist movement against Latinos.

In the future, one would trust that the news media would do a better job reporting on the nature of the event, highlighting the fact that the largest march against SB 1070 took place with over 100,000 marchers demanding justice and due process. The May 29th march was not just another march or civic expression of frustration and fear.

This is just the beginning of a new civil rights movement, one that is partnering with Black leaders who marched during past civil rights demonstrations demanding justice and equality.

Together, we will bring Arizona to its knees, either by showing that a national boycott will cause unprecedented financial ramifications to the state economy, or to its knees asking forgiveness for being so open with their hate and bigotry toward Latinos.
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Another "War on Drugs?"

2010-05-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya
El Semanario 5/27/2010

“La Casa Blanca” welcomed El Presidente and the First Lady of Mexico to the United States with great pomp and circumstance. Presidente Felipe Calderón, was welcomed as an important friend and ally of our country. There were honor guards, special luncheons, and of course, the highlight, a state dinner hosted by President Barrack Obama and First Lady Michele in the East Room of the White House.

But beyond the all of the hype and ceremony, tough policy issues face both nations as we look to confront not only the immigration reform issues, but perhaps more importantly, the issue of drugs, trafficking, and weapons.

It is no secret that the drug cartels in Mexico are at war not only between one another, but against the government in their attempts to meet the ever growing illicit drug demand in the United States. While most of the most violent and inhumane crimes against humanity have been committed in Mexico, a growing trend of violent drug related crimes are spilling over the border into cities and towns along the border.

In addressing the drug problem, President Obama made it clear that his administration would work “to stem the southbound flow of American guns and money” and to once again work on “new approaches to reducing the demand for drugs in our country.”

In order to focus on the drug war going on in Mexico, efforts to decrease the American demand for those drugs coming from Mexico must be addressed. The “just say no” mentality of yesteryear isn’t working and demand for Mexican drugs on the street corners across America continues to grow.

There is no doubt, President Felipe Calderon listened with intense interest as President Obama spoke of making the Mexican drug war a priority for law enforcement on this side of the border.

President Obama, as he pledged he would increase pressure on criminal drug gangs that “traffic in drugs, guns, and people,” voiced American determination to stop the flow of drugs from Mexican drug cartels.

The violence in Mexico which has caused thousands of innocent people to become victims can be traced to the American drug demand. This demand has created a culture of violence by drug cartels as they seek to distribute and sell their drugs in the USA.

This time we must not permit law enforcement in the USA to get involved in losing another “war on drugs.” Words alone will not stop the flow of “American guns and money” to Mexico. This time, it is going to take more than slogans, cliché’s, and political rhetoric to fight this war on drugs.

While the debate on immigration reform has focused and often stalled on the one issue of “amnesty,” the drug violence caused by the Mexican drug cartels and American demand for drugs must also be addressed in any comprehensive immigration reform package.

When border issues are debated, it centers on the fact that “too many illegal immigrants are crossing the border undetected.” The reality is that too many shipments of illicit drugs are coming across the border undetected in huge amounts to meet the ever growing American demand for drugs.

In order to meet the pledge made by President Obama to join the war against criminal gangs with Presidente Calderon, it is going to take a major policy change for the Obama Administration. It is going to take a concerted by this President to put his words into action via a new policy for his border law enforcement agencies.

Right now, the Obama Administration has misplaced priorities when it comes to border security. The American Immigration Council believes policy makers must make a distinction in any comprehensive immigration reform package between undocumented immigrants crossing the border and the drug induced violence of the drug cartels. “But cracking down on unauthorized immigrants in the United States is not going to diminish violence in border communities because unauthorized immigrants aren't the perpetrators, criminal cartels are.”

The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity & Diversity just completed a study, “Assembly Line Justice: A Review of Operation Streamline.” Operation Streamline is a Bush era policy still in effect that has in fact created a paradox for American policy makers responsible for securing the border.

“Operation Streamline requires the federal criminal prosecution and imprisonment of all unlawful border crossers. The program, which mainly targets migrant workers with no criminal history, has caused skyrocketing caseloads in many federal district courts along the border. This Warren Institute study demonstrates that Operation Streamline diverts crucial law enforcement resources away from fighting violent crime along the border, fails to effectively reduce undocumented immigration, and violates the U.S. Constitution.”

In other words, if President Obama is pledging to reprioritize American law enforcement efforts, Homeland Security and the Border Patrol will need to put their resources to work on curtailing human trafficking and putting a stop to the drug shipments slipping over the border undetected. This will be no easy task.

Right now, the federal government is creating federal criminals out of simple border crossers who have no criminal histories. As the Warren Institute study points out, “By focusing court and law enforcement resources on the prosecution of first-time entrants, Operation Streamline also diverts attention away from fighting drug smuggling, human trafficking, and other crimes that create border violence.”

It is time to reevaluate Operation Streamline and synchronize the policy with the Obama initiative to stem the flow of weapons and money to Mexico. The Warren Institute Study calls for a complete change in policy by the Obama Administration.

“The program channels law enforcement funding and attention toward the apprehension and prosecution of low-level offenders, rather than focusing on the crimes that create border violence, including human trafficking and drug smuggling. As petty immigration prosecutions have increased in the border district courts, drug prosecutions have declined.”

It is time to target the drug cartels and the violence caused by the illicit drug traffic demand. If law enforcement target drug cartels who have little or no regard for who gets hurt or killed, as drug related homicides in Mexico have increased year after year, we truly can expect a war on drugs.

The Warren Institute study makes it clear the present policy must be changed. “Operation Streamline does not target drug traffickers and human smugglers but rather migrants who are coming to this country in search of employment or to reunite with family.”

It is time for President Obama to change our present enforcement policy on border security and go after the real criminals, the criminals with weapons, money, and determination to sell their drugs in our country.

El Semanario http://www.elsemanario.net/
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Talk About a Double Standard

2010-05-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

In Florida, Latino Marco Rubio, who is running as a Republican for the United States Senate has now come out against SB 1070, the Arizona racial and ethnic profiling law. Rubio who is being backed by conservatives and many Tea Party elite has allowed politics to play a major role in his decision to deport all undocumented immigrants and have nothing to do with “amnesty.”

Rubio at one point criticized SB 1070 and found the law strictly focused on racial profiling. One would have expected that a person whose parents were Cuban refugees and faced many of the same life experiences that many undocumented immigrants face today would stand against the intent of the Arizona law and the hate it creates.

Rubio who seems not to be able to find his place at the table of immigration reform originally was a fierce critic of SB 1070. Rubio claimed, “From what I have read in news reports, I do have concerns about this legislation. While I don't believe Arizona's policy was based on anything other than trying to get a handle on our broken borders, I think aspects of the law, especially that dealing with 'reasonable suspicion,' are going to put our law enforcement officers in an incredibly difficult position. It could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens."

But Rubio who is considered the sweetheart of conservatives seems to now have now changed his opinion about SB 1070. He now claims the changes in the law have made it acceptable. Jason Mattera of Human Events interviewed Rubio after the changes were made.

In that interview Rubio said, “But right now, for the people of Arizona , this is not (from what I gathered) this is not even an immigration issue. This is a public safety issue. And the fact is that Mexican drug violence has tragically crossed over the border and into an American state and American cities. So I congratulate them on taking steps to clarify even further the intent of the law.” So the whole issue is not even an immigration issue.

Rubio pushed the issue even further by rejecting the whole concept of a “pathway to citizenship” or “amnesty.” He claims that despite all of the “human stories” about hardships faced by undocumented immigrants today, these stories mean nothing to the heartless Rubio.

“I understand the human stories that we’re going to...We’re gonna....There are going to be stories of very young kids that were brought to this country at a very young age who don’t even speak Spanish that are going to be sent back to Nicaragua or some other place. And it’s gonna feel weird and I understand that. The goal here is to have an immigration policy that works. And if you provide a path for people to enter this country illegally and if they stay here long enough and pay enough in taxes, well let them stay legally...why would anyone come in through the legal process?”

So who cares about young kids that were brought to this country at a very young age who don’t even speak Spanish that are going to be deported back to Nicaragua or some other place? Rubio doesn’t care about those young kids or the circumstances many of them faced when brought to this country.

Rubio, being Cuban and whose parents fled Castro’s Cuba many years ago seems to have forgotten the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which still applies to any Cuban who basically touches US soil and are then permitted to remain here. No questions asked. No ICE investigations. No detention while status is determined. Just reach out and touch US soil and you are safe. But according to Rubio, that may be too much to provide any other group of people who also have “reached out and touched US soil.”

Legal experts will tell you that no other people from any other country than Cuba have these special rights, privileges, and special advantages.

The United States Coast Guard does deport any Cuban caught trying to enter the United States through the traditional escape route from Cuba, the Florida Straits.

The Houston Times reporting on this issue points out very clearly how Cuban immigrants are treated differently than other groups caught trying to cross the US border. “The agreement also led to the creation of a "wet foot/dry foot" policy. Cubans caught in the water are now taxied back to the island on Coast Guard ships. But, if Cubans can make it to U.S. soil, they can stay and seek legal residency.”

The Houston Times explains why Cubans are making the risky trek via Mexico . "Dry foot" Cubans technically enter the country on a one-year parole. At the end of that time, they are required to appear before an immigration judge to have their status upgraded to permanent residency.

The new phenomenon of Cubans crossing Mexico by land has given rise to a new term: "dusty foot.”
The Houston Times says this “policy has been widely criticized as hypocritical since its inception.”

From Mexico, Cubans make the trip up to the Texas border, where on the same day they cross, they are registered as "political asylees." From day one, no detention, no background investigation, or no ICE intimidation, but are given legal status to remain in the country.

The Houston Press reports that “The number of Cubans entering Texas has skyrocketed. About 11,500 crossed the border legally last year, almost all through Brownsville , which is three times the number that enter through Florida .”

Just maybe Rubio ought to go back and review his family heritage and see where changes in immigration law might be made. Maybe the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 ought to be changed so that it applies equally to all others who have reached out and touched US soil.

Rubio’s position on immigration reform is the real definition of a political hypocrite. A law that applies to “his people” by giving them special privileges to stay in the United States no questions asked, but who is willing for young kids who were brought here at a young age and don’t speak Spanish, to be deported back to a country they don’t even recognize or remember and even after listening to these stories, they do nothing to appeal to this man’s sense of humanity.

It is time that someone called Marco Rubio out as a hypocrite and that as a candidate for the United States Senate, his integrity and character are questionable. Rubio is merely a political hand puppet of the extreme conservatives and patrons of the Tea Party who would rather play politics with the issue of immigration than work for comprehensive reform.

For Rubio to back away from his earlier condemnation of the Arizona law, and now become a strong proponent of deporting young kids back where they came from and to ignore the special privileges afforded Cubans who leave Castro’s Cuba is simply hypocritical.

Marco Rubio is simply a disgrace to not only Cubans who have worked hard to attain their rightful place in our society as former refugees, but to others who seek the same American dream. Rubio ought to stop playing politics with the important issue of comprehensive immigration reform and work to find a resolution that meets the needs of so many people who merely only want a better life.

Even if his conservative supporters and Tea Party cohorts disagree with the fundamental core values of immigration reform, Rubio should remain true to the ideals of providing safe haven to all who seek freedom and security. Rubio might even stop and listen carefully to all the human stories that demand that our government immediately enact comprehensive immigration reform.

Rubio must understand the issue of comprehensive immigration reform is not a Republican or Democratic issue; it is about human stories of people seeking to find a better life free from many of the same issues why Cubans flee Cuba today.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Mom, I love you!

2010-05-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Today is Mother’s Day – a very special day in the lives of so many people. For me it is an extra special day because my Mom has gone on to her eternal reward. My Mom was a minister of the Gospel, and she was my father’s partner in ministry.

My Mom and Dad were ministers with the Assemblies of God for over 30 years. They pastured several churches and as preacher’s kids, my sister and brother and I moved around the pastoral circuit. We had some special times depending in the church my Dad and Mom pastured, but we had a wonderful life as preacher’s kids.

Mom and Dad pastured churches in Denver, Colorado Greeley, Colorado, Center, Colorado, and Farmington, New Mexico. In Denver, he pastured the La Primera, La Segunda, & Aposento Alto. We had some wonderful times…and times when we all were forced to our knees in prayer for God’s Grace and Love.

But through all of the times in the ministry, my Mom was the best mother I could ever have. I remember coming home for lunch from school, and there was Mom making me something for lunch. She was always around when I needed to be loved or cared for. I have so many wonderful memories of my Mom, and I really miss her today.

I miss my Mom very much. She was so wise, so compassionate, and such a wonderful example of how to love others. There are many days when I want to just reach out and call my Mom. There are so many days when I just want to drop by her house and spent some time with her. On so many days, I just want to hear her voice one more time. I loved dropping by her home on my way home from work. It usually meant a small but delicious snack or meal…the only way Mom could make it.

Mom has gone on, but there is not a single day that goes by without a special memory of her that comes to mind. I love her and miss her so much. She was my anchor and my friend. Not often that we think of our mothers as our friend, but she always had the right answer or solution to a problem I might be experiencing. Mom was always there for me.

So today on this special day, if you have your Mom with you today, call her, send her flowers, and make sure she knows you love her. I wish I had one more chance to just tell “Mom, I love you….and I miss you so much!”

“Mom, I miss you…and I will always love you!”

Let Us Come Together and Pray....

2010-05-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Today is the National Day of Prayer, a day in which our nation pauses to recognize the importance what prayer has meant for our nation. It should also be a day in which we express our faith in a higher Being. It is also a day in which we can proclaim the blessings given to our nation. A National Day of Prayer can also help to remember that we were established as a nation founded on the biblical principles of justice and righteousness.

Our nation has been blessed since the founding of this great nation by founding fathers who recognized the importance of a Supreme Being guiding and watching over our country. President George Washington, our nation’s first President issued a proclamation declaring the first “National Day of Prayer” on Thursday, November 26, 1789. It was done in recognition of our dependence upon God to guide our nation.

Over the years we have been a nation that has represented the best in democracy and justice. We must never take this privilege for granted and be on guard to protect our right of prayer.

The April 15 ruling by a federal judge that ruled that a National Day of Prayer violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment and thus ruled it unconstitutional is a step away from what our founding fathers wrote, accepted, and established in our country’s constitution.

However, as with other nations in the Bible that turned away from God’s guidance and rejected their faith in God, God’s word is clear on what happens if we reject his Word. The threat of what can happen if we reject the very basic principles of faith in God are told in story after story in the Bible. God’s judgment of destruction and punishment are shared throughout the Bible when people begin to turn to idolatry and other evil practices and reject the Biblical principles of justice and righteousness.

Today we find our nation at the crossroads of either moving forward and continuing to accept the importance of having a day in which we can express our faith and dependence on a Divine Being as an important tradition.

The whole notion of separation of Church and State is merely a wedge issue used to create confusion and fear over accepting the great tradition proclaimed by the prophets of the past.

Today as we gather across this great nation, may we once again renew our faith and determination to always find a day in which we declare not only a “National Day of Prayer” in recognition of God’s hand in the formation of our great democracy, but as a way to publicly express our continuing dependence on God’s hand in the affairs of our nation.

The Family Resource Council issued a statement regarding the importance of declaring a National Day of Prayer. In part it states, “The National Day of Prayer has a monumental place in our nation's history, but more importantly, its annual observance is a living expression of our collective faith in God today. It is a sign of our hope for the future of our nation and lends truth to our national motto; "In God We Trust." Those who have labored to promote this day have played a major role in envisioning, birthing, encouraging, strengthening and expanding the much larger trans-denominational prayer movement. This movement may be the brightest star in an America darkened by troubles on every side. “

As we gather today, let us once reclaim the spiritual heritage of our founding fathers and extend our faith and liberty in God, the One in whom we trust.
Political correctness and rulings by activist federal judges who mettle in the affairs and historical heritage of our nation by declaring a National Day of Prayer as unconstitutional should not stand in the way of a national tradition.

Let us join together recognizing a model and tradition of prayer handed down over the years so that today, on May 6, 2010, we can gather to renew our faith and trust and our commitment to remain a nation committed to justice, fair play, and righteousness for all.

As we pray today, may God’s Word refresh our commitment to continue in this battle for faith and justice. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Say What you will, SB 1070 is still Profiling...

2010-05-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

The Arizona Legislature after running into harsh criticism and condemnation of SB 1070 as the worst racial and ethnic profiling law in the land, took some feeble steps to change the intent of the law by trying to ensure that law enforcement officers didn’t abuse their authority by stopping and questioning every person who fit the profile of an “undocumented immigrant,” by amending the law with HB 2165.

Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill passed by the Arizona Legislature that now requires every alien present in the state to carry proper documentation that they are legally in the state. The police can use “reasonable suspicion” to question any suspected undocumented immigrant in the state about their legal status. If undocumented immigrants do not carry “their papers,” police can charge them with additional fines, and in effect, making innocent men, or women – criminals.

The whole issue of racial profiling and ethnic intimidation allowing police to question anyone, who fits a profile of an undocumented immigrant, has raised a new issue of defining what an undocumented immigrant looks like. Even Governor Brewer who claims that police will undergo new training in identifying what a undocumented immigrant looks like, could not even venture a response to a question from a reporter what that training will entail.

But like all politicians, she couldn’t pass the chance to give a vague response. "I do not know," she said. "I do not know what an illegal immigrant looks like. I can tell you that I think that there are people in Arizona who assume they know what an illegal immigrant looks like. I don't know if they know that for a fact or not."

Mike Littwin, columnist of The Denver Post, wrote the best response to the question. “She said that they're still trying to come up with guidelines for the law. We all know what the law will do — go after those with the wrong accents or the wrong shoes or who press 2 at the ATM.”

The bottom line, civil rights organizations are already lining up to sue the state and demand that the racial profiling law be reviewed by the courts. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Arizona filed their challenge against Arizona’s Latino racial profiling law last week.

In a major show of support and unity with the Latino community, the NAACP, the nations’ oldest and respected civil rights organization in the country called SB 1070 an attempt to roll back the clock on civil rights protections in our country.

The NAACP is outraged that Arizona would pass a law that empowers the police to legally use racial profiling as a means by which to target the Latino community.

The Black community lead the civil rights movement back in the 1950’s, suffering the indignity and injustice of police abuse and brutality during non-violent civil disobedience protests, know what racial profiling can lead to when police abuse the authority given them under the law.

They also understand how the moral disregard of the law can be abused when segregationist Public Safety manager of Birmingham used his police against non-violent protestors in Birmingham. Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor was responsible for the ugliest images embedded in our minds of cops and dogs brutally attacking innocent victims of the civil rights demonstrations. Dr. Martin Luther King called, “Birmingham the most segregated city in America.”

It was here that America watched in horror on television as police used police dogs to drag away protestors in the streets of Birmingham. But one of the most dreadful images caught by news photojournalists of the time were the high powered water fire hoses used to push and wash Black protestors off their feet and into submission.

Speaking from a sense of history and outrage, NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock condemned the fact that SB 1070 was a violation of the moral and human rights standard in our country and an attempt to roll back the clock.

“The passage of SB1070 is an embarrassment to the equal protection clause in the U.S. Constitution, and if we are not careful will leave a permanent stain on the United States’ reputation throughout the world. As an association that has fought for more than 100 years to ensure that basic rights and freedoms would be equally extended to all, it is disheartening to see the State of Arizona enact a law that tramples on the civil rights of Hispanic persons, and one that cannot be enforced without resorting to racial and ethnic profiling. We intend to use the full weight of our 2200 branches and units to ensure that this law is repealed and does not happen in other states across this nation.”

In Colorado, a highly respected civil rights lawyer took the time to analyze SB 1070 and the feeble attempt by the Arizona Legislature to amend the law (HB 2162) in their efforts to quiet claims that by allowing police to use “reasonable suspicion,” basically meant racial and ethnic profiling was legal in Arizona.

Joseph Salazar, who “read and dissected SB 1070,’ even after the legislature passed HB 2165, wrote, “HB 1070 is severely flawed. There are no real safeguards prohibiting unconstitutional conduct, such as racial profiling.” Salazar opined, “The fact is that SB 1070 violates the scared principles of our federal government’s power to regulate immigration.”

Salazar took the task upon himself to read and analyze SB 1070 after Scott McInnis, Republican running for governor of Colorado, claimed that even though he had not read or studied SB 1070, he would sign such a bill if he were Governor of Colorado. The same gentlemen who while in Congress warned the nation right after the 911 terrorist attacks on our country, “the need for profiling for the national security of this country."

David Sirota, columnist for a syndicated column in Oregon Live. Com wrote, “Brandishing his past experience as a police officer, he implored lawmakers "to quit being politically correct" and let authorities make "ethnic background a legitimate component" of law enforcement investigations -- just as Arizona's new statute allows.

"Insurance companies profile for risk. That is what I am asking that we continue to do -- we need to profile for risk," he thundered, adding that using ethnicity as a risk factor "is very legitimate -- I think it is smart."

Commenting further, Sirota wrote, In other words, we should do to civil rights what insurance firms have done to, say, health care -- namely, deny people rights and privileges based on their ascribed characteristics.

No wonder, McInnis didn’t need to read SB 1070 and stand before the microphones and proudly state he would readily agree to sign it into law if he were elected Governor of Colorado. It is part of his DNA as a former cop to understand how easily it is to make “ethnic background a legitimate component” for profiling people who look like the bad guys.

With McInnis’s lack of political astuteness and understanding that SB 1070 is morally reprehensible to a large group of voters in Colorado, he allowed his own personal feelings about racial and ethnic “profiling for risk” to blurt out without understanding the political repercussions of being so frank and in this case, dishonest.

So while civil right lawyer Salazar took the time to read and analyze the law, it was very easy to see that the intent of the Arizona law – as written in the law itself, “The legislature declares that the intent of this act is to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local governmental agencies in Arizona.”

For McInnis and others who champion the violation of civil rights under the guise of protecting our country by using racial and ethnic profiling might want to take the same amount of time and effort as Salazar and find out for themselves that, “HB 1070 is severely flawed. There are no real safeguards prohibiting unconstitutional conduct, such as racial profiling.” Salazar opined, “The fact is that SB 1070 violates the scared principles of our federal government’s power to regulate immigration.”

No matter how much the Arizona Legislature tried to hide the true intent of SB 1070 by amending the law with HB 2165, putting lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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The Denver Post

2010-05-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

Guest Commentary

Taking a stand against Arizona law
By Butch Montoya
Posted: 05/01/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

The problem with Washington delaying taking positive action on comprehensive immigration reform is that states like Arizona are left to act independently, taking drastic measures with shocking and immoral implications.

Unfortunately, the law in Arizona is not actually about fixing our woefully broken immigration system and making our country safer. Instead, it preys on fears and suspicion and creates the perfect temptation for police to use racial profiling and discriminate against all people with brown skin. We are familiar with the saying, "driving while black." This law creates a new dynamic: "breathing while brown."

This law allows any person to be stopped by police if there is "reasonable suspicion" of being undocumented. Encouraging these fearful sentiments is wrong. It sends us backwards as a nation in a time when we need real solutions to move us forward.

The irony is that this bill, under a guise of increasing safety for Americans, actually creates a perilous mistrust between the immigrant community and law enforcement. The fear of speaking to police about any criminal activity increases the real threat to our children and our communities' safety.

However, one of the most abhorrent aspects of this new law is the implications for faith institutions. The law states that those who "knowingly transport or harbor" undocumented immigrants will be at risk of arrest.

Therefore, driving the sick to a doctor, offering shelter or food to the hungry — part of what it means to be a person of faith — would be unlawful.

This may force many people of faith into a situation of civil disobedience, living out their belief that God's laws of compassion and hospitality outweigh the mean-spirited law of Arizona.

Arizona is a clarion call for all: We must have the courage to deal with our broken immigration system. We call upon our representatives in Washington to deal constructively with this issue, this year, with a spirit of reason and compassion.

It is time for people of faith and conscience to stand for a positive and humane solution in Washington and against the negative and immoral example of Arizona.

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is director of H.S. Power & Light Ministries-Latino Faith Initiative. This commentary was also signed by Dr. Rev. Jim Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches; Rev. Patrick Demmer, Graham Memorial Community Church of God in Christ; and the American Jewish Committee, Colorado.

Stopping SB 1070 Laws from Spreading....

2010-04-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

As the debate over what can be done about SB 1070 continues to generate debate and controversy, other states are now beginning to look at similar laws for their states.

President Obama, who has failed to mount a serious effort to promote comprehensive immigration reform in the Congress, is left with only his bully pulpit and teleprompter. While he did call SB 1070 a misguided attempt by an individual state to enact immigration law, he also ordered his Department of Justice to review whether the law violated the civil rights of potentially many innocent men, women, and children.

In an AP interview, President Obama said that unless the federal government acts in a responsible manner to promote comprehensive immigration reform, it leaves “open the door to irresponsibility by others.”

He said, “That includes, for example, the recent efforts in Arizona, which threatens to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and their communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

Republican leaders have basically shut the door for any legislative cooperation between their party and the Democrats. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who had joined with New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer in writing an immigration framework for possible bipartisan legislation, has said the chances of immigration reform passing this year will not happen and that the issue needed to wait until 2012.

Graham told The Washington Times, “If immigration comes up this year, it’s absolutely devastating to the future of this issue.” He has refused to ask other Republicans to join any bipartisan effort to pass legislation this year.

This self-destructive attitude by the GOP against working for comprehensive immigration reform this year is the final nail in the coffin and Latino voters will remember at the polls the selfish and indignant attitude Republicans have shown toward Latino voters.

So it appears the game of cat and mouse by the Republicans and Democrats has reached an impasse and the lack of any federal effort to enact immigration reform will only encourage and force more states to take action on immigration reform on their own.

As of this date, seven states are contemplating introducing a similar law that recently was signed into law by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Brewer believes the whole controversy over SB 1070 is overblown and will soon pass into obscurity and soon forgotten by the people in Arizona. Yet, by watching the growing momentum in other states, in at least evaluating voter interest in this law, it does not appear the idea of SB 1070 is going to go away quietly.

Republican candidate for governor of Colorado, Scott McInnis said if he were governor of Colorado, he would push a similar law for Colorado. Another Republican running for governor from Georgia said he wants to mirror a similar law for his state. Other states wanting to push this racial and ethnic profiling law include Utah, Maryland, Ohio, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

No, the controversy over SB 1070 is not going to go away without a battle and a very divisive debate and political discussion at water coolers across America. It is unfortunate that the proponents of SB 1070 refuse to acknowledge that this bill is strictly a bill that is based solely on racial and ethnic profiling as the only means by which to enforce the legal status of any person “driving while brown” in Arizona.

When a reporter asked Governor Brewer if she could define what an undocumented immigrant looked like, she said no, but it was obvious that she was not going to give an honest reply to the question, even if she knew the answer. But the question remains, what exactly does an undocumented immigrant look like? Unfortunately, other states are preparing to try and answer that question with legislation of their own and debating if perhaps the color of shoes ought to be part of the racial profile.

So while we plan marches and possible boycotts of Arizona, if we do not impress upon the President the urgent need for the federal government to move forward on passing comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year, we may end up boycotting more states if they move forward with their own plans to enact twin SB 1070 bills.

What is simply appalling is the fact that more states are even considering passing legislation that is based on racial and ethnic profiling. It is even shocking that more Americans do not see anything wrong in considering passing more hate and fear bills like SB 1070. It is as if we have lost our way and have forgotten that as a nation that stands as a model for democracy around the world, we cannot ignore issues of justice and laws that violate the basic core values of civil rights.

All of the analogies of Nazi Germany and the yellow stars forced upon Jews, the rounding up of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor and detaining them in internment camps far from their homes and friends, and similar government efforts like “Operation Wetback” when anyone who looked like a Mexican was deported, seem to have been forgotten and erased from our collective memories.

Can you imagine having our government use “Operation Wetback” as a relocation effort to get rid of undocumented immigrants today?

Unfortunately, like the situation back in the 1950’s, many Latino American citizens will find themselves on the wrong side of the border simply because they “looked like illegal immigrants.”

If we expect to see dramatic changes that are needed in our government today, we must pray and fast and ask for Godly leaders who will have the courage to speak up for justice and righteousness.

In a recent national teleconference, Conservative Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform called upon the President and the Congress to move forward without delay on immigration reform.

At the present time, the Schumer/Graham immigration framework is not an acceptable alternative to fix the broken immigration laws and system we have in place now.

The Schumer/Graham framework is heavily weighted in more border security and militarizing the border. The biometric Social Security card is another bad proposal for institutionalizing a big brother national ID card, and increased “interior immigration enforcement” is code for more raids on families and further destruction of the Latino family cultural value.

The immigration system and laws in place today are simply outdated, unconstitutional, and were put in the law books based on the special interests of big business, right wing political interests, and cultural values and morals based on the racist and bigotry of the 1950’s.

I would like to think we have come a long way from a strictly ugly and racist past. It is time to revisit the broken immigration system and put in its place a systemic overhaul of comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the needs of our economy, our national security concerns, and for ensuring the long term preservation of a work force that can contribute to meeting the needs of Social Security and pension plans by being paid a fair wage, treated with respect and a sense of fair play, and that offers any undocumented immigrant the privilege of becoming an American citizen.

More than ever, let’s put a stop to the ugliness and hate of SB 1070 by not passing any more of hate and fear bills in other states. Let us reason together and as a nation and people of justice, let us say with a collective “NO” to any more divisive and hate oriented laws intended to racially and ethnically punish and profile Latinos and undocumented immigrants.

Pray we must, but as stewards of representative democracy, let’s make sure our prayers certify that we act justly, that we love mercy, and that we walk humbly before our God. Engraving these principles and values in our minds, our souls, our hearts, and in our spirits will ensure that as people of faith, we can fight to overcome any evil attempt to replicate SB 1070 in any more states.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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And They Will Know Us by Our Love.....

2010-04-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

All across the country, the controversy and condemnation over SB 1070 continues to grow since Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed one of the most misguided state attempts at legislating immigration reform.

With the signing of SB 1070, undocumented families now face the real prospect of being stopped and questioned by the police over their immigration status. “Reasonable suspicion” will be the standard used by police to stop and question suspects. Now based on the visual ethnic and racial profiling standards, looking like an undocumented immigrant will be sufficient reason to be stopped, questioned, convicted, and deported.

Father Donald Bahlinger, of the Arizona pastoral care ministry, Kino Border Initiative, believes SB 1070 in the days ahead, will force more families without proper documentation to make the decision to flee the climate of hate and fear becoming so prevalent in Arizona. Families will begin looking to other states where immigration enforcement may not yet have reached the intensity and degree of hate, panic, and fear as it has in Arizona.

The Kino Border Initiative is an immigrant humanitarian effort sponsored by people of faith and “provides immediate and pastoral accompaniment to immigrants” recently deported from the USA back to Mexico. They also provide housing and shelter for unaccompanied women and children who are targets for human trafficking and extremely vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

In speaking with Father Bahlinger, it is clear he understands the complexities and the consequences of a failed immigration system that is broken and focuses on separating and destroying families.

The heavy-handed enforcement of immigration laws by the Obama Administration has forced immigrants and families stranded far from home and relatives with few options for finding shelter, food, or a place safe from exploitation and fear.

The Kino Border Initiative provides a proven faith based strategy and ministry in providing pastoral care to undocumented immigrants in need of a temporary place of shelter, food, or place of sanctuary for their families.

If the prophetic voice of Father Bahlinger becomes a reality, people of faith across our country will need to draw upon their faith and humanitarian values to reach out to provide pastoral care and ministry to families seeking places of sanctuary and safety.

The need to meet the temporary assistance for families will not only allow people of faith to practice the values and beliefs of their faith, it will also challenge the Church to exemplify the teachings of Christ toward helping the stranger in our land.

The Colorado Immigration Rights Coalition was right on target in convening a meeting for people of faith from across our state to begin to consider a pastoral ministry framework prepared to meet the temporary needs of families fleeing the animosity and trepidation felt in Arizona.

I believe we must look to the leadership of faith leaders like Father Bahlinger to guide our efforts in assisting undocumented immigrants affected by SB 1070 and which clearly violates the civil rights of a group of people based solely on a racial or ethnic profile.

We must remember that as people of conviction and faith, we must provide pastoral accompaniment for the victims affected by this hate-inspired law which has created so many undesirable consequences in destroying families and homes of so many undocumented immigrants.

It is incumbent that we now come together as a community of faith and inspired by our faith, be prepared for the pastoral care and ministry to families who may find themselves in need of our love and care.

While we come together to provide shelter, pastoral care and sanctuary for immigrant families, we also call upon President Obama and the Congress to remember as they debate comprehensive immigration reform, that any proposed legislation or framework must keep as the paramount theme, we are dealing with the lives of men, women and children and not just the systemic change of laws that in the past has misled us into believing that discrimination, fear, panic, and hopelessness were eliminated.

As people of faith, we will follow the precepts of our faith and the biblical principles that require that we follow the teachings of love, care, and justice.

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6: 8.

May we have the fortitude to move forward together in ensuring that any immigrant family in need may call upon us and learn to know us by our love for them.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
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Boycott Arizona!

2010-04-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya
El Semanario 4/21/2010

The very fact that the Arizona State Legislature would pass SB 1070, a bill that outlaws and criminalizes undocumented immigrants as trespassers, and allows the police to use “reasonable suspicion” to stop and question a person about their legal status even if no other law has been violated is outrageous and immoral.

The worst racist and immoral piece of legislation of our time now sits on the desk of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer waiting for her signature to sign it into law.

In their feeble attempt to fix a broken federal immigration system, SB 1070 only opens the door to outright racial profiling and illegal questioning about a person’s status for being in the State of Arizona. It is frightening to see a legislative body take it upon themselves to outlaw a group of people based only on the fact that they may look like an undocumented immigrant.

This law allows law enforcement officials who have a “reasonable suspicion” to stop and question any person who looks like an “undocumented immigrant” and that may be in the State of Arizona without proper documentation.

No other law has to be violated for the police to stop and question you. It is simply the assumption that because you look like an “undocumented immigrant, you can be stopped, questioned, detained, and most likely deported.

Driving while being Latino will be the only reason the police can pull your over in Arizona. You don’t have to break any traffic or minor violations, just simply look the part of an undocumented immigrant.

The worst implications of this law are that it legalizes racial profiling and is targeted at anyone who looks Latino. If a police officer just suspects you look illegal, he will have the law on his side to stop and question your right to be in Arizona. It is the most outlandish, immoral, and illegal violation of our Constitutional rights.

Governor Brewer needs to veto SB 1070 and put an end to this legislative nightmare.

It may be if you are visiting in Arizona, you may need to wear a yellow star on your coat so that law enforcement officials will know of your status in the country. Hitler forced the Jews to wear these yellow stars so that they could be easily identified, intimidated, and sent to concentration camps.

Here we find ourselves in the 21st century in a neighboring state, which has passed a law that will deport anyone who looks like an undocumented immigrant and who is believed to be trespassing” and who will be required to carry the proper documents to prove ones legal status. Unbelievable!

By giving police the right of “reasonable suspicion” to stop you and question you, it will legalize racial profiling and lead to further police abuse and misconduct. It is wrong, it is immoral, and it is racism at its worst. It must not be signed into law and Governor Brewer must veto it.

On the other hand if Governor Brewer refuses to listen to reason and understand why we are demanding that SB 1070 be vetoed, a BOYCOTT of any business or vacation trip to Arizona will become our weapon of choice.

If the Arizona Legislature believes it can pass such a heinous law, and Governor Brewer believes she can sign it into law and not face any repercussions, they are sadly mistaken. The day SB 1070 becomes law will the first day of a national boycott of this state. Across this nation, people of good conscience and moral values will need to make it clear that all business and vacation visits to Arizona will stop.

Tourism is big business in Arizona and we will ask Americans across this country to boycott any trips to the Grand Canyon state. We can bring this state legislature and those who voted to create a climate of fear and panic in Arizona to their knees. If Governor Brewer does not veto this bill, I can guarantee a national boycott of Arizona will break the state budget and make the governor understand the implications of her signing this bill.

We can condemn the actions of the legislature, we can condemn the Governor if she refuses to veto the bill, and we can complain all we want about how immoral and racist this bill is, but unless we make a major decision to boycott this state and impact the budget and economy of this state, nothing will happen.

We call upon Governor Brewer to veto SB 1070 and condemn this bill for its attempt to outlaw a group of people who merely want a better life, or Governor, be prepared to face the biggest and most damaging boycott in the history of Arizona.

We too have economic weapons that can be used to bring the racist state assembly to the realization that SB 1070 is not only a bad bill, an immoral bill, an illegal bill, and one that might carry with it if it is not vetoed a big bill of financial loss to the State of Arizona.

Boycott Arizona starting today, and perhaps Governor Jan Brewer will see the illegality of this bill and veto SB 1070.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA - TV Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972. He serves on the Executive Council for the Hispanic Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

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It Is Time to VETO Arizona SB 1070

2010-04-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

It is time that members of the Latino Evangelical leadership call upon Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to veto SB 1070. This bill is one of the worst anti- immigrant bills recently passed by the Arizona State Legislature. It is a racially targeted bill aimed at anyone in Arizona who looks like an undocumented immigrant.

SB 1070 will criminalize every undocumented immigrant in Arizona as "trespassers" and will legalize racial profiling by police who have a "reasonable suspicion" that someone may be in the state without the proper documentation to provide their legal status.

In other words, the police will have the authority to stop anyone who is "Latino-looking" who they may suspect is an undocumented immigrant. If you are not carrying the proper documentation to prove your citizenship to the USA, or as a legal documented immigrant, you will be subject to being stopped by the police even if you have not violated any laws. The police will be able to stop you merely to perform an "immigration status check."

It is time the Latino Evangelical Church called upon the governor of Arizona to veto this bill which will exacerbate racial profiling. It is the worst bill on racial profiling ever passed in the United States.

The time to voice our opposition to SB 1070 is now! We cannot afford to wait and see what the repercussions may be when this bill is signed. Even if you are not a citizen of Arizona, you must voice your opposition to this vile bill. It is a bill that will discriminate against any person who police may have "reasonable suspicion" to stop you.

If you are visiting or conducting business in Arizona, the police will have the right to stop you even if you have not committed any violation of any law simply to check your immigration status.

It is a bill that Hitler would have loved to sign and see implemented.

SB 1070 will allow the police to do the following:

Criminalize all undocumented immigrants as "trespassers" in the state of Arizona. SB 1070 would subject all undocumented workers and their families to arrest and conviction for misdemeanors and in some cases felony charges for the new crime of "trespass" (reminiscent of HR 4437, the 2005 'Sensenbrenner bill').

Legalize unchecked racial profiling by police of anyone they "suspect" is undocumented.

Give police the authority to enforce federal immigration law and arrest people who cannot produce identification proving their legal residency in the U.S.

Give police the power to investigate and entrap employers for hiring undocumented workers.
Make seeking work illegal for day laborers and force all individuals, regardless of immigration status or citizenship, to carry identification papers or be subjected to detention and even deportation. Public agencies and service providers would have authority to demand identification documents from any person.

It is time to demand Arizona Governor Jan Brewer VETO this bill. The "immigration framework" recently introduced by Senator Schumer and Lindsey Graham last month and supported by President Barack Obama will allow the same kind of immigration enforcement as SB 1070. By calling for the VETO of SB 1070, we can send a strong message to the Congress that we will not accept this type of legislation, state or federal.

We cannot allow the "criminalization of immigrants" to become the law of the land.

The Schumer/Graham framework also "promises to 'fill gaps in apprehension capabilities' that will likely lead to the use of local police nationally to terrorize immigrant communities." By demanding that that SB 1070 be vetoed, we send a message to Senators Graham and Schumer that we do not support their "immigration framework" as well.

The VETO of this bill will let the President understand we will not stand idly by as laws are passed that criminalize immigrants and give the police the right to stop anyone who fits a racial profile of an "undocumented immigrant."

Go to this link http://presente.org/campaigns/arizona_a/org/nnirran and tell Gov. Brewer to VETO SB 1070 . Do it today!

It is time our voices are heard and time the Latino Evangelical Church assumed the leadership for demanding justice and righteousness.
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.
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Are we Ready to March Seven Times?

2010-04-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Once again the Obama Administration has shown its contempt for the Latino community and its lack of political will to fix the immigration reform problem facings our country. In an obvious show of Para-military might, President Obama allowed over 800 police and law enforcement agents of ICE and other federal law enforcement agencies to conduct a series of raids throughout Arizona.

Reports from the areas raided describe a frightening scene as federal, state, and local police moving in to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants who allegedly were involved in illegal human trafficking of undocumented immigrants in the shuttle service industry.

Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos called the federal raids “a massive show of force, with helicopters, dozens of agents, police vehicles, and weapons, assaulting our community in a fashion never seen before.” A show of force whose sole intention was only to intimidate, create fear and panic.

These raids are rapidly becoming the calling card of the Obama’s Administration efforts to enforce old and antiqued immigration laws. Instead of pushing for reform, we find the President more comfortable recycling the brutal enforcement polices of the Bush Administration.

President Obama who recently claimed to support the Schumer/Graham framework for immigration reform has allowed the federal government to use all of its enforcement tactics and arsenal to continue to crack down on undocumented immigrants. In fact, this administration has a worse human rights record than that of the Bush Administration when it comes to immigration enforcement and treatment.

Senator Harry Reid’s claim last week to have 56 votes in the United States Senate to move immigration reform forward seem to ring hallow compared to the Obama’s Administration’s show of disrespect to the Latino community by allowing over 800 law enforcement agents to descend on places of employment and disrupt and destroy innocent families and personal lives.

The President who claimed to have as a national key priority the issue of immigration reform has simply allowed the Department Of Homeland Security to become the Department of Fear and Bigotry.

While our President claims to be on the side of the Latino community in fixing the immigration problem, he has has allowed his Secretary of Homeland Security to become the master oppressor by allowing the largest display of federal law enforcement to suppress and intimidate our community.

Just last week in Dallas, Latino Evangelical faith leaders called upon the President to join with them in fixing the immigration problem. In a fairly soft spoken attempt at trying to rally this President to their side, the soft ball approach to the Obama Administration instead has been answered by what many are calling a complete lack of accountability by the President authorizing one of the largest raids against undocumented immigrants of his administration.

It is time to stop pretending as if this President is going to reward our community for voting for him and that we began to demand accountability of this President’s policies against creating familial separations, destroying families, and endearing itself to the evil forces of bigotry, fear, hate, and discrimination.

We need to stop counting the number of votes given to this President during the last election, and start counting anew the ones that will vote for true change and hope, not broken promises and phrases of false expectations.

While this Administration is quick to condemn the human rights violations of other third world governments, it is time that the American people understand that a government that can and will violate the rights and constitution freedoms of some will not hesitate to use that same force against others. It is time that we stood up and demanded accountability of this President and his polices of oppression.

Immigration reform leaders in Arizona are calling the massive federal raids “a new low in the Obama Administration’s lack accountability.”

We need to send the message to the President and Congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. that we are no longer going to listen to the false promises of immigration reform that come from the shallow halls of government. The half- hearted attempts to placate our efforts to find immigration reform will not be acceptable, and we must demand accountability using the mid-term elections as a means by which to register our displeasure and anger.

In Arizona where the state legislature just recently passed SB1070, a bill that essentially allows any law enforcement official who may have “a reasonable suspicion” to question anyone in the state whom they suspect may not have the proper documents to determine their immigration status is a difficult pill to swallow.

Police will have the right to stop and question anyone even if no other law has been violated. If there is “reasonable suspicion,” that you may not have the proper documentation, racial profiling will become the norm and you will be questioned.

It is under this climate of evil and anti-Latino attitudes that the President Obama ordered the largest single immigration raid in any state. President Obama has allowed governmental bureaucrats to enforce policies of the past, and has refused to implement humane and just policies that do not separate families and create fear and uncertainty in the Latino community.

He has allowed ICE to do as it pleases in enforcing its own misguided interpretation of national immigration policies to arrest, detain, and ultimately deport not hardened criminals, but men and women who support their families and whose sole attempt is to live within the framework of our United States Constitution

It is imperative that Latino Evangelical leaders reevaluate their support of a President who refuses to acknowledge that this country must fix it immigration policies and stop violating the civil rights of Latinos.

When we allow laws that encourage racial profiling and that allow the police to stop and question any person under a racial profiling standard, we are allowing our country to slide rapidly toward the brink of becoming a police state

A few years back, Latino Evangelical pastors refused to acknowledge that we would
be facing laws that allow racial profiling, where police would be raiding homes, where Gestapo type police gangs would raid workers at their jobs, where detention facilities would be big business incarcerating and detaining undocumented immigrants without due process, and where families would be separated and destroyed by our government.

We now know that we live under a government where Gestapo type police raids are becoming the norm, where big business detention contracts are routinely approved by the government without any regard to who is being jailed, where more and more undocumented immigrants in detention are being threatened or intimidated to renounce their right to due process and as a result more immigrants are being deported, and thus allowing a government that instead of nurturing families, is out to destroy them.

The raids in Arizona only demonstrated that unless we come together and demand accountability, we will surely lose this battle against the evil forces of hate and fear.

Yet, once again last week we have found that those who claim to be our friends and allies in this fight for justice and immigration reform do not share our values or beliefs.

How then can our faith leaders pretend that the policies and governance of this President are in agreement with our vision of justice and righteousness? How can we allow this government to destroy more and more families and not raise our voice in opposition to the current policies of this government?

What will it take to create within the Latino Evangelical Church the passion to stand up for ourselves and fight for justice and righteousness?

Perhaps the best summary of the events of the Obama Raid are left to Isabel Garcia of the Tucson-based Coalicion de Derechos Humanos who said, “Instead of bringing in the Department of Justice to investigate the immigration abuses and uphold our rights, the Obama Administration sics the ICE police on our communities.”

And instead of another national gathering in Washington, D.C. to march for immigration reform again, maybe it is time we gathered together instead to demand that this President stop the raids. That he instead commit to join our fight for justice and righteousness by pursuing a policy of finding a solution to the broken immigration system that allows the fiasco that occurred in Arizona to not happen again.

Perhaps it is time that Latino Evangelical leaders take the lead of demanding Presidential accountability and stop meeting in the big house, and instead marched around the walls of the White House seven times, prepared to trumpet our demands of accountability and for righteousness judgment.

Is it time to march seven times around the walls of injustice and fear?

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

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Mr. Obama, Tear Down this Embargo....

2010-04-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Many years ago, back in the early 60’s when my father and mother were the pastors of the Iglesia Cristiana A/D in Farmington, New Mexico; news of the Castro Revolution was sweeping across the country. Back then, it was the Huntley Brinkley newscasts that brought us the news of the nation and world.

The corruption of the government in Cuba was well known. The Mafia and other criminal enterprises had practically free rein in Havana with casinos, drugs, and social clubs. Dictator Fulgencio Batista, allegedly fled Cuba with $300 million in his back pocket as guerilla forces of Fidel Castro pushed the government armed forces aside.

At the time, there was great hope that the Revolution lead by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara would bring change people would embrace and wanted so badly.

During the revolution, Pedrito Torrez was a Latin American District Council missionary in Cuba. Brother Torrez came to our church showing a film of the revolution and expressing great hopes that now Cuba would be free of Batista, and that the Gospel would be able to preached more openly.

Brother Pedrito was here touring our church district council trying to raise funds for his ministry in Cuba. The expectation at the time was Cuba would be a key nation in spreading the Pentecostal message throughout Central and South America. I do remember the great excitement in the air.

Almost as quickly as the armed rebellion ended, Fidel Castro declared Cuba a Communist state and joined Russia as one of its key allies.

Russia jumped at the opportunity to have an ally nation only 90 miles from the shores of the United States. Through several misguided policy blunders after the revolution, the United States only grew further away from Cuba.

As we may know over the years, 50 years or so, the United States has tried through its embargos and political isolationism to break the Castro government. While it is the people may have suffered because of the political attempts to destroy the government of Cuba, Castro has managed to survive the embargo and policy missteps of the USA.

I am not taking a political stand in favor of the Castro government, but Castro in not allowing "capitalism" to influence the will of his government, has shocked American political policy wizards who thought the Cuban government would have collapsed years ago because of the embargo and isolationism.

The debate over the years in our country has always centered on whether or not we should re-establish political relations with Cuba. Cuba does offer an island paradise for tourist trade, for commercial development, business opportunities, and new avenues of communication with the Cuban people. In a short word, Americans have always looked at Cuba through the lens of capitalism.

Still, partly because of the political will of Cubans who were forced to leave everything behind when they fled the Castro Revolution, they have continued to put political pressure on American presidents over the years which have kept the doors to Cuba locked.

Rev. Dennis Rivera, Superintendent, Central Latin American District Council A/G sent me a recent survey which once again opens the debate about lifting the embargo and establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The survey has found that "most Evangelical leaders want the Cuba embargo lifted." Recalling the enthusiasm of the missionary from so many years ago, I can understand today the reason for wanting Cuba open again.

According to the March Evangelical Leaders Survey, 63% of Evangelical leaders want the embargo lifted. That contrasts to a large number of Americans who believe the embargo should not be changed.

The BBC/Harris Poll weighs in on the debate by showing that 40% of Americans support the embargo, while 36% want the embargo lifted. The BBC/Harris Poll was released March 2, 2010.

Evangelical leaders reasons for wanting the embargo lifted are that it has failed over the years to influence the government in Cuba to resist its current policies. The impact on the poor by restricting trade for food and necessary every day goods and services is also given as a reason. But of course, according to the poll, "the potential benefit the lift would have on the spread of the Gospel are the primary reasons Evangelical leaders support the embargo's end."

The Evangelical leaders who do not support lifting the embargo while recognizing the impact it has had on the poor "stressed the value of the embargo's symbolic nature for religious liberty and against the oppression of communism."

It appears the 34% who do not support the lifting of the embargo do so based on political policy and not any spiritual perspective. It is difficult to see the rational when the people of Cuba have suffered not only because of a totalitarian government, but because the USA refuses to acknowledge the pain and suffering our "political policies" have had on the quality of life for Cubans.

Jerry Dykstra, Executive Director for the Christian Reformed Church of North America expressed the reality that the embargo has done little to bring the Cuban government down. "For more than 50 years, the embargo against Cuba has done little to bring freedom, hope, or change to Cuba. It is time to open the door to open trade and visitation. Perhaps opening the door to commerce will open the door once again to the Gospel."

I think I would have stated the reason it is time to open the door to Cuba would have maybe sounded something like this.

"For more than 50 years, the embargo against Cuba has done little to bring freedom, hope, or change to Cuba. It is time to open the door to the Gospel. Perhaps opening the door to the Gospel, it would open trade, visitation and sustained commerce for the Cuban people."

Just a minor tweak on his statement, but certainly having a bigger policy impact if you analysis the two statements.

Wonder which one the Cuban government would accept as the first step to reopening the doors to Cuba?

The Evangelical Leaders Survey, conducted monthly by the National Association of Evangelicals and its Board of Directors includes "the CEOs of denominations and representatives of a broad array of Evangelical organizations including missions, universities, publishers and churches.

The President of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson offered his observations on the strong interest by Evangelicals to unlocking the doors to a Cuba which has endured a political and trade embargo based on political entitlement policies, and which have conveniently ignored the troubling impacts the embargo has had on the people of Cuba.

Anderson says, "American Evangelicals have a special interest in Cuba because of the large and rapid increase in the number of Evangelical churches and believers there over the past decade. We are saddened by economic suffering among Cubans but delight in the spiritual awakening God has brought. The majority of our polled leaders think that lifting the embargo is what is best for the future of all Cubans."

As I look back to those days In Farmington, I recall the enthusiasm of Brother Pedrito who came to visit our church with his old projector and film. His desire to share the Gospel in Cuba seems to have always carried with it the vision and calling to take a message of hope and salvation to the Cuban people. Even in a small congregation of believers so far from Cuba, the spirit of expectation was strong and very hopeful as Brother Pedrito shared his vision for Cuba.

I believe it is time our government revisited the need for this embargo against the people of Cuba. Often times it has been used as a means to discipline and isolate rogue governments, but this embargo has done little to bring down the 50 years of the Castro Revolution.

The United States needs to look back at the policies of this government at the time and acknowledge that we too made policy mistakes and blunders. We need to understand that by placing an embargo on Cuba, we have hurt the people who have been forced to live in poverty and despair. While it would be difficult to justify some of the policies of the Cuban Revolution, I believe it remains far more difficult to continue to endorse and justify the bad policy decisions made by this government in the 1950's.

Even our own President in the1960's was willing to be honest and open about the mistakes and blunders we made as we attempted to influence the Batista and Castro governments in Cuba.

President John F. Kennedy, in an interview with Jean Daniel, executive editor of Le Nouvel Observateur weekly, in October 24, 1963, perhaps gives us reason today to stop and evaluate our bad policy decisions to place the embargo against the Cuban people in the first place.

"I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country's policies during the Batista regime. I approve the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further; to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear."

I agree with the 63% of the Evangelical leaders who believe it time to lift the embargo. It is time for our government to understand, "to some extent it is as though CASTRO was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins."

Perhaps it is time to hear more Latino Evangelical leaders stand at the doors of the White House and proclaimed, "Mr. Obama, tear down this embargo!"

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.
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The flip side of immigration

2010-03-31T20:12:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Regardless of a big ( R ) or a big ( D ) by their name, regardless of President Bush or Obama, this is what our government does to people, people with families, just trying to find a better life. I cannot or will not follow a party because they claim to be for the people. Show me your fruits, show me your concern, show me you care...issues our government does not understand.

Instead like cattle, with chains, they are shipped away to a land many don't even know or understand. Separated from their families without any knowledge of what is happening to those families. And does our government (Obama, Democrats, & Republicans) care?

Truly what is the difference between a Pelosi, Reid, McConnel and Boehner ? We already know the difference between an Obama and Bush. Who really cares about this problem? You cannot convince me that one is better than the other.

Right now, one has the power to stop the raids. One has the power to introduce legislation. "They" passed health care without one single Republican vote, and yet "they" claim immigration reform cannot be introduced without Republican support.

I do no see how Christians cannot see the injustice against these hard working individuals who come "only for a better life...only a better life." Where is the outrage from our leaders and where on the demands on our public officials who claim to be our friends to stop these unjust detentions, deportations, and raids on families?

One of the issues facing Americans is that these people are "brown." Ask anyone on the street, and probably undocumented immigrants will identified as "Mexicans." Why, because they are "brown." No attempt to understand who these people are, and why they have fled their past lives from Spanish speaking countries.

All I see is racism, hatred, fear, bigotry, and a country that continues to "expect" the right of us to do what is demanded of us.

Please read the history of the Southwest. That attitude of entitlement continues today. The fear that these "undocumented immigrants" will vote for the "Democrats" keeps the Tea Party and many members of the GOP from enacting reform. When in reality, most of these undocumented immigrants are probably more moderate and conservative in their values and beliefs. Many would probably make good Republicans.

So be, isn't this what our country is about....?

Please open the link below and watch how we treat people who have come to contribute to the success of this nation and their families.

Deportation: The flip side of immigration

March 29: Experience what it's like to be deported, from the plane and bus rides to thoughts of leaving loved ones behind and heading to a birth country that may not feel like home. Producer: Meredith Birkett. Video editor: Shanon Dell

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/36022667#36022667
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.
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Two Good Senators....

2010-03-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

I read with interest the "framework" on immigration reform submitted by New York Senator Charles Schumer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. Once again, I thought my hopes for true immigration reform were about to become a reality.

We have seen other hopeful pieces of federal legislation that had been proposed in the past, only to read in the details that little were being proposed in terms of how the legislation would affect the undocumented masses. There was plenty in the past pieces of legislation on how to do everything except deal humanely with the people most affected by the legislation. The framework provided by these two good senators is no different.

Again we have little in terms of federal legislation trying to be passed on as "comprehensive immigration reform." While both senators agree "our immigration system is badly broken," they also expressed their "belief that America's security and economic well-being depend on enacting sensible immigration policies."

Sounds a lot like the same ole, same ole baloney from the past.

So now, both senators are only proposing "draft framework for action on immigration," not even a full proposal, much less anything to propose to the Congress. Even President Obama agreed that the Schumer/Graham proposal was a good idea, probably because it didn't commit him to anything.

You will notice that Senator Schumer, the real chief of the "guidelines," and the "draft framework for action on immigration," really has nothing to propose at all. It is the same old "secure the borders and make sure we supply enough low paying jobs to the economy." Nothing in their guidelines to address the injustice and job robbery we have committed against undocumented immigrants in the past.

In essence here is their plan. "Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here."

Do you see anything new here? The "biometric Social Security card" proposal is nothing more than a national ID card pipe dream. The Homeland Security Department has tried different ways to impose a national ID card on Americans. Now they think they have a way around our strong objections to a national ID card.

A "biometric Social Security card" has nothing to do with immigration reform, only as a means by which the Federal Government can track workers.. Much like the question recently sent to you by the Census Bureau asking if you own or rent your home. Whose business is that in the Federal Government?? How does that relate to "the count required every ten years by the government?"

We have heard so much good news on how the E-Verify Employee tracking system is working. Wrong, we have heard how the E-Verify employee tracking system has not been very reliable and how hard working individuals are being denied good employment because some federal tracking plan is not very reliable or can actually track who should or should not be working in country. Now we are going to be given a "new biometric Social Security card" that is going to be one of the pillars for comprehensive reform.

The two good senators also expect that "fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement" will be key in their immigration proposal. That doesn't sound very original either.

What these two senators are proposing is ridiculous and only means increasing ICE type enforcement in our country. "Interior enforcement?" What does that mean? It sounds like they are going to continue to separate and destroy families by increased detention and deportations and do it legally under a new comprehensive immigration law.

Our government already detains over 34,000 undocumented immigrants in detentions every single day. Our government continues to contract with private prison vendors to build and manage these jails we have built claiming they will provide us security and safety by eliminating the criminal elements associated with illegal immigration

The Obama Administration in its first year has already deported more than 120,000 fathers, mothers, and children than the Bush Administration did in it last year in power. And now our good senators want tougher "interior enforcement"? Is that something you really want? Do you really think all the people in immigration detention are the bad criminals ICE says they are?

I am not so sure I like the way the two good senators propose fixing the border issues. After spending billions of dollars on a border fence that only covers about half of the 2000 mile border with Mexico, our two good senators want to continue to pour billions more on border security. They propose, "We would bolster recent efforts to secure our borders by increasing the Border Patrol's staffing and funding for infrastructure and technology. More personnel would be deployed to the border immediately to fill gaps in apprehension capabilities."

Where have these two good senators been for the last ten years? The Bush Administration added thousands of Border Patrol agents to the border. He even assigned thousands of National Guard troops to the border, along with his hundreds of volunteer border vigilantes who stood guard on the border. Now these two good senators feel the billions spent on the Bush border wall was a waste of money and we need to spend more money on border security that only bleeds more illicit drugs and gang violence into our country?

Even I know the tactical strategy for fighting the drug war along our southern border with Mexico should be different than trying to run down undocumented immigrants who come here for a better job. We are facing two different entry strategies - one with good consequences, and the other that has created a violent war zone between Mexico and the United States over illicit drugs.

Applying the same amount of federal dollars "securing our border" should have different distinct strategies trying to prevent the hard working immigrant from crossing the border, and preventing the Mexican cartels from delivering billions of dollars in drugs to the American consumer. Maybe better interior enforcement of selling illicit drugs and human trafficking would solve a big part of the criminal element the two good senators want to capture?

I wonder if the two good senators have ever heard of the "system of supply and demand." The only reason these drug cartels are killing innocent men, women, and children is for the right to export illicit drugs to the American consumer. Yes indeed, the user who lives in the belt way, the high end condos and apartments, the rich neighborhoods, and who have the billions to spend on drug related trips away from reality?

While I may partly agree with the zero tolerance strategy to capture, detain, and deport criminals, we have seen how this policy has not worked very well under the Obama Administration. In fact, interior enforcement is stronger today than under President Bush. It is just good politicking to be for "zero tolerance."

Our two good senators are trying to sell this "new enforcement strategy" under the guise of a new proposal on immigration reform. Here is what they propose, as a way of securing "our interior." "Other steps include expanding domestic enforcement to better apprehend and deport those who commit crimes and completing an entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases."

Did you know that over 50% of the undocumented immigrants in our country over stay their legal visa? It is not the scene ICE likes to paint. ICE likes to portray their job as tracking down hundreds of thousands crossing the border every day and thus the need for more Border Patrol agents, more high tech surveillance, and miles more of a fence proven to be inadequate for the job.

Most of the people who fall into the category of "illegal alien," and "overstay their visas" are good people who want a new life here. They are not criminals as the two good senators would have you believe. We all are for "a zero-tolerance policy for gang members, smugglers, terrorists and those who commit other felonies after coming here illegally." The problem is the agencies involved in enforcement cannot tell the difference between "gang member, smugglers, and terrorists who commit other felonies after coming here illegally."

You have heard the expression, "Well, they all look alike." So under that false premise, ICE fills the detention centers with "criminals," in other words, just using a criminal and racial profiling kit to detain and deport hundreds of good fathers, mothers, and families under a zero tolerance that does not allow for questioning who ICE may have in their jails. I would challenge you to see what the "criminal profile" looks like in your local ICE and privately contracted detention center.

If they intend is to track down people who overstay their legal visas, and create a new "entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases," then look out for the need for more privately controlled detention centers that have forgotten the United States Constitution is still the law of the land.

Then look for more enforcement raids at the homes of people who have overstayed their visas. Look for local enforcement to bemoan the fact that they must now stop, detain, and report to ICE any good hard working individual because they may have overstayed their visas.

Please stop and consider for a moment. More momentum being built by the "framework or guidelines" for immigration control by these two good senators is only going to create a more suspicious and hate filled political environment in our country. Now everyone will be suspect..and trust me, this will only give law enforcement a free rein on racial profiling.

Their proposal to create a new process for allowing low income workers, I mean temporary workers, into the country, means a "new Bracero problem, I mean program." We have seen how manufacturing, farming, and the service industry have treated temporary workers. By providing a new process for allowing these low income workers in the country, will that include protections against abuse, robbery, housing, and assurances of a living wage? Or does this new process just mean more of the same?

Read the incentive for doing a good job, "Our framework would facilitate this desired circular migration by allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can show they were unsuccessful in recruiting an American to fill an open position; allowing more lower-skilled immigrants to come here when our economy is creating jobs and fewer in a recession; and permitting workers who have succeeded in the workplace, and contributed to their communities over many years, the chance to earn a green card ."

I must admit I find it humorous that the two good senators would propose a "tough but fair path forward" for the 11 million undocumented immigrants still in our country. They are quick to show that 1 million have left the country in the last year, but can't conduct an American census without first overspending more than 14 million dollars so far (and still don't have a reliable count).

The undocumented immigrants would have to admit they are criminals for crossing the border. They would have to pay back taxes, which I thought millions were already doing, and still not being able to apply for medical or social needs?

They would have to perform hundreds of hours of community service, or just another way to allow them to continue to work for free or low end wages.

But wait; here is what really shows me these two good senators have no grasp of reality. They propose, "These people would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before going to the back of the line of prospective immigrants to earn the opportunity to work toward lawful permanent residence."

They must pass a background check, after spending years in the United States doing whatever was necessary to destroy any documents or evidence they were living in the shadows of America illegally.

Must be proficient in English? Does that mean being able to say, "Wait a minute? I worked 56 hours this week, and you owe me for 56 hours of work?" "Or you promised to pay me $12 an hour to do this work, now you want to pay me $8 because you think I will not report you to the authorities? Or probably the most classic question being asked today, "What do you mean you are not going to pay me for the work I did for you because you know I am undocumented immigrant?"

If the two good senators added up all the work not paid or underpaid to today's hard working undocumented workers, they would be adding to their framework proposal for repayment to undocumented immigrants for work well done, not more community service or more in "back taxes."

I trust our Latino Evangelical leaders will not fall in the false trap of "immigration is at hand." It is not, if we are to follow the two good senators "framework for immigration reform."

As far as I am concerned, the proof is in the details. I have seen no reason to celebrate a proposed guideline for reform, one from a New York Senator, and the other from a Republican Senator. Show me the money should be our cry. Show me the details.

If our Evangelical leadership does not stand up against this false pretense that immigration is at hand, and condemn the lies of this Administration and United States Representatives and Senators, then please don't show up on the stage on Sunday, March 21st and claim immigration reform is at hand. Please don't join the liars from the government. And yes, we will be watching and listening to your speeches. Be fair, but don't lie about immigration reform being at hand, because it is not!

You know what the facts are back home in the barrio, in the local Evangelical church, in the schools back home, or on the job situation. Reading the guidelines proposed by Senators Graham & Schumer, and supported by President Obama should be enough to call for the immigration reform train to stop right now.

We will not accept your piecemeal approach to comprehensive immigration reform. We do not accept your premise that our people are bad people and thus must pay fines, do community service, and deny their culture by making them stop using Spanish to become American citizens.

I suppose if we closed the southern border tight, and allowed immigrants seeking a better life to pass by the Statue of Liberty, they would be worthy to be American citizens. Then they too could say, "¡Gloria a Dios! Hemos llegado a la tierra donde fluyen leche y miel. Siento un inmenso orgullo y es un grab honor estar aquí. Me siento como un ciudadano estadounidense, muy orgulloso. Nuestro hogar está ahora en la tierra de la tranquilidad, la justicia y la paz."

( "Glory to God, we have arrived to the land of milk and honey. I am so full of pride and honor to be here. I feel like an American citizen...so proud. We are home to a land of tranquility, justice, and peace." )

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

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The New York Times

By Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey O. Graham
Friday, March 19, 2010

Our immigration system is badly broken. Although our borders have become far more secure in recent years, too many people seeking illegal entry get through. We have no way to track whether the millions who enter the United States on valid visas each year leave when they are supposed to. And employers are burdened by a complicated system for verifying workers' immigration status.

Last week we met with President Obama to discuss our draft framework for action on immigration. We expressed our belief that America's security and economic well-being depend on enacting sensible immigration policies.

The answer is simple: Americans overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration and support legal immigration. Throughout our history, immigrants have contributed to making this country more vibrant and economically dynamic. Once it is clear that in 20 years our nation will not again confront the specter of another 11 million people coming here illegally, Americans will embrace more welcoming immigration policies.

Our plan has four pillars: requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get jobs; fulfilling and strengthening our commitments on border security and interior enforcement; creating a process for admitting temporary workers; and implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here.

Besides border security, ending illegal immigration will also require an effective employment verification system that holds employers accountable for hiring illegal workers. A tamper-proof ID system would dramatically decrease illegal immigration, experts have said, and would reduce the government revenue lost when employers and workers here illegally fail to pay taxes.

We would require all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who want jobs to obtain a high-tech, fraud-proof Social Security card. Each card's unique biometric identifier would be stored only on the card; no government database would house everyone's information. The cards would not contain any private information, medical information or tracking devices. The card would be a high-tech version of the Social Security card that citizens already have.

Prospective employers would be responsible for swiping the cards through a machine to confirm a person's identity and immigration status. Employers who refused to swipe the card or who otherwise knowingly hired unauthorized workers would face stiff fines and, for repeat offenses, prison sentences.

We propose a zero-tolerance policy for gang members, smugglers, terrorists and those who commit other felonies after coming here illegally. We would bolster recent efforts to secure our borders by increasing the Border Patrol's staffing and funding for infrastructure and technology. More personnel would be deployed to the border immediately to fill gaps in apprehension capabilities.

Other steps include expanding domestic enforcement to better apprehend and deport those who commit crimes and completing an entry-exit system that tracks people who enter the United States on legal visas and reports those who overstay their visas to law enforcement databases.

Ending illegal immigration, however, cannot be the sole objective of reform. Developing a rational legal immigration system is essential to ensuring America's future economic prosperity.

Ensuring economic prosperity requires attracting the world's best and brightest. Our legislation would award green cards to immigrants who receive a PhD or master's degree in science, technology, engineering or math from a U.S. university. It makes no sense to educate the world's future inventors and entrepreneurs and then force them to leave when they are able to contribute to our economy.

Our blueprint also creates a rational system for admitting lower-skilled workers. Our current system prohibits lower-skilled immigrants from coming here to earn money and then returning home. Our framework would facilitate this desired circular migration by allowing employers to hire immigrants if they can show they were unsuccessful in recruiting an American to fill an open position; allowing more lower-skilled immigrants to come here when our economy is creating jobs and fewer in a recession; and permitting workers who have succeeded in the workplace, and contributed to their communities over many years, the chance to earn a green card.

For the 11 million immigrants already in this country illegally, we would provide a tough but fair path forward. They would be required to admit they broke the law and to pay their debt to society by performing community service and paying fines and back taxes. These people would be required to pass background checks and be proficient in English before going to the back of the line of prospective immigrants to earn the opportunity to work toward lawful permanent residence.

The American people deserve more than empty rhetoric and impractical calls for mass deportation. We urge the public and our colleagues to join our bipartisan efforts in enacting these reforms.

Charles E. Schumer is a Democratic senator from New York. Lindsey O. Graham is a Republican senator from South Carolina.

IRAN CONTINUES PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS -- AG PASTOR TORTURED

2010-03-13T00:48:00.001-08:00

Here is a sad and very disturbing news story about how Christians are being persecuted and killed because of their Christian beliefs in Iran. I trust you will remember this story the next time you hear someone call for "understanding and tolerance," for people who may have different core values and religious beliefs.

At some point, we must stand fast and remain loyal to our beliefs and the core religious values that separate us from the vicious and hate filled people who would rather create confusion, fear and not care about destroying the lives of Christians. Pastor Wilson Issavi stands as the Daniel of the 21st century. Pastor Issavi needs our prayers for protection and deliverance from the evil rulers of Iran.

Blessings/Bendiciones,
Butch Montoya

**IRAN CONTINUES PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS -- AG PASTOR TORTURED

Wilson Issavi, 65, pastor of The Evangelical Church of Kermanshah (Assemblies of God) in Isfahan, Iran, was arrested on February 2, 2010, by Iranian State Security shortly after he concluded a house meeting. According to Farsi Christian News Network, Issavi's wife, Medline Nazanin, says her imprisoned husband is currently in poor condition and shows obvious signs of torture.

The Iranian government has accused Issavi of "converting Muslims" a crime punishable by death under Islamic law and is holding him in an unmarked prison. Iranian intelligence officials told Nazanin her husband may be executed for his alleged actions.

"There's no casual Christianity in Iran," states Omar Belier, AG World Missions regional director for Eurasia. "Faith in Christ can result in some form of persecution, with imprisonment and even death being possible. These brothers and sisters in Christ desperately need our prayers not only for protection, but for the Holy Spirit to continue to move in that land and transform lives."

Isfahan, located about 200 miles south of Tehran, currently appears to be targeted by the Iranian government. Several Christian and other religious leaders have been arrested since Issavi was taken captive some whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Issavi's church, which has been active for 50 years, focused on ministering to the local Assyrian community. However, it was shut down by the government in early January. Since that time, Issavi had been conducting services in homes around Isfahan.

According to the 2009 International Religious Freedom report issued by the U.S. Department of State, there are an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Assyrian Christians living in Iran and an estimated 300,000 Christians overall. However, that estimate appears to be shrinking on a daily basis as persecution increases.

In the testimony of Leonard Leo, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that was given before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on February 25, 2010, USCIRF continues to recommend Iran be named a "country of particular concern" (CPC) for engaging in systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedoms. Iran has earned this dubious distinction every year since the creation of the International
Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

According to Leo, "Since 2005, the Iranian government has intensified its campaign against non-Muslim religious minorities. A consistent stream of virulent and inflammatory statements by political and religious leaders and an increase in harassment and imprisonment of, and physical attacks against, these groups indicate a renewal of the kind of oppression seen in the years immediately following the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s.

"Christians, particularly Evangelical and other Protestants, in Iran continue to be subject to harassment, arrests, close surveillance and imprisonment," Leo testified, "many [Christians] are reported to have fled the country."

On a note of another concern, Leo reported that "official policies promoting anti-Semitism are on the rise in Iran." Stating that the Iranian president and other top political and clerical leaders have publicly denied the existence of the Holocaust, Leo says that the government even sponsored a Holocaust denial conference.

Following the testimony, Leo and the USCIRF urged the U.S. government to take further action against Iranian government officials who have engaged in particularly "severe religious freedom violations."

To read the full report, visit:
http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2997

--AG News

Fool me once...shame on - shame on you

2010-03-10T15:23:00.000-08:00

by Fidel "Butch" Montoya

“But one thing they never believed in their wildest dreams is that President Obama would have a record like this, where he surpassed the Bush administration in deportations,” Wilkes said. “It is unconscionable to have over 387,000 deported in the first year of an Obama presidency, and our community is angry.”

These are the words of Brent Wilkes, executive national director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, who recalled the words of candidate Obama who promised to include immigration reform in his first year as President.

Not only has LUCAC, one of our country’s most respected Latino civil rights groups, been deceived, but more and more Latinos are coming to the realization that Candidate Obama is not President Obama. Candidate Obama promised to push reform, and President Obama has forgotten his promise.

It is hard to believe that under the Obama Administration, more families of undocumented immigrants have been separated and deported. On any given day, more than 32,000 immigrants are in detention under President Obama.

For a community that believed Candidate Obama, and supported him with over 70% of their votes, the Latino community has been sorely disappointed and hurt by the promises made by Barack Obama while he was a candidate.

Over 5.5 million U. S. citizen children have at least one parent who is undocumented immigrant. The Obama Administration is responsible for more undocumented immigrants being detained and deported while creating families that are now separated facing undo hardship and heartache.

The Obama Administration has no shame when it comes to destroying families by deporting them, but what is worst, is the number of undocumented immigrants who have committed no crime other than a civil violation of illegally crossing the border. Undocumented immigrants are being held for a civil violation no more serious than running a red light or failure to stop at a stop sign.

Pramila Jayapal, the executive director of the Seattle-based OneAmerica Group believes the Obama Administration “seems proud to out-enforce the Bush Administration.” Why has President Obama taken a hard line on enforcement when he promised to address this issue in his first year as President and to do it in a more humane fashion?

We were deceived by Candidate Obama when he promised to deal more humanely with the issue of undocumented families being separated, detained, and deported. In fact, during the last year of the Bush Administration, his administration deported 120,000 less undocumented immigrants than the total 387,000 deported by President Obama in his first year.

Wilkes says our community is angry about being lied to about the immigration policy Candidate Obama promised he would follow as President. His Administration has been far more enforcement heavy than any Latino civil rights group could have imagined. But is being angry enough?

Under pressure of the March 21st demonstration planned for Washington, D.C., President Obama finally met with New York Senator Chuck Schumer and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham about the federal legislation they are working on.

While this was a good PR move, no one seems to know what the Schumer/Graham immigration reform legislation will look like. Will this be a case where immigration reformers are so desperate to see a reform bill go forward that they will accept whatever Schumer/Graham proposes?

Much like the Gutiérrez CIR-ASAP bill which many Latino immigration reform activists claim is enforcement heavy and have refused to support. Will this be the same situation with the Schumer/Graham attempt at immigration reform as well?

How can we support federal legislation on comprehensive immigration reform if we don’t know what is in the bill?

As the thousands gather for the March 21st Comprehensive Immigration Reform demonstration in Washington, D.C., let’s hope they don’t endorse any federal legislation that Schumer/Graham and President Obama propose unless we have had an opportunity to weigh in on the specifics of the bill.

Just because we want comprehensive immigration reform now, doesn’t mean we should accept anything handed to us. For those who attend the March 21st demonstration, go slow….and let’s make sure we don’t accept “just any immigration bill” just because we are desperate for reform.

After the promises made by Candidate Obama, let’s make sure we do not just accept his word anymore. We need to make sure our concerns and issues are included in any federal legislation on comprehensive immigration reform and we do that by making sure our fingerprints are all over any proposed reform bill.

What did President Bush say once? “There’s an old saying in Tennessee – I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.”

We know what he meant.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Immigration Reform Losing Steam?

2010-02-22T19:23:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

While it appears the immigration reform movement has stalled in Washington, there are some who claim that the immigration reform movement is actually getting stronger, while others will argue that the movement is not as organized and united as some allege. The fact is that the reform movement across the country is losing steam and taking second place to the unemployment crisis in the Latino community.

When people cannot put beard and butter on the table for their own families, the urgent need for one's own survival becomes the priority. It is unfortunate, but the veracity of the Great Recession is a fact for many Latino families. Immigration reform while an crucial issue for the Latino community, it is taking a back seat when the issues become foreclosure, need for food and ability to pay one's bills such as light, water, and heat.

“An estimated 1.3 million Latino families will lose their homes to foreclosure between 2009 and 2012,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the NCLR. In a NCLR report, it outlines how foreclosures are affecting the stability of Latino homeowners, and the long term effects of losing one’s home in the Latino community. “This represents a shocking loss of wealth and a major blow to community stability. This study brings to light the human and social costs of foreclosure and the urgent need for stronger government intervention to help homeowners, including those who are unemployed.” NCLR reports that 8 million homeowners are behind in their mortgage payments and about 400,000 Latino families were expected to lose their homes to foreclosure as of 2009.

The extremely cold and wet winter so far this year is also taking its toll on many Latino families. Winter has been particularly hard on those workers who are dependent on jobs that have been adversely affected by the wintery storms that have hit across the USA. Those who depend on hourly pay have been the hardest hit by the long winter.

Just two weeks ago, Keith Hall, commissioner of the US Labor of Bureau Statistics reported to the Congress that although the unemployment rate in January was 9.7 percent, that statistic in fact is masking the high unemployment in other areas. Since the start of the Great Recession in December of 2007, over 8 million jobs have been lost. Financial pundits are now saying it is going to take five or more years to create new jobs to replace those lost.

While many financial analysts tried to paint a positive picture, claiming that the unemployment rate was dropping....10 percent to 9.7 percent, it is hard to find any positive news in the US Labor of Bureau Statistics report when in fact the Latino community continues to face high unemployment rates. The report stated in very clear terms that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Latino households compared to non-Latino Whites continued to push double digits. For Latino households, unemployment was estimated at 12.6 percent compared to 8.7 percent for non-Latino Whites.

In one startling statistic, the high unemployment rate in the Latino community shows the severity of the effects of the Great Recession. The report stated that 2,849,000 Latinos remained unemployed in January 2010 and that these people "represented 30.6 percent of the total unemployed in the US." If that one statistic does not demonstrate why immigration reform is rapidly losing its place as the priority issue facing the Latino community, some people are obviously being blinded by the facts. The growing problem of unemployment is taking a hard toll for Latino workers and their families.

In fact from January 2009 to this past January 2010, the unemployment rate for Latinos went from 9.9 percent to 12.6 percent. The unemployment breakout is equally disappointing and frightening for our community. "Among Latino adults (ages 20 and over), the unemployment rate for Latino women in January was 11.5 percent. For Latino men, the unemployment rate was 13.8 percent." For teenage Latinos, (ages 16 to 19), 37.8 percent were unemployed!

The unemployment statistic for the Black community is even worse, with 16.5 percent remaining unemployed. In fact for both Latino and Black communities, the unemployment rate no doubt will continue to go up.

The lack of job creation is one factor that is threatening any hopes for recovery in the economy. We are facing a bleak future unless the Congress can come up with a bill that will stimulate job growth. Even now, we are finding that the partisan atmosphere in Washington is killing any agreement that the Congress can stop fighting amongst themselves to work for the common good.

While one can claim that the comprehensive immigration reform movement is stronger and more organized, it is facing a much stronger opponent than the rightwing conservatives or Tea Party movement. The need to survive and keep one's family in a home that is threatened by unemployment and foreclosure is a tough foe.

With the high unemployment rate in Latino households, homes are being lost to foreclosure every day. Only this week, after months of claiming he was doing something to help families keep their homes, President Obama has come up with a billion dollar proposal to help families in mortgage trouble. For some, this effort may come too late.

There is no doubt more people are aware of the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and want to see the Congress do something to fix a very corrupt and broken system, there are still many who will not support the Gutierrez Bill, CIR-ASAP because they claim it is enforcement heavy.

In fact the Gutierrez Bill has not received the broad support from Latino activists it needs if it is going to pass in the House. Activists claim there are still many questions that need to be addressed, and many immigration reform supporters assert that Gutierrez is jamming his bill down our collective throats.

In the United States Senate, New York Senator Schumer still has not even allowed anyone to go through his proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill. No one really knows or fathoms what his immigration proposal will look like. While he claims to have received the support of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to co-sponsor this legislation, much like the Gutierrez bill, there is no guarantee that the Latino community will support this proposed legislation.

Unfortunately the present economic situation is not going to help comprehensive immigration reform. Even with the financial study that came out a few weeks ago that claimed immigration reform would add billions of dollars to a damaged economy, too many people seem more concerned with the short term damage the economy is doing to our community than any long term solution.

When food, shelter, and financial security are threatened by unemployment, it leaves little strength to fight for immigration reform. With more Latino families living in the shadow of financial ruin and destruction, worrying about immigration reform seems farfetched. With mid-term elections coming up, issues like unemployment, foreclosure concerns, and worries about present employment are taking center stage.

Perhaps in better times, immigration reform would have been the priority issue for the Latino community, but in today's bleak economic picture, survival of one's own family is the main concern. It has nothing to do with being insensitive to the needs of so many people in our country that deserve to be treated better, and given the opportunity to legalize their status, it is a matter of just trying to survive the Great Recession.

There is no question that this country needs to fix its broken immigration system, unfortunately, when so many Latinos are worried about their own economic blight, I am afraid immigration reform will not rise to the pole position of issues facing the voters in the mid-term elections of 2010.

Timing is everything, and unfortunately for comprehensive immigration reform, with the lack of support from the President, with the House Speaker speaking out of the two sides of her mouth, with the Senate Majority Leader uncertain about his future in the Senate, and no agreeable immigration legislation introduced in the Congress, it is not going to happen this year.

As long as the threat of losing one’s job, or the prospect that one will not find a job in today’s economy, most people are focused on surviving the Great Recession. Even if most immigration reform proponents are working to force the President and the Congress to deal with comprehensive immigration reform, as long as the jobless rate continues to climb in the Latino community, reform will not happen this year.

Even though candidate Obama claimed to have comprehensive immigration reform as a priority in his first year, the reality of a poor economy has forced the President to change his priorities for the country. Unfortunately, job creation and efforts to continue to jump start our economy will take precedence, and immigration reform will lose the battle.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Can't we Just Pray About It?

2010-02-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

For days before the National Prayer Breakfast, many critics of this national prayer event, warned the President to stay away from this annual prayer event. Their false accusations that the leaders of the prayer breakfast, called The Fellowship were allegedly tied to legislation that calls for the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals in Uganda. Following the example of other Presidents of over a half century, President Obama chose to ignore the liberal critics and attend the National Prayer Breakfast.

President Obama has not been recognized as a religious president and often criticized for his speeches where he has down played the significance that God, or the Holy Bible have played in the founding of our nation.

During the campaign summer of 2006, candidate Obama made the following statement during a speech at a “Call to Renewal” conference held by Sojourners. “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

The statement, “At least, not just” a Christian nation, caused uproar particularly among Evangelicals who believe our nation was founded on the Judeo-Christian moral values. Many faith leaders felt the President showed little respect for the historic moral values, including the Ten Commandments, which were observed by our forefathers who did believe in God.

As the President gathered at the National Prayer Breakfast, he tried hard to portray a President who respected the need for prayer. “I’m also here for the same reason that all of you are, for we share a recognition – one as old as time – that a willingness to believe, an openness to grace, a commitment to prayer can bring sustenance to our lives.”

As some may remember, candidate Obama threw his pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright under the church bus when Pastor Wright came under heavy criticism for preaching sermons claiming America was a racist nation. In one of his sermons on racism, Wright had called out “God d*** America! The only problem, the sermons were sometimes as old as six or seven years old.

Reporters took Wright’s sermons out of context and in order to distance himself from the controversy, candidate Obama disassociated himself from his pastor and spiritual advisor of over twenty years. Obviously, the fact candidate Obama disassociated himself so easily from his longtime spiritual advisor, gave Evangelicals little respect for a man who demonstrated how little spiritual back bone he may have processed.

Even today, many Evangelicals doubt and continue to mistrust President Obama as to whether or not he is really a man of prayer and if he possesses any strong spiritual values linked to his character.

At the prayer breakfast, Obama admitted the value and his need for prayer. “There is, of course, a need for prayer even in times of joy and peace and prosperity. Perhaps especially in such times prayer is needed -- to guard against pride and to guard against complacency. But rightly or wrongly, most of us are inclined to seek out the divine not in the moment when the Lord makes His face shine upon us, but in moments when God's grace can seem farthest away.”

It seemed like a stark admission coming from someone who had so quickly turned his back on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. For the record, I don’t believe it was fair for the news media to take the sermons out of context and then act as if Wright was a preacher bent on destroying our nation.

It seems highly reasonable to me that it was the sin of racism in this land that not only frustrated and hardened those activists and clergy members who led the Civil Rights Movement along with Dr. Martin Luther King, and who fought for freedom from racism and bigotry. Imagine if they had refrained from condemning racism and racists in our country.

But at the prayer breakfast, beyond trying to repair his poor record of church attendance as President, he also chose to convince the nation that he was truly a President who relied on prayer and a belief in the supernatural to sustain his faith.

There was no doubt President Obama who has felt the pressure from his critics that he has not always hit the right tones on faith, and spirituality, was at the National Prayer Breakfast to make a bigger point on condemning the lack of civility not only in the Halls of Congress, but on Main Street USA.

“Empowered by faith, consistently, prayerfully, we need to find our way back to civility. That begins with stepping out of our comfort zones in an effort to bridge divisions. We see that in many conservative pastors who are helping lead the way to fix our broken immigration system. It's not what would be expected from them, and yet they recognize, in those immigrant families, the face of God.

We see that in the evangelical leaders who are rallying their congregations to protect our planet. We see it in the increasing recognition among progressives that government can't solve all of our problems, and that talking about values like responsible fatherhood and healthy marriage are integral to any anti-poverty agenda. Stretching out of our dogmas, our prescribed roles along the political spectrum that can help us regain a sense of civility.”
President Obama went on to say, “Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable; understanding, as President [Kennedy] said, that "civility is not a sign of weakness." Now, I am the first to confess I am not always right. Michelle will testify to that. But surely you can question my policies without questioning my faith, or, for that matter, my citizenship.”

“Challenging each other's ideas can renew our democracy. But when we challenge each other's motives, it becomes harder to see what we hold in common. We forget that we share at some deep level the same dreams -- even when we don't share the same plans on how to fulfill them.”

It was clear the President was not about to lose this opportunity, in spite of his liberal devotees demanding that he not show up at the National Prayer Breakfast, to make his case for civility and for making the point that he recognized the need for all of us to work together for the common good.

He made his case for civility and desire to work together with the “party of no,” and others who have not only criticized the President’s agenda, but who have often taken to challenge the President to the point of calling into question his citizenship and desire to be a good President.

It was clear that Obama sensed this was the time to call upon all Americans to stop consorting with one another to destroy the very nature of our county and public narrative needed to restore our country to its destiny.

“It is this spirit of civility that we are called to take up when we leave here today. That's what I'm praying for. I know in difficult times like these -- when people are frustrated, when pundits start shouting and politicians start calling each other names -- it can seem like a return to civility is not possible, like the very idea is a relic of some bygone era. The word itself seems quaint -- civility.

But let us remember those who came before; those who believed in the brotherhood of man even when such a faith was tested. Remember Dr. Martin Luther King. Not long after an explosion ripped through his front porch, his wife and infant daughter inside, he rose to that pulpit in Montgomery and said, "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

To the critics of the President attending this year’s National Prayer Breakfast, they obviously were very wrong to discourage the President from making an appearance and making a bold speech on the need for this country to come together to tackle the very issues that have caused division, hate, discord, and lack of ability to work out our differences.

“Surely we can agree to find common ground when possible, parting ways when necessary. But in doing so, let us be guided by our faith, and by prayer. For while prayer can buck us up when we are down, keep us calm in a storm; while prayer can stiffen our spines to surmount an obstacle -- and I assure you I'm praying a lot these days -- prayer can also do something else. It can touch our hearts with humility. It can fill us with a spirit of brotherhood. It can remind us that each of us are children of a awesome and loving God.”

Mr. President, I will extend my hand to yours and to others who together sense the urgent need to open our hearts and recognize for our country to retain its role as a spiritual leader in the world, our faith and purpose depends not only upon our common humanity, but on our need to be guided by our personal faith and our prayers.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Immigration Reform - Not in 2010

2010-01-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

With the election of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate and the fallout from the election still raining down, almost lost in the news of the week was the fact that South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham agreed to join New York Democrat Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Chuck Schumer in the fight for immigration. As a Republican, Graham is committed to tackling many of the difficult issues facing our country.

For a Republican to admit he is willing to work with Liberal New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer on passing comprehensive immigration reform, that is news. Non-partisan politics in this day and age is almost unheard of, in spite of the promise that candidate Obama made to work together with the other party.

Having a conservative Republican join a liberal Democrat, coming together to work on immigration reform, sets the stage for the formula for passage of comprehensive immigration reform.

Immigration leaders issued a statement refuting the fact that Brown’s election to the Senate dealt a death knoll to immigration reform. “Many naysayers and peddlers of conventional wisdom have already begun to write the obituary for President Obama’s agenda, including comprehensive immigration reform. But their thinking is exactly wrong. Unlike health care, comprehensive immigration reform has traditionally garnered bi-partisan support, and a path to victory in the United States Senate will require votes from both sides of the aisle.”

If there is any hope at all of passing comprehensive immigration reform, it is going to take members of the GOP joining Democrats who may have the will to pass reform. As we have seen from this democratically controlled Congress, being a Democrat does not mean one will vote for health care, much less immigration.

Passing comprehensive immigration reform is going to take strong Republicans and Democrats wanting to see justice and righteousness prevail.

Most polling indicates there is consensus that immigration reform should be addressed by the Congress. According to the Benenson Strategy Group, there is a strong support for passing comprehensive immigration reform, including from Republican voters.

The two top most pressing issues that Republicans feel the Congress should deal with are the economy and health care. 63% of Republican voters say the economy is the number one issue. Health care came in second with 54% of Republicans saying it was important.

With the issue of immigration, only 6% thought it was an issue Congress should tackle. It still rated higher than abortion, energy, or crime. When asked if Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform, 62% of Republicans said yes, with only 26% saying no.

You would think with the findings of the Benenson Strategy Group, Democrats in the Congress would motivate the two parties to join together to share the findings of what seems like a workable partnership.

Even 88% of Republicans say that they support granting citizenship to immigrants as long as they met several conditions to be eligible for becoming citizens. This means “amnesty” to the fire brand racists and fear mongers in our country.

Yet, in spite of the political landscape that seems favorable to passing immigration reform, there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not reform can actually pass out of the Congress.

Latino Congressional leaders are trying to put the best face on the prospects of getting a reform bill through the Congress. With mid-term elections coming up, immigration still lurks out there as one of the most emotional and divisive issues facing our country.

With the economy on life support, the issue of immigration still fires up the fear of allowing 12 million immigrants to become citizens would mean fewer jobs for Americans. The fear that undocumented immigrants are taking jobs that Americans want to do.

Already blamed for contributing to the Great Recession, undocumented immigrants find themselves victims of the economy, losing hope for their families and dreams of a better future. But even with growing evidence that shows immigration reform would have a positive impact on the economy, the questions about passage persist.

The Center for American Progress and the Immigrants Policy Institute, issued a study, “Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of comprehensive Immigration Reform,” which plainly states the path to economic recovery must include comprehensive immigration reform.

According to the study,”immigration reform would create $1.5 trillion in added GDP over ten years and newly legalized workers would increase tax revenues by up to $5.4 billion in the first three years.” With such positive economic indicators, why would we not be demanding that our Congress vote for comprehensive immigration reform?

Imagine the long term financial benefits passage could have on our economy and deficit which threatens the economic future of our country. Is racism so strong in our country that we become blinded to do doing the right thing for ourselves, and undocumented immigrants?

Unprecedented town hall meetings across the country last week have brought together immigration proponents, faith leaders, union members, youth, educators, business leaders, and parents pushing for reform. Yet, the voices of opposition continue to grow and dim the hopes and dreams of 12 million undocumented immigrants.

Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairman believes advocates for immigration reform should continue the battle in 2010, but the odds for passage this year are not good.

In an interview in Roll Call, Grijalva said, “It’s going to be ugly, but I think we need to push it. Cam we get a bill? I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m ready for the fight, but I don’t know if we can win it.”

Grijalva feels Latino lawmakers have to continue pushing the issue because they cannot afford to go back home and say, “That nothing happened on the issue.” Realistically though, legislation cannot pass until 2011.

Another Congressional Hispanic Caucus member equally pessimistic about passage of immigration reform is Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). “I want to see it, but practically, I just don’t see it.”

The problem with passage this year, are the mid-term elections where the anger and frustration of voters signaled a change in the landscape in the Senate. A seat held by the Democrats for over 46 years was lost, leaving Democrats reeling in disbelief.

Until President Obama realizes that jobs are the real issue and priority facing our country, and unless immigration proponents can make the case that immigration reform will in fact benefit the economy, fear and racism will win out…again. Cuellar says Democrats in swing districts could end up being hurt by voting for such a controversial issue as immigration reform.

So while news was being made about the changes in the Senate and what it may mean to the President’s agenda, the good news about how comprehensive immigration reform could have the most significant positive change on our economy, it all has become lost again because the old issues of hate, fear, racism, and stupidity have free rein.

And the odds of comprehensive immigration reform passing in 2010? Don’t hold your breath.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

President Obama goes Soul Searching

2010-01-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

So the shocker election in Massachusetts is over and done, but now the ramifications of losing a 30 point lead to lose the election, Martha Coakley and the Democrats have a lot to think about. President Obama’s last second visit to prop up Caokley’s campaign, only adds to the insult and sting felt by shock shelled Democrats.

Headlines on newspapers and on the Internet tell the story. MSNBC’s headline perhaps best sums the night in Massachusetts, “Dems reeling, soul-searching after Mass loss.” No doubt, this includes a whole lot of soul-searching going on at the White House.

Republican Scott Brown now has the coveted Senate seat held by the late Senator Edward Kennedy. To think that a deep blue state could end up with a Republican senator is simply shocking, particularly when the Democrats held this seat for over a half century. Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 – 1, but it is conceivable that Democrats broke ranks and voted for Brown. Some polls had 65% to 72% of the Independents swinging toward Brown.

If President Obama planned to celebrate his first year in office, this election brought it down to reality and it must have felt more like a stinging rebuke from the Change and Hope crowd. What a difference a year makes. A year ago, it was Obama that stood for change and hope. A year later, Democrats and Independents feeling betrayed by the promises that the President did not live up to, end up losing the confidence and votes of the Massachusetts voter.

Anger, frustration, and fear best describe the voter attitudes in Massachusetts, and maybe may represent the feelings of many voters across the country as well, and something to worry about with the mid-term elections coming in November.

The perception President Obama took care of Wall Street while ignoring Main Street is going to be a tough issue for the President to defuse. Billions of dollars, yes billions of dollars were used to bail out the Wall Street financial district, only to have bankers turn around and continue to do business as usual. Voters are sick of bankers who don’t get it, as those in the financial sector continue their corruption and greed that nearly drove our economy over the cliff.

The billions of the stimulus bill that were supposed to create jobs and create financial stability seem to have never have made it into the wallets of jobless. Unemployment is over 10%, but in many cities, the unemployment rate is as high as 15%, perhaps even higher. Blacks and Latinos are suffering the most as unemployment begins to eat away at savings and hope for the future. In order to put an end to this Great Recession, the President needs to create jobs, more jobs! Unless people don’t get back to work, confidence in the President will continue to drop.

The Democrats are in trouble and the sad part about it, they don’t get it. While people want health care reform, they don’t want it done in the back rooms of politicians who play up to the old stereotypes of deal making in the smoke filled conference rooms of the Capitol. This notion of individual Senators making “deals for their state” has lead directly to this issue of back room politics and greed.

The Democrats have tried to push the health care reform package through Congress without reasonable debate and transparency. According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 48% of voters believe the health care bill is a step backward and only 42% feels the bill would be an improvement. And remember that word, transparency? Transparency was to be the hallmark of the Obama Presidency. Instead, the President continues to operate in the back rooms of the White House with little or no transparency.

The two wars which Americans want out of, and the wars that candidate Obama said he would pull out of, are not going to happen anytime soon. In fact the war policies of President Obama only promise more involvement and a larger military buildup and yes, more young American men and women who are fighting wars that Iraqi and Afghani men and women should be fighting.

While much attention has been given to health care reform, not enough attention has been given to the economy. According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 83% are dissatisfied with the economy. Just 16% are happy with the way the economy is going. That is a red flag waving furiously in the wind, and it seems no one at the White House is paying attention.

Americans, who have jobs, are holding on to their money because of uncertainty and fear of an unknown future. Americans without jobs are fast losing hope for any kind of recovery, a recovery with good paying jobs that may save their homes and families.

It’s the economy, stupid. That is the message the Democrats need to hear…loud and clear if they intend to put out the range fire of discontent, anger, and dissatisfaction with the policies and politics of President Obama and his Reid/Pelosi led Democrats.

For some reason President Obama does not feel the pain that many Americans are suffering. It is as if he has forgotten what happens when people can’t put food on the table, can’t fix the old car anymore, and when little by little, the mortgage gets bigger and bigger. The calls from creditors go ignored, and many are waiting for that dreaded knock on the door with the court order to vacate their home. The President and the Democrats have lost their way and can’t feel the pain.

People are fed up with politics as usual and all the deal making that accompanies any significant legislation. The Democrats like to talk about their veto proof 60 votes in the Senate, but in reality they were never really able to corral the Blue Dog Democrats into voting like Democrats. It was all smoke and mirrors politics, but now, reality sets in as they realize they only have 59 votes in the Senate and what does that really mean anyway?

Democrats had better listen to the discontent and learn the lessons of what went wrong in Massachusetts, and turn the Democratic fighting machine to fight the right battles and face up to the rebellion in the ranks that goes beyond the Tea Party set. The anger and frustration felt in Massachusetts is real and is spreading across the country like a range fire out of control.

The question I keep coming back to is how can a candidate squander a 30 point lead in the polls and end up losing the election is really beyond my comprehension. Somehow the Democratic message to the faithful in Massachusetts must have gotten lost or garbled in the translation.

It is time for the President to stop governing from the Left and find a more suitable and reasonable position in the Middle. The liberal policies of the Left have created a bigger deficit, and are leading us to bankruptcy. We need to stop the wild government spending.

According to the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, only 38% of Americans believe he shares their position on the issues. Overall, the poll gives the President a lot of evidence of why people are fed up with his year old leftist presidency.

The President and Democrats ought to remember the lessons learned in Massachusetts or who knows; more Scott Browns from across the country may end up getting elected in November and dragging the Obama Presidency to the middle or out the door.

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

10,000 Marchers & Sixty Black Leaders

2010-01-17T20:29:00.001-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

They came from everywhere on January 16, 2010 for the big march against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Over 10,000 strong, they gathered in Phoenix to protest and were determined to show the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Janet Napolitano that it is time to put a stop to the abuses of Sheriff Arpaio against undocumented immigrants.

The Maricopa County Sheriff Department has used racial profiling against Latinos in order to arrest and detain them in the county’s infamous Tent City. There have been accusations that the Sheriff’s Department has stopped and arrested Latinos for just minor infractions of the law in order to check their immigration status. Latinos who are American citizens have been rounded up simply because they looked like an undocumented immigrant.

In February, Sheriff Arpaio also marched two hundred undocumented immigrants from the county jail to a tent city dressed in black and white prison garb, chained and shackled, and forced to march in streets in Phoenix. The Sheriff created this theatrical display all in the name of ridiculing and disrespecting undocumented immigrants.

The Phoenix of mayor, who has been a critic of Sheriff Arpaio, called for a Department of Justice investigation into the antics and abuse of power by the Maricopa County Sheriff Department.

Many Latinos and undocumented immigrants who have been on the wrong street corner at the wrong time have been arrested and detained in the county jail simply so Arapio could make the outlandish claim by rounding up immigration, criminals will be deported.

Most of the people arrested and detained are hard working men and women, very few with hardened criminal records. All that Arapio has managed to do is separate families, creating hardships for remaining family members not picked up, leaving hundreds of undocumented immigrants and Latinos in fear of this abuse of the law.

The Department of Homeland Security recently took away federal authority and power from the Maricopa County Sheriff Department to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants under the 287 ( g ) agreement. The agreement had allowed Sheriff Arapio to train some of his deputies in immigration law, so that they could enforce federal immigration laws.

Sheriff Arapio has been accused of abusing this federal authority to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants from street corners, shopping malls, bars and clubs where undocumented immigrants or Latinos congregate. Too often, people were jailed without any pretense of the breaking the law, but for simply looking the part of an undocumented immigrant and hardened criminal. Racial profiling abusing the rights of innocent people and families.

Finally in a show of solidarity, people came together to demand a stop to immigrant roundups and racial profiling by Sheriff Arapio. The protestors gathered from around the country in Phoenix to demonstrate to Secretary Napolitano they are fed up with the racial profiling and racist law enforcement by Arapio.

Even under a current grand jury investigation for abuse of power and violating the civil rights of Latinos and undocumented immigrants, Sheriff Arapio has continued to create a mockery of law enforcement.

Sarahi Uribe, a representative from the National Day Labor Organizing Network, told a reporter from KPNX-TV, “We want to tell her (Napolitano) to stop the deportation and abuses of civil rights,“ Uribe said. “We’re very inspired by the civil-rights struggle in this country, and we see this as a continued fight.”

Perhaps one of the most significant displays of solidarity came from a group of sixty prominent Black leaders from twenty-three states who bought a full page ad in the Phoenix newspaper, The Arizona Republic.

James Johnson, a friend of mine, sent me a Facebook message letting me know of the ad in newspaper. Johnson said, “Sixty Black leaders take a stand condemning Arpaio for his negligent actions and inhumane treatment of people and call on Attorney General of the United States Eric H. Holder and the department of Justice to prove once and for all that this is not Arpaio's America.”

The ad compared Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to the infamous 1960s Birmingham public safety commissioner Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor. The ad drew a pointed comparison of the Civil Rights Movement of the1960s, in which Blacks led the national fight for civil rights, and stood up against the terror and racism of public safety commissioner “Bull” Connor.

Blacks under the leadership of Martin Luther King, lead the national fight for change and against the poverty and segregation which at the time created a deep social divide between whites and people of color in our nation. The ad highlighted the leadership of Blacks during the 1960s.

Blacks in the United States have long been a guiding conscience in our nation. Unlike many social movements which focus on narrow policy goals, the social gains that Blacks struggle for tend to be broad-minded and expansive. The 1960s Civil Rights Movement for instance lifted many Americans of various races, ethnicities and nationalities up out of poverty and stifling segregation. It was this very Civil Rights Movement that strengthened, at least for a time, the social safety net that provided publicly funded pre-school and breakfast programs for our most vulnerable youth.”

In a very strongly worded statement, the ad perhaps represented the first national show of solidarity by the sixty prominent Black leaders with the comprehensive immigration reform movement. The ad which was very straight forward and strongly worded stated, “Regardless of our diverse views on immigration,” said Center for New Community staff James Johnson, “we stand on the side of justice in the treatment of people and we are putting the country on notice that we will not be silent when confronted by the abuse of the law to terrorize people.”

Eric Ward, in his blog Image*2050, wrote, “For over a year people from throughout Arizona bravely stood up to Arpaio’s terror. The same can’t be said of the Director of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, who has sat on her hands and allowed Arpaio free reign to intimidate political opponents and dehumanize suspects based on their national origin. Napolitano could stop Arpaio with the stroke of a pen at any time.”

I believe the Center for New Community sent a strong signal to the 10,000 marchers that we can work together and “put the country on notice that we will not be silent when confronted by the abuse of the law to terrorize people.”

I am encouraged and strengthened in my fight for justice and righteousness by the fact that this group of prominent Blacks signed this advertisement and placed it in The Arizona Republic. Placing the ad on the day of the march against Arapio is a positive step toward a united battle against terror, abuse of authority, and that we will not allow the law to be used against us like it was used in the civil rights movement and by racist cops like public safety commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor….and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arapio.

Perhaps the best way to sum up my thoughts on the peaceful 10,000 strong march in Phoenix, and significant ad by 60 Black leaders condemning Arapio, is to highlight what Eric Ward stated in his blog, Sixty Black Leaders Condemn Sheriff Arapio. “K.L. Shannon, The Police Accountability Chair with the NAACP in Seattle, Washington, said that ‘Sheriff Arpaio is beginning to resemble arch-segregationist Bull Connor and that should send a chill through each of our hearts”

...And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man.

Martin Luther King Jr., Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968, the day before King was assassinated

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Support Haitian Earthquake Victims

2010-01-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

by Fidel "Butch" Montoya

The catastrophic earthquake in Haiti has reportedly caused 45,000 to 50,000 deaths, chaos, confusion, leaving the capital city with little or no security, leaving millions homeless, and has put the country in total turmoil. As of January 14, more than 7000 people have already been buried.

While many nations, lead by the United States are attempting to send troops, medical supplies, food and water, many are also encouraging people to use the Internet to contact charities to send donations to help the people in Haiti. All of these efforts are blessings to the people who are in dire need of everything.

According to witnesses, the devastation is literally beyond comprehension. There are bodies lined up on the streets, and with hundreds still trapped in the collapsed buildings.

This is the worst earthquake to hit the area in more than 200 years and the toll of people killed by this 7.0 earthquake is shocking. Most structures in the island’s capital city of Port au Prince were damaged or completely destroyed, leaving people homeless, and families separated by death and destruction.

While we must do what we can to provide water, food, sanitation supplies, and a coordinated effort to provide assistance to the Haitian people, we also need to pray for the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti.

Many missionaries there are facing difficult times as in many cases, they too have lost everything. We have all heard the charge that Haiti is suffering from its relationship to evil religious practices. I don't believe it is a time to be judgmental, but a time to pray for restoration of not only the nation, but of each individual who now finds themselves at a loss as to what to do.

This is a nation in special need of spiritual restoration as well.

Let's do what we can to support the people of Haiti, but let us not forget that the most powerful gift we can give, our prayers for life, for comfort, for wisdom, and for compassion.

This is a nation, already the poorest country in our hemisphere, that has been badly shaken and faces a very bleak future. Let all of us continue to pray for the people in Haiti, that all of the aid going to Haiti reaches the people in most need.

Let us pray that our prayers also reach each and every individual in Haiti that needs the comfort and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Immigration Reform - Past Due!

2010-01-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

by Fidel "Butch" Montoya

Latino voters from across the country congratulated one another on the role they played in helping to elect Barrack H. Obama as president. It was a time of self reflection and celebration. Many Latinos now felt their issues were going to be addressed and solutions found.

One of the issues high on candidate Obama’s agenda was his promise to address the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Obama put his campaign on over drive in its attempts to reach out to the voters who were supposed to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Well, we know the story. Obama got elected. HOPE and CHANGE were the words of the season. We would see the change we all sought for America and now there was hope as well.

With the President’s ratings dropping and all his political capital backed by paper money, Obama finds that with three years to go, already all is not well in Obama Land.

The Wall Street Journal’s poll is not good news for the president. The 12/11 - 14/2009 Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows 47% - 46% approval for the President. Below 50% and with the war on terror hitting a major pothole in the last few weeks, it does not look for President Obama even as we approach the new year with optimism.

The Wall Street Journal reports that overall the President has lost a good part of the Independent vote and has lost most of his Republican support. Losing this support is going to make it difficult to govern, particularly as Democrats find themselves fighting amongst themselves.

NBC's Mark Murray commenting on the latest polls says, "This survey underscores what I consider a dramatic and unmistakable change in the political landscape,” said Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted the survey with GOP pollster Bill McInturff. “For Democrats, the red flags are flying at full mast.”

We have seen how the Democrats have handled the health care reform debacle, buying support from some Democratic senators that are only looking out for their own states and not for the common good.

While there is a celebration in the Senate over heath care reform, the House version is far different and most likely mean more horse trading to get it done, if that it is possible.

With the President’s popularity falling to earth, the health care debate debacle must likely poisoning the immigration reform debate and Democrats choosing sides, it does not look like the best time to introduce comprehensive immigration reform…or will there ever be a good time.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Democrat from Illinois introduced the first step toward comprehensive immigration reform with CIR – ASAP. “Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009”.

Immediately, support was being voiced from around the country, with the general consensus being that “it is time”. The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) commended Rep. Gutierrez for introducing CIR – ASAP.

Catherine Tactaquin, NNIRR’s Executive Director did however voice some concerns being raised by other immigration reform allies. “While Rep. Gutierrez’s proposed legislation includes some needed protections for our vulnerable communities, it continues to treat immigration as a ‘national security’ issue and stops short of doing away with the most egregious aspects of our flawed immigration system.”

Many immigration allies agree that thousands of undocumented immigrants continue to be arrested and detained by local law enforcement who often does not understand the nuances of enforcing immigration law. No one need look further than Arizona Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who has abused the Section 287 (g), Immigration and Nationality Act; Delegation of Immigration Authority agreement with Homeland Security Department.

The Section 287 (g) immigration enforcement agreements with local law enforcement agencies are supposed to provide the necessary training for local cops to act like federal homeland agents. Unfortunately, in Sheriff Arpaio’s case, his troops are accused of violating the civil rights, not to mention civility and moral laws toward undocumented immigrants.

It got so bad in Arizona; Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon called in the Justice Department to investigate Sheriff Arpaio and his gang of merry men. That says something when the mayor of a major city has to call for a Justice Department investigation against the county’s sheriff, and the agency who signed the original Section 287 (g) immigration enforcement agreement.

Meanwhile, in Southern California, State Senator Gil Cedillo didn’t even wait for the ink to dry on Rep. Gutierrez’s immigration reform package before announcing at a press conference his opposition and “to raise concerns about Luis Gutierrez’s Immigration Reform Bill.”

When asked why Cedillo and the Southern California Immigration Coalition were so quick out the door to oppose this legislation, spokesperson Ron Gochez told me, “This bill, for the most part, seems much more progressive than previous bills associated with Gutierrez so we are happy about that. However, we have the responsibility to raise concerns that are otherwise ignored or swept under the rug by the Democratic Party and its leadership.”

I asked Gochez why not work through the process in the Congress to seek changes to the bill so opponents to immigration reform can’t point their fingers and say, “They aren’t even united amongst themselves.”

Gochez fired back, “Although we would like to see real change come from Congress, history tells us that this will only come from an organized people who demand and are willing to fight for their rights and dignity. Power never concedes power without a fight.”

This brings us back to the primary concern about the need for immigration reform. First, with our own gente going public with their opposition to the Gutierrez Bill, that creates a perception that we are not united in our efforts to get reform passed in 2010.

Second, has the poorly managed health care reform legislation poisoned the water for comprehensive immigration reform?

Third, will the Democrats stay together on immigration reform or start making deals to water it down?

But perhaps, more importantly, has anyone heard President Obama come out lately….and say he supports Rep. Luis Gutierrez’s CIR – ASAP immigration reform bill?

I don’t think his falling approval ratings means the president will sit this one out too, do you think?

For the proponents of CIR - ASAP, "the red flags are flying at full mast,” indeed!

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This article first appeared on http://www.latinolandscape.com/

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Rocky Road to School Reform in Denver Public Schools

2009-12-16T03:39:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

The lack of success in education by Latino young men and women has long been a source of pain and determination for me to help improve the lack of achievement and failure facing young Latinos. The drop out rate among Latino youth has centered around the 50% plus side for many years, and it past time that leaders in the church took a stand for the betterment of our community.

I believe a good education can be the great equalizer in our society and direct our community toward the road of future success.

The Denver School Board has been rocked by controversy in its attempts to decide school closures and school redesigns (where all teachers & Principal are fired) in neighborhoods of predominately Latino and Spanish-speaking areas of NorthWest - NorthEast Denver. Parents, community members, teachers, faith leaders, and students have joined together to create a coalition putting pressure on the board to re-consider its decisions.

As a result, as a member of a community coalition demanding open meetings, I wrote an editorial speaking on behalf of a newly elected school board member who was criticized and demonized The Denver Post Editorial, and parents who simply want to be a part of the solution.

The Denver Post Opinion
School reform from the back room a shame
By Fidel "Butch" Montoya
Posted: 12/04/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

The Denver Post talks about the Denver School Board misfiring again and demonstrating to our children how to abuse the public trust. It is shameful the editorial board has failed to see the underhanded and unethical abuse of power by the superintendent and old members of the board for the past year.

Isn't this the school board that appointed Tom Boasberg without community input? Isn't this the school board that proposed radical changes without community input? Didn't the old school board and superintendent misfire again by trying to close a public meeting?

The Denver Post editorial board unfairly singled out new member Andrea Merida for what it called "bullying behavior," and her "embarrassing and unprofessional display." In fact, you can replace Andrea's name with Boasberg or any other member of the "old board," and find that those labels can adequately apply to them as well.

Merida took a courageous step in seeking a court order allowing her to be seated as a board member. She clearly demonstrated the seriousness many parents and community members of West and North Denver felt about the radical changes being forced on the community. By using the law to challenge the board's pending agenda, Merida forced the old school board to play fair.

That the proposals were being voted on without community input was an "embarrassing and unprofessional display" of arrogance by the old board.

Perhaps Merida's alleged bullying did not change the outcome of the vote on the reforms, but forcing the old school board to debate and discuss the proposed reform agenda in an open forum was success in itself.

It is a shame the editorial board immediately labeled "Merida and her camp" as being anti-reform. This is absurd! Merida's courageous stand was proof that many parents and families only want to improve education for their children. This alone is the guiding principle for Lake parents, and only shows that the editorial board does not understand the parents' commitment to see true reforms take place.

Let there be no doubt: Merida, Arturo Jimenez and Jeannie Kaplan stand for reform with due process and respect for the parents, teachers, community members and the students who may be impacted by the reforms.

Counseling Boasberg to "play hardball" with the new board members will only increase the rancor and mean-spirited behavior shown by members of the old board. If Boasberg learned anything from the Monday meeting, it should be that his data-based reforms will be challenged, questioned and reviewed so we do not make the same mistakes made in New York City or Chicago.

Reform without representation is dictatorial and shows that Boasberg and the old board will have to learn to change their bullying behavior and shameful display of abuse of leadership and allow parents and community members a role in determining the scope of the reforms for DPS.

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. Contributing to this commentary were Nick Weiser, founder of the Denver Education Advocacy Network; human resources consultant Wendy Silveira- Steinway; and Guerin Green, publisher of the North Denver News.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13921736#ixzz0Zqk3jt8E

Response to my Op-Ed by Editorial Board

The Denver Post Opinion
Critical misinformation in school board debate
By Chuck Plunkett
Posted: 12/07/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

In the wake of Hurricane Merida, and as the Denver community tries to make sense of all the fear and loathing, there is an insidious argument going around that needs to be buried.

If it's allowed to persist, all the marriage counselors in Denver won't be able to help put Denver Public Schools back together again.

The argument is being made by well-meaning people against well- meaning people, so hopefully there's enough goodwill yet to pull us through.

Community leaders like Butch Montoya and the most-famous new member on the DPS board, Andrea Merida, are casting the DPS administration as "dictatorial" and the former board as toadies to the heavy- handed machinations of Superintendent Tom Boasberg.

The erroneous assertion that needs to be clarified is that the DPS administration and the former board sought to push through reforms for several schools that were either failing or struggling — and did so without community meetings, public input or serious debate.

Such claims unfairly conjure an image of a Stalinesque superintendent changing the fundamental structure of six schools without giving so much as a thought to the taxpaying parents and students of DPS, much less any time for the public to dissent or to respond.

Against this horrid backdrop, Montoya and others who oppose Boasberg cast Merida as the courageous David against the DPS Goliath.

The argument explains why the otherwise good-meaning people who support Merida cannot concede that her actions were at least a little over the top.

Merida did nothing illegal. And those who back her convincingly argue that she was guided by her dedication to students and families who resist Boasberg's changes.

Still, let's acknowledge that Merida also was guided by the teachers' unions who backed her election with thousands of dollars and other support. The unions are at odds with Boasberg's plans.

I disagree with the unions that Boasberg's attempt to foster reforms championed by the Obama administration is bad for schoolchildren, but that's another debate.

Tom Boasberg, as I have come to know him, is not dictatorial. To the contrary, folks like me who favor President Obama's reforms wish the relentlessly consensus-minded Boasberg was a bit more resolute.

During the run-up to a community meeting at which the public was to consider the administration's reforms, the mild-mannered superintendent met with The Post editorial board. Boasberg presented us with piles of reports and statistics and rationales for suggesting the changes he hoped to see at the schools in question.

Parents had ample access to the same information. The district freely made it available to all who asked. Additionally, The Post wrote stories explaining the plans, and we editorialized on them.

Opponents demanded more time to debate the changes, so DPS scheduled a second public meeting.

Finally, DPS pushed back a meeting of the Board of Education to vote on the changes from Nov. 19 to last Monday, to allow for extra debate and discussion.

This was — demonstrably — a public process.

And the best-informed people to vote on the plans were members of the former board, who had been through the full scope of the public and administrative process.

Finally, delaying the vote much longer wouldn't have been reasonable, as parents begin making their school choices in January.

I'm a fan of debate and of the public process. I don't think any school administration is so smart or pure that it should not be scrutinized, questioned and challenged.

But DPS didn't try to hide.

DPS acted like a democratic institution is supposed to act. The process that ended so regrettably last week was fair and above-board.

It's time to move on, and to drop the false and destructive misinformation.

Chuck Plunkett: 303-954-1333 or cplunkett@denverpost.com.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13941183#ixzz0ZqmIOfLu

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Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to Preach in 1972.

Is Dobbs Really Gone?

2009-12-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

By Fidel “Butch” Montoya

It was great news when CNN finally pushed Lou Dobbs off the air, giving in to the pressure of thousands of Latino/as demanding that the cable network fire Dobbs. Unable to sign off with his trademark smirk on his last show, Dobbs was, however, able to heave that reported eight million dollar payoff by CNN over his burdened shoulders and laugh all the way to the bank.

The question everyone was asking was where will Dobbs reappear? Some right-wing pundits have said Dobbs will sign on the FOX News channel. Dobbs, himself, has said he will continue his “advocacy journalism,” and that we have not heard the last of him.

So be it, but what Dobbs and his right-wing fanatics can’t deny is the fact that a national Internet effort, coordinated by journalist Roberto Lovato, was a powerful force that even CNN could not ignore.

Many of his critics could care less where Dobbs might show up. Latinos were satisfied with the wave of criticism and its consequences, which got Dobbs off the air.

But wait, just about three weeks after he was fired, the resurrected Dobbs appeared on a live interview on Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo with news anchor Maria Celeste and he had a new message for the masses.

“Whatever you have thought of me in the past, I can tell you right now I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together.”

Whoa! Stop the ‘Get Rid of Dobbs’ bandwagon! He said what? Yes, you read correctly what Dobbs said. “I am your greatest friend and I mean for us to work together.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, the new Dobbs is desperately trying to shed the old Dobbs. “I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest.”

Dobbs said that? I wondered if Dobbs had been hit with a bad case of the H1N1 flu. Was he delirious, out of his mind with a high fever? What exactly was going on here??

As Celeste ran down her list of why the Latino community would not want him over for tamales or menudo, she pushed back harder, wanting to hear why he thought he would be welcomed in the Latino community.

There was no fuzzy warm feeling of “mi casa es su casa” during the interview.

“Many Hispanics consider you to be the No. 1 enemy of Latinos,” Celeste told him. “Do you think that the community is somehow misjudging you?”

“Oh, not somehow. Definitively, absolutely.” Dobbs responded. “By the way, I don’t believe for a moment that the Latino, Hispanic community in the United States believes that of me at all. It has been the efforts of the far left to characterize me in their propaganda as such.”

So all along, every time Dobbs appeared on his daily CNN show and spewed his poisonous mean-spirited hateful lies about immigrants, he was just trying to endear himself to our community?

So as he smirked at his viewers, the lies he told day after day demonizing the undocumented immigrant was just a bad misunderstanding? So as we sat in our family rooms watching CNN, not believing our ears as Dobbs did his best to get his far right-wing nuts all fired up about hating Latino immigrants was just a big misinterpretation of his lies?

But wait, there is more in The Wall Street Journal story that may cause you run to your therapist, thinking your hallucinating or losing your mind.

Mr. Dobbs told Spanish-language network Telemundo he now supports a plan to legalize millions of undocumented workers, a stance he long lambasted as an unfair “amnesty.”

"We need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions.”

This is the same immigration critic who day after day called for the deportation of the reported 12 million undocumented immigrants living in our country. Now, according to his spokesperson, Dobbs wanted just the criminals deported. Not those who are “living, upright, positive and constructive lives,” who should be part of our society.

I don’t know if Dobbs bumped his head on the way out of his CNN office or maybe his Latina wife gave him an ultimatum to clean up his act or she would leave him taking with her half of that eight million dollars?

The truth be told, Dobbs is considering a run perhaps as a third party candidate in New Jersey against our only Latino United States Senator Robert Menendez. And you know what that means?

Dobbs needs the votes of the largest growing minority in the country - Latinos! He knows he cannot possibly even think of winning that race without his Latino friends supporting him.

But before we even think of extending our hand to Dobbs, let’s not forget the reason to quiet Dobbs was not because he had just a different opinion. Dobbs found it was better for his TV ratings to feed deception, fear and hate, and allow the merchants of hate push their political agenda of misinformation and myths about immigration reform and undocumented immigrants.

So now that Dobbs is our friend again, and since he earned those millions of dollars demonizing every Latino in the USA, would he consider giving some of that payoff to help spread his newfound truth that immigration reform is needed in our country?

Come on over Lou Dobbs, but don’t forget your wallet, and by the way, forgive us if we don’t forgive you.

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This article first appeared on http://www.latinolandscape.com/

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed to preach in 1972.

Saying "No" to the Red Kettle of hypocrisy"

2009-11-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

The long awaited decision by National Association of Evangelicals to endorse a resolution supporting comprehensive immigration reform was seen as a major break through among Latino evangelicals and other Church leaders.

While not endorsing any particular political policy, the N.A.E. outlined their support based on Biblical principles.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference referred to the resolution as a “tipping point.” The NHCLC represents some 15 million Latino Evangelicals, and counts over 25,000 churches as part of its membership. The NHCLC has worked behind the scenes for several years trying to convince the N.A.E. to support immigration reform.

"Today’s resolution conveys a collective message on behalf of the evangelical community that at the end of the day immigration reform is a matter of justice firmly grounded on biblical truth. Moreover, this resolution embodies the spirit of a message declaring that comprehensive immigration reform stems neither from the agenda of the donkey nor from the agenda of the elephant but rather from the agenda of the Lamb,” declared Rev. Rodriguez.

The N.A.E. resolution was seen by many interfaith leaders as an important step toward putting together a large interfaith based coalition pressuring Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year.

In the past, white evangelicals generally sat on the sidelines silently opposing any attempt to bring the undocumented immigrants out of the shadows or protested openly against undocumented immigrants in our country. They turned a deaf ear to the sound Biblical guidance that brings an added dimension to a badly needed civil debate.

As quickly as the news spread concerning the N.A.E.’s adoption of the immigration reform resolution, immediately some members of the N.A.E. responded by doing all they could to distance themselves from supporting immigration reform and claiming they had not endorsed the controversial resolution.

It reminded me of the movie Titanic as panicked passengers were literally jumping overboard to escape the danger of going down with the sinking ship. Not that the N.A.E.’s adoption of the resolution in any way reflects a sinking ship, but the Christian faithful running away from endorsing the resolution demonstrated confusion and chaos aboard the good ship N.A.E. about loving and taking care of the stranger in our land.

We had large denominational leaders stuttering as they sought to justify their lack of support of the resolution. Almost as quickly as most N.A.E. members were quoting Biblical principles for supporting the resolution, other N.A.E. members apparently forgot to recall those Biblical truths before taking a political stand versus a Christian one against the resolution.

Many N.A.E. members quickly denounced the resolution as nothing more than a means to provide “amnesty” to illegal immigrants. Clearly many white evangelicals have not dropped their opposition to providing a reasonable process for immigrants to assimilate into our society and seek citizenship if they desire to do so.

NumbersUSA, a notoriously anti-immigrant organization, with a goal to push undocumented immigrants out of our county, has an article in their newsletter trumpeting the fact that many N.A.E. members were backing away from the N.A.E. resolution on immigration reform.

The article color some evangelical ministers and churches with stripes of yellow, making it clear these members do not support the N.A.E. resolution on immigration reform even though they claim membership of the mighty Evangelical N.A.E.

The anti-immigrant N.A.E. members are using their denominational Websites to convey their side of the story as they continue to deny the Biblical proclamations that instruct us to love the stranger, the alien, the forgotten in our communities.

The fact that these Biblical principles are “The Word,” the “rightwing Christian politicians,” pontificating their word, might as well stand behind their bully pulpits to denounce the teachings of the Holy Scriptures that serve as moral and Christian guide for many born-again Christians. .

Many of those N.A.E. members posted their opposition on their denominational websites, trying to calm down the racist furor among some of their membership that the resolution caused.

"The Churches of Christ in Christian Union does not support the N.A.E. resolution on illegal immigration. We are a member of N.A.E., but our support on the resolution was never requested. The Churches of Christ in Christian Union support legal, regulated, and fair immigration”. -- Dr. Thomas H. Heniz, General Superintendent, the Churches of Christ in Christian Union.

Another N.A.E. member denomination in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, posted this disclaimer on their website:

“Statement on Amnesty forms the Executive Director in behalf of our Leadership Team and the General Association of General Baptists. Our denomination has been misidentified in recent email correspondence regarding amnesty for illegal immigrants. Neither I, our Leadership Team, nor the denominations we serve have been involved in the cause for amnesty for illegal aliens”. -- Dr. Ron Black, Executive Director, General Association of General Baptists.

Even our friendly Christmas bell ringers have found no room in the inn for undocumented immigrants. As members of the N.A.E., The Salvation Army does not support the resolution and make it quite clear that they will not support “amnesty” for the estimated 12-20 million undocumented immigrants in our country.

“The Salvation Army chose not to adopt the resolution nor will it become our stance on immigration reform”. Salvation Army official statement

It is a sad commentary by one of the biggest faith-based organizations, which claims to be compassionate and willing to help the poor and disadvantaged, unless of course, you are an undocumented immigrant. It is clearly racial profiling and morally reprehensible for The Salvation Army to disavow the Biblical principles and not adopt the Christ-centered examples of ministering to the alien, the poor and the homeless.

It seems like we might have to take a half a loaf of support from the N.A.E. when it comes to moving the urgent need for immigration reform forward. The reality is that we have too many families living in the shadows of our communities, our economy, and our church stipples.

Too many immigrant families are being separated everyday as long as Christians of the Right refuse to accept an immigration policy which would keep families together without fear of home or work place raids that lead to separation of families and deportation to a country some left years ago.

Truth be told, without a strong commitment from the “Christian community,” immigrants will continue to live in fear, confusion and a society where hate crimes against Latinos will continue to escalate. The consequences are serious bodily injury and even death to the innocent immigrant walking the streets of gold in America.

It is time for faith leaders across this country to encourage and pressure President Obama to act on providing immigration reform so that those individuals and families living near the margins of the American Dream can actually and realistically live that dream.

However, it more critical for faith leaders, who do support comprehensive immigration reform, to pressure their own to follow the Biblical principles of caring and loving our neighbor, instead of allowing the evil one to use politics to create disharmony and division among the followers of Christ.

Too many “born again Christians” are confusing the Word with plain old dirty politics. Dancing around their idol of racism, how quickly they have forgotten that the Love of Christ is for everyone, legal or undocumented. We can’t pick and choose who we love when we are commanded by Christ to love our neighbor as ourselves.

I, for one, am pleased that the N.A.E. worked closely with their Latino evangelical allies and members and finally passed a comprehensive immigration reform resolution. Rev. Samuel Rodriguez also deserves recognition for his untiring efforts and ministry to the families that we are encouraged in the Bible to love and care for.

By the way, this Christmas holiday while shopping at the mall, if you run into “a soldier of the Salvation Army,” waving their red kettle and the ringing bells asking for a small donation, instead of reaching into your purse or wallet, save that money and give to your church or favorite other Christian charity. Give your donation to an organization that does not look at the color or nationality of the poor, the hungry, and the forgotten.

The Salvation Army - or any other Church - shouldn’t preach to us about caring and loving the deprived and then walk away from the reality of the needs of undocumented immigrants. Keep your money out of the red kettle and instead support another organization that does not question or qualify their calling to the poor and needy based on immigrant status.

Beware of wolves in sheep clothing, - those selective ministries requesting a green card before they are willing to provide the necessary Christian ministry and family services to immigrant families yearning for a helping hand; that both support and sincerely appreciate your ministry.

Remember, Christ loved us all and never once required a picture ID or green card.

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This column first appeared at:
http://www.latinolandscape.com/

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed as a Minister in 1972.

Vietnam Redux: Without protests, demands and outrage, is the Afghanistan conflict endless?

2009-10-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

We have all heard or read the news about President Obama's reevaluation of America's commitment to the war in Afghanistan. The war has dragged on for over nine years, with the coalition forces having lost 1,500 causalities. The current commander, General Stanley McChrystal has said 40,000 more soldiers are needed to fight the Taliban insurgents. There are reports that General McChrystal wanted as many as 80,000 additional troops, but that will never happen.

When this war started, it was to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the Islamist group responsible for training terrorists in secret camps around the country. President George W. Bush claimed al-Qaeda, a terrorist organization, was the main threat to our internal national security and safety; thus the buildup to destroy these camps and the insurgents.

In fact, at one point, it seemed like the coalition forces were making progress and slowly hitting the insurgents hard, and closing in on the leadership of al Qaeda. That was when the American leadership diverted their attention, obsessed with starting another war in Iraq to protect the oil fields and keep any disruption of oil production from the Middle East. I know that some still believe we started the war in Iraq to spread "democracy," but by now, I think many of us know better.

Without our full attention and resources, we were reminded that Afghanistan isn't so easily contained or tamed. It's easy to forget that the mighty Soviet Union took on the mujahidin in Afghanistan in 1979 and slowly became entangled with an enemy it could not destroy. In spite of the Soviet army's strength and modern weapons, they could not bring down these resistance fighters. One of the reasons was that the mujahidin used guerrilla tactics against the Soviet army.

The Soviet army was brutal as it destroyed villages and crops, and killed millions of Afghans. Unable to secure the nation, after 15,000 troops killed in the war, the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan without reaching its military objectives. One of the reasons of course was that we were helping to arm the mujahidin with U. S. made shoulder--launched antiaircraft missiles. This turned the war in favor of the mujahidin. This assistance helped the mujahidin bring down the feared Soviet helicopters, which were the Soviet army's major advantage in the war at one time. But after losing so many of these heavily armed and technologically superior helicopters, along with their crews, it became a losing battle for the Soviet army.

Ironically, when American and NATO troops moved in to fight the mujahidin and Taliban in Afghanistan, they began to fight resistance fighters armed with sophisticated American weapons. What seemed like a great idea in the 1980's - to help destroy the Soviet presence in Afghanistan - became one the biggest threats to our own army. After nine years in Afghanistan and still needing additional troops, the scenario and circumstances, I fear, are beginning to resemble that distant war we all wanted to forget - Vietnam.

Back in 1967, the Rev. Martin Luther King, becoming more concerned about the USA's growing role in the Vietnam War, courageously called for an end to that war. He said, "If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read 'Vietnam'."

We are mired in our present-day Vietnam, and we clearly are not making any progress in containing the insurgents. In fact, our troops have been badly outnumbered in the remote outposts in recent battles, forcing General McChrystal to move them back to more secure bases.

A few weeks ago, we suffered one of the most deadly weekends in Afghanistan, which claimed the lives of eight soldiers based out of Fort Carson, Colorado, the 4th Brigade Combat Team. This was the highest level of war causalities suffered by the troops out of Fort Carson. The battle took place in a remote area near the Pakistan border. The enemy reportedly was armed with modern automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades. In the battle that took place, which lasted a day, hundreds of insurgents took on the remote outposts manned by U. S. troops. In the end, U.S. troops suffered the heaviest loss of lives. Ironically, INDT.com reported this battle was the deadliest fighting for Fort Carson soldiers since the Vietnam War.

In fact, there are questions about the weapons used by our ground troops, the A4 carbine. Some wonder if they are reliable enough for our troops to trust their lives to these weapons. There are confirmed reports that the Pentagon is investigating the efficacy and reliability of weapons used in battle skirmishes in remote U. S. outposts, where American troops suffered heavy causalities. The investigation centers on questions around whether or not the weapons may have malfunctioned, jammed and failed to fire, leaving our outnumbered soldiers at further risk. With questions and doubts raised about the weapons used by American troops and if they are the best we can provide, can our troops depend on them in battle?

Is our objective to destroy al-Qaeda and the terrorist training camps, which we've been told repeatedly are a direct threat to our national security? If so, where is the commitment from our president to fight this war to win it? Half-hearted attempts will not suffice this time around. The Vietnam War strategy did not work before and it will not work in Afghanistan.

We lost the Vietnam War because the nightly news was able to show how brutal and bloody this war actually was. Families eating dinner in the comfort of their homes, watching the news out of Vietnam, soon found that this war was not dinnertime fare. They watched our young become casualties of a war that had no winning objective.

The Vietnam War generated some of the biggest war protests in our country's history. More and more people demanded that we get out of Vietnam and stop sending what President Johnson called "American boys" to fight someone else's war. In fact, the Vietnam War convinced LBJ not to seek another term as president.

This brings to mind a question as to why those who marched in protest against the war in Vietnam and Iraq have not seen fit to take to the streets to demand that we get out of Afghanistan. Still embedded in our minds and memories are the visual images of thousands marching through the streets of New York City, demanding an end to the war in Iraq. Some labeled former President George W. Bush both a war criminal and a puppet of the oil industry for fighting the war in Iraq. The crowds of protestors demanding that Bush get us out of Iraq spread across the country like a wild fire. Yet, as America evaluates its commitment and position on Afghanistan, there are no protests, no demands and seemingly scarce opposition to this war.

I find it ironic that no demands are made of President Obama to get us out of another possible Vietnam. It is as if the war is so far away and, after all, we have only lost 1,500 troops in nine years of battle.

I believe it is time we called for an end to America's participation in this bloody conflict. We cannot afford to continue to fight a war with no end in sight. We have allowed the insurgents to dictate the direction of this war and have done very little to change their objectives. I believe most Americans would be hard-pressed to explain how our mission in the war in Afghanistan has been accomplished. Or how it can be accomplished.

As we read in the news several weeks ago, right here in Denver, Colorado, allegedly a terrorist cell was busy planning another terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9/11. The main suspect was trained in Pakistan, our ally in the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. There is no doubt that we must continue to be vigilant and fight the war on terrorism, and that we never allow the violence of terrorists to be manifested on our streets. That Pakistan -- our ally -- allows terrorist training camps to operate without real fear of reprisal speaks to how our own allies could care less about our national security.

Perhaps, if the Rev. Martin Luther King were alive today, in his powerful voice he would remind us that, "If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read 'Vietnam and Afghanistan'."

*****************************************
This column first appeared at http://www.latinolandscape.com/

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked at the news station for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed as a minister in 1972.

Rev Samuel Rodriguez testifies at Senate Committee on the Judiciary

2009-10-08T22:40:00.000-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

In public testimony presented before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, spoke in favor of comprehensive immigration reform from a faith-based perspective. Rev. Rodriguez also spoke of the urgency to pass this legislation as a means of addressing faith and moral bankruptcy issues in our country.

Rev. Rodriguez stated, "Let us be clear. As Hispanic Christians, we stand committed to the message of the Cross. However, that cross is both vertical and horizontal. It is salvation and transformation, ethos and pathos, Kingdom and society, faith and public policy, Covenant and community, righteousness and justice. Each dependent on the other, not either or, but both. We seek to reconcile a platform where John 3:16 converges with Matthew 25 while Billy Graham meets Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Masters table."

May we continue to uphold our Congressional leaders in prayer who will guide the debate and passage of immigration reform legislation in the Congress. It is imperative that this legislation be passed at this time. Any delay on the passage of this bill will only continue to foster hate, nativism , and as Rev. Rodriguez testified, "create a reality where our Borders are yet fully secured and the immigrant families a long with the entire Hispanic American community find ourselves facing racial profiling, discrimination and a hostile ethnically polarized environment not seen since the days prior to the successes of the Civil rights movement."

I pray that as we unite in prayer across our nation, that the Lord will honor our pleas and prayers for justice and righteousness for 12 million people. We also pray for Rev. Samuel Rodriguez as a faith leader anointed for this time, and may all he does in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, be blessed by the Lord. We also continue to uphold our governmental leaders in prayer for wisdom and guidance.

Fidel "Butch" Montoya
H. S. Power & Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative'
Denver, Colorado 80212
fmon@hotmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Testimony of The Reverend Samuel Rodriguez

October 8, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
Senate Hearing Testimony

Embedded within the Historical election of 2008 lies a clarion call and a prophetic supplication for national unity accompanied by an alignment of our core values. Values that include both security and compassion, the rule of law and welcoming the stranger, mercy and justice.

Accordingly, the lack of passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation has created a reality where our Borders are yet fully secured and the immigrant families along with the entire Hispanic American community find ourselves facing racial profiling, discrimination and a hostile ethnically polarized environment not seen since the days prior to the successes of the Civil rights movement. For at the end of the day this is not a political issue but rather one of a moral and spiritual imperative."

We applaud our President and declare that we stand with him as he demonstrates that he is a man of his word. A word promised in the campaign to the immigrant and Hispanic community. A word affirmed and reiterated to the Hispanic Congressional Caucus earlier this year. We understand the political realities as we deal with the economy, health care and the war in Afghanistan. But our prayer is that you, members of the Senate, do not forget one number, the number 12.

Twelve million people living in the shadows. Twelve million hiding in fear. Twelve million without rights, Twelve million without a nation, without legal covering, Twelve million not knowing if today is the day they will be separated from their children. Twelve million people living in a land without the opportunity of ever experiencing the fullness of life, embracing the hope of liberty or pursuing the promise of happiness. Yet these 12 million carry one common commodity: Hope.

Hope that the President and members of Congress that ignited a movement and ushered in change will bring down the walls of political expediency and incorporate within immigration reform the bridge to assimilation and a pathway to the American Dream. Hope that this Congress who stands committed to saving the auto industries, our banks, homeowners and healthcare will similarly apply that saving grace and spirit to these 12 million souls. Hope and Faith that this Congress will pass comprehensive immigration reform.

To that end, the fastest growing ethnic and faith demographic, Hispanic Born Again Christians and the New Evangelicals, urge the Obama Administration and Congress to pass and enact CIR as expeditiously as possible. Via our 25,434 churches and 16 million strong Hispanic Evangelical Community, The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, America's largest Hispanic Christian organization, stands committed in framing the moral imperative for CIR by reconciling both Leviticus 19, treating the stranger amongst us as one of our own and Romans 13, respecting the rule of law.

Let us be clear. As Hispanic Christians, we stand committed to the message of the Cross. However, that cross is both vertical and horizontal. It is salvation and transformation, ethos and pathos, Kingdom and society, faith and public policy, Covenant and community, righteousness and justice. Each dependent on the other, not either or, but both. We seek to reconcile a platform where John 3:16 converges with Matthew 25 while Billy Graham meets Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Masters table.

For example, as we deal with immigration, via the prism of the vertical and horizontal cross,, we humbly encourage Congress to finally pass and sign into law legislation that will protect our borders, put an end to all illegal immigration, create a market driven guest worker program and facilitate avenues by which the millions of families already in America that lack the legal status can earn such status in a manner that reflects the Judeo Christian Value system this nation was founded upon.

In addition, we urge both parties to repudiate all vestiges of xenophobia and nativism that saturates this debate. For the fact of the matter is that these immigrants are God fearing, hard working, family loving Children of God who reflect the values of our founding fathers and embrace the tenets of the American Constitution, The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Moreover, our desire is for every immigrant in America to become a productive citizen, master the English language, embrace the core values of the American idea and realize the American Dream

Finally, we understand that every day that passes without Comprehensive Immigration Reform adds tarnish to the soul of our Nation. The question arises, can this nation be saved. Let us save this nation, not by providing amnesty but by providing an earned pathway to citizenship. In the name of Justice, in the Name of righteousness, in the Name of The Divine, pass comprehensive immigration reform. By doing so we will protect our borders, protect families, and protect our values and in the end we protect the American Dream.

http://judiciary.authoring.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm

National Association of Evangelicals support Immigration Reform

2009-10-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

Hispanic NAE Applauds Sister Organization, The National Association of Evangelicals, for Passage of Immigration Reform Resolution; Rev. Samuel Rodriguez Testifies at Senate Hearing on Faith and Immigration

(Washington, D.C., Hispanic Christian Newswire) America’s largest Hispanic Christian Organization, The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), The Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals, participated in a historic vote led by the National Association of Evangelicals approving a comprehensive immigration reform resolution supporting a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented.

“On behalf of our 25,434 churches, we commend and applaud today’s resolution by our sister organization, the N.A.E. This is, without a doubt, a tipping point. We can no longer state that immigration reform stands as a Latino, immigrant or partisan issue. Today’s resolution conveys a collective message on behalf of the Evangelical community that at the end of the day, immigration reform is a matter of justice firmly grounded on biblical truth,” declared Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, NHCLC President.

The historic vote came in the midst of scheduled association Fall meeting in Glenarden, Maryland. Hispanic NAE board members who also serve on the NAE board credited Dr. Leith Anderson for the resolution.

“Without the leadership of Dr. Leith Anderson, this resolution would never have materialized. His heart and commitment to the Kingdom and his missional perspective enabled him to serve as advocate for a compassionate and biblical solution to the immigration reform debate,” stated Dr. Gilbert Velez, National NHCLC Chairman, NAE Board member and President of the Hispanic Mega Church Association.

Hispanic NAE President, Samuel Rodriguez joined Leith Anderson, Michael Gerson, Cardinal McCarrick and Jim Tolle in testifying before the Senate subcommittee on Immigration Reform. Rodriguez addressed Senators Charles Schumer, John Cornyn and Jeff Sessions declaring that the soul of the American Nation stands tarnished as a result of the treatment of the immigrant community.

“Every day that passes without comprehensive immigration reform adds tarnish to the soul of our nation. The question arises, can this nation be saved? Let us save this nation, not by providing amnesty but providing an earned pathway to citizenship. By doing so we will protect our borders, protect all families, protect our values and then and only then can we truly protect the American Dream,” added Rodriguez.

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is America’s Largest Hispanic Christian Organization serving 25,434 churches by providing leadership, fellowship, networking, partnerships and advocacy platforms to the seven directives of Life, Family, Great Commission, Stewardship, Education, Justice and Youth.

The complete text of Rev. Samuel Rodriguez’s Testimony is available at www.hispanicevangelicals.com.

Hispanic Evangelicals Push Back on Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric in Health Care Debate, Label Exclusion as “Xenophobic Health Care Reform”

2009-09-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

Washington, D.C., Hispanic Christian Newswire) America’s largest Hispanic Christian Organization, The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), The Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals, expressed disappointment and warned of continued polarization as a result of the recent incorporation of anti-immigrant rhetoric within the current Health Care debate.

“The Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals believes our nation needs Health Care Reform that reconciles affordability and accessibility with the protection of life, conscience, personal and religious liberties. We encourage all members of Congress to debate this issue with integrity, humility, and respect. Health Care reform is a matter of Social Justice driven by a moral imperative that is undeniable. The fact that millions of Americans lack health care coverage is unacceptable”, declared Dr. Gilbert Velez, NHCLC Chairman and President of the Hispanic Mega Church Association.

Hispanic Evangelicals are reacting to rhetoric recently incorporated by both parties declaring that a proof of citizenship requirement will be included in Heath Care Reform proposals prohibiting undocumented families access to coverage.

“Correspondingly, we find it to be both morally and politically disadvantageous not to include coverage for all those currently residing in our nation. To require immigrants to prove citizenship in order to purchase Health Care coverage stands as a defacto endorsement of racial profiling and continues to exacerbate the anti-immigrant sentiment currently embedded within the immigration reform debate”, explained Rev. Nick Garza, Conference Chief Operating Officer.

“To exclude the opportunity for working families to purchase coverage will place over 12 million homes in a precarious situation. This is deportation via attrition or better yet, some may label the scheme as Xenophobic Health Care Reform. We call upon all the White House, Congress and faith advocates to respectfully address this matter from the platform of Leviticus 19 as we are admonished to treat the strangers among us as one of our own”, added Garza.

The Conference is hosting town halls in Hispanic populated regions in order to discuss the impact of the proposed legislation.

Rev. Eve Nunez, Conference Vice President for Networking added “In order to pass viable Health Care Reform, America needs all stakeholders fully engaged including the Hispanic and Faith communities. Let us work together to find common ground that will insure both our physical and moral health”.

The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference serves approximately 16 million Hispanic Evangelical and Charismatic Christians via 25,434 churches by providing leadership to the 7 Directives of Life, Family, Great Commission, Stewardship, Justice, Education and Youth.

Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals identifies 7 Priorities for America’s Fastest Growing Demographic

2009-09-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

(Washington, D.C., Hispanic Christian Newswire)

America’s largest Hispanic Christian Organization, The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), The Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals, announced today the 7 Priorities the organization will focus on from now until 2015; Life, Family, Evangelism, Education, Youth , Stewardship and Justice. The announcement comes in the heel of the organization’s annual board meeting.

“21st century challenges require an evangelical community to speak on a moral and biblical platform that is culturally and prophetically relevant. As the Evangelical movement ages, we hope to make a significant contribution. We must lead with righteousness and justice as we incorporate spiritual, educational, moral and justice threads in all our work for the Cause of Christ and His Kingdom”, stated Dr. Jesse Miranda, Chief Executive Officer of the organization.

Recent surveys by Pew Research and others point to the Hispanic Evangelical community as a thriving community reinvigorating many of the evangelical denominations in America. As the sister organization of the National Association of Evangelicals, the NHCLC stands a part by culturally contextualizing the 7 priorities. The organization, while tracing its roots to the first ever Hispanic National Network, A.M.E.N, today the leadership function of its daughter organization, sees the broadening of the agenda as a sign of the times.

“Our priorities reflect our core values. Hispanic Evangelicals have a moral and biblical responsibility to address issues that reconcile both the vertical and horizontal elements of the Christian Cross. For that matter, we will channel our energy and resources for the purpose of expanding sanctity of life agenda, defending and strengthening marriage and families, fulfilling the Great Commission, and fighting for Justice, which includes advocacy for immigration reform and alleviating poverty both domestically and globally.

In addition we stand committed to our Youth as we address reducing the teenage pregnancy and the high school dropout rates, expanding educational opportunities all while framing a national platform for biblical stewardship of both our economy and environment”, explained Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, NHCLC President.

“We believe the Hispanic church will usher in a fresh move of God’s Spirit upon our nation where Holiness and Biblical Truth will once again take center stage”, he added.

The Conference will publish a document titled The Hispanic Evangelical Manifesto outlining the specific biblical foundation, supportive research and strategies for each corresponding cause. NHCLC will identify 7 strategic Non Hispanic Partners that will join the Hispanic Church in addressing the issues.

“It’s a new season. The Hispanic Evangelical church stands committed to a prophetic proclamation of the Gospel while simultaneously committed to a prophetic demonstration of biblical social justice. Our children demand it, our culture needs it, Our Lord requires it”, exclaimed Dr. Gilbert Velez, National Chairman.

For Interviews and additional information, please contact Maritza Ramirez, NHCLC Marketing and Media Director, at 916-919-7476. www.hispanicevangelicals.com and hispanicchurch@aol.com

Assemblies of God join Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals, Dr. George Wood - Serve on Advisory Board

2009-09-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

(Washington, D.C., Hispanic Christian Newswire)

America’s largest Hispanic Christian Organization, The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC), The Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals, announced today the addition to its membership roster of one America’s largest denominations, the Assemblies of God, headquartered in Springfield, Missouri.

“It is a natural fit for The Assemblies of God, already the largest Hispanic member denomination to fully join the Hispanic NAE. We have for years via AMEN and the NHCLC served the Hispanic churches in the fellowship, what is historic of this membership and partnership agreement is that we will serve all 12,000 plus churches as it relates to Hispanic American Christian values, priorities and representation as we defend Life, marriage and our biblical worldview”, stated Dr. Jesse Miranda, Chief Executive Officer of the organization.

The growth of the Pentecostal Hispanic community within the ranks of the American Evangelical community stands poised to transform the national religious landscape since, according to Pew Research and Dr. Gaston Espinosa, a Latino Evangelical expert, Hispanic Pentecostals stand committed to a strong biblical worldview particularly in issues of social and family values.

“With the recent launch of the National Hispanic Pentecostal Congress in addition to this historic membership/partnership agreement with The General Council of the Assemblies of God, we are demonstrating our commitment to serve a vibrant and powerful emerging community. The relationship between the Assemblies of God and Hispanics can be traced to the early 20th Century when AG missionaries began an outreach to Hispanics in America and abroad resulting in the Pentecostal explosion both domestically and abroad”, explained Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, NHCLC President.

In addition to membership affiliation, Assemblies of God General Superintendent, the denominations Chief Executive Officer will serve on the Association’s Board of Advisors. ”The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the Hispanic National Association of Evangelicals, serves our Fellowship of over 12,000 churches, particularly in representing the values of our Hispanic brethren by defending biblical marriage, life, and advocating social justice from a biblical world view”, stated Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in America.

The Assemblies of God offers a number of academic opportunities via colleges, universities and bible institutes throughout the nation, a compelling feature for the growing Hispanic American Pentecostal community.

“The fact that Jesse, Sam and I are Assemblies of God ministers speaks to the prominent role this fellowship exercises within our American and Global Christian family. We are proud to be part of this fellowship and blessed to serve the church as we build a multi- ethnic Kingdom Culture firewall against moral relativism, spiritual apathy and cultural decay”, added Dr. Gilbert Velez, Board Chairman.

Is Anyone Minding the Unemployment Nightmare?

2009-09-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Fidel "Butch" Montoya
H. S. Power & Light Ministries - Latino Faith Initiative

One of the most frightening scenarios I envision for our country’s future results from the number of people who are standing in unemployment lines across our country without any prospect of finding a job, either full-time or part-time. Unemployment statistics keep rising with no end in sight. As politicians search for answers, the unemployment rate continues to escalate, this past month, creeping closer to 10%, the highest percentage in 26 years.

Many laid-off people are nearing the end of their government options for receiving unemployment benefits. Unemployed workers receive 26 weeks of unemployment benefits after losing their jobs. As an emergency measure, the government has added another 13 weeks in hopes that workers will find jobs during that period.

Unfortunately, the unemployment rate continues to inch up, with the last report from the government showing 9.7% of Americans are without jobs. In August, another 466,000 joined the 14.9 million Americans out of work. When you look at the number of companies still laying off employees, the future for many workers is bleak, even dire.

In Michigan, the unemployment rate is closer to 15% with the production of cars and trucks continuing to fall. Factories are shutting shut down due to poor car sales; others are running at less than their production capacity.

The government gimmick of “Cash for Clunkers” was a success; with most car dealers pleasantly surprised at the number of vehicles they ended up selling during the $3 billion dollar corporate welfare program. Consumers who traded in their “clunker” received a $4,500 rebate, and some dealers added another several thousand-dollar incentive to the government rebate, making it very attractive to junk their clunker.

“Cash for Clunkers” worked in adding 31,000 people to the job rolls. Unfortunately, now that the incentives are no longer in place, car buying is down as consumers are weary of buying big-ticket items again. Motor vehicle and parts companies lost 15,000 jobs in August.

With so many workers out of work and trying for the first time to reach unemployment offices to apply for unemployment benefits, they have encountered an uncaring bureaucracy that defies description.

In Colorado, where Don Mares is the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, he has faced an avalanche of criticism and heat from frustrated jobless persons, frustrated by their attempts to get unemployment benefits either online or by telephone.

One caller wrote to 9News/NBC in Denver about her experience on the telephone: “I haven't been this frustrated in a LONG TIME. I've been trying to call over 100 times a day (at least) for over 2 weeks, but have called in off and on for longer than that. I've got kiddos that need food on the table and I'm running out of time to get the money rolling in. You would THINK that it being this big of a problem they would be open for longer hours AT LEAST, have the people that are working there take turns getting some OT, I'm sure their wallets could use it and then in turn more people would get processed and so they can have the money in their wallets for bills and food. This whole process is a DISGRACE!”

Similar stories are common around the country because state labor departments were simply not ready to address the tsunami of jobless workers seeking some sort of financial assistance.

In California, before an additional 1,650 new call takers came on board this spring, callers trying to find out information about unemployment benefits needed to dial the department a whopping 42 times to reach a person at the other end. What is even more astounding is that more than 85 per cent of the 50 million calls attempted in the month of January were turned away.

Even more overwhelming for unemployed Californians is that it still takes 17 calls to reach a live operator at the unemployment office. MercuryNews.com reports that nearly two-thirds of the 18.9 million calls made in July were rejected because the phone service was too busy. Talk about added frustration as desperate jobless workers just try to find answers from local government job agencies.

Just to give you an idea of the cost to states resulting from unemployment, consider what is happening in California. MercuryNews.com reports that the Employment Development Department says it has already distributed $12.5 billion in unemployment insurance benefits this year - 50 per cent more than the record $8.1 billion paid out in all of 2008. In addition, many people, because of federal extensions of unemployment benefits, are staying on state rolls longer than usual.

With many workers close to exhausting their unemployment benefits, workers have to turn to jobs where many are barely making the minimum wage. Even though these workers may want full-time jobs, having to settle for part-time work or jobs that they really don’t want or are trained for, puts them in a class of worker the government terms “underemployment.”

Another class of workers are “discouraged workers.” These are workers who give up seeking work because they believe no jobs are available to them. The Department of Labor is faced with a growing number of “discouraged workers.”

In a recent press release, the department issued some more bad news: “About 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in August, reflecting an increase of 630,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”

In other words, with unemployment benefits drying up, and workers not looking for work because in the prior 12 months they had been unable to find a job, many are cast aside hope of finding a job. With the economy still sputtering, the future is not looking very hopeful for many workers seeking employment.

What is equally troubling is the fact that the Department of Labor does not even count these indisputably unemployed people as “unemployed” because four weeks prior to the survey they had given up looking for work. So, instead of adding these thousands of workers to the unemployment rolls, it looks like the government has simply written them off like the banks have written off toxic assets or mortgages.

If only it were that easy to erase the number of Americans without work, but these jobless workers are still out there suffering the loss of self esteem, pride and professional networking, not to mention facing a future of hopelessness. In addition, the real issue we cannot overlook is that these workers without jobs are real people with real families and real needs.

These figures also do not reflect the millions who are working part-time jobs hoping to make up for hours cut back from their regular jobs, or working these jobs because they simply have been unable to land full-time jobs.

Can you believe millions of American workers are facing a future with little or no hope in the land of the free and home of the brave? That can’t be happening - or can it? Why is it that the billion dollar bail out in stimulus dollars no longer affect our economy? Where do jobless workers turn to when unemployment benefits run out and jobs are still unavailable?

Yet, we continue to hear the President and other government leaders say the worst of the down economy may be over and that things should be looking up. The recession, which is officially over one year old, is finally – maybe – hopefully – ending.

Even Colorado officials are saying that the Colorado job market is getting better without any significant increase in unemployment as one sign the market could be stabilizing. Hard to picture this employment environment so rosy when in 2008 the unemployment rate was 4.9%. Today, that unemployment rate is 7.8%!

Keep in mind that most of the unemployed workers who cannot find suitable jobs are used to working for a wage and living. They bought into the American Dream like the rest of us, and now find their dream turning into a nightmare. The question that lurks in the minds of many workers is, “Are we closer to the unemployment line than we care to think?”

These workers living the nightmare cannot make mortgage payments or pay their rent. In some cases, their cars are being reposed because of non-payment. Families who were used to a middle-class standard of living are now finding out that dreams alone do not foot the bills.

As more workers find they are unable to find employment, what is going to happen to thousands of families unable to meet their monthly payment obligations? As desperation begins to grow, what will become of these families as they discover that about the only alternative to not finding work may be homelessness? During the Great Depression, there were close to two million homeless families migrating across the country.

Those of us who have read John Steinbeck’s classic, “Of Mice and Men,” are familiar with the sad and desperate stories of the Great Depression. Many of us empathized with the lives of jobless workers who, out of anxiety and anguish, looked for any means to support their families.

While the President assures us that we are not headed to the Great Depression of 2009, one has to wonder about the jobless who cannot find work. Are they already facing their personal Great Depression?

Boyd Huppert, a reporter for KARE/NBC in Minneapolis, recently profiled workers at Checkers, a local popular fast-food hamburger joint. Huppert’s report demonstrated what this anemic economy is forcing workers to do survive the unprecedented “underemployment problem” facing our country.

What Huppert found was a mother lode of laid-off professionals now flipping burgers and frying French fries. He found homebuilders, a civil engineer, a former executive chef and an area manager for Walgreens among the workers in this hamburger joint. All barely working because - in spite of their years of experience and college degrees - this is the only work they could find.

What surprised Huppert was there were hundreds of others who wanted these jobs.

Huppert reported, “All of the workers with whom we talked at the Checkers were helpful, determined and happy to be employed, yet none of them were where they expected to be. You could go the [University of Minnesota] to study the way the economy is changing us – or you could stop for a burger and listen.”

The high unemployment rate hits minority groups and teenagers the hardest. Whites had an unemployment rate of 8.9 per cent, Latinos at 13 per cent, Blacks at 15.1 per cent, the highest it has been since 1986, and Asians at 7.5%. Teenagers, who generally worked some of the part-time jobs now taken by underemployed adults, face a record high 25.5 per cent unemployment rate.

While the government has taken unprecedented steps to try to turn the economy around, the number of jobs that are being cut from the economy easily overshadows any progress made. The new economy is not creating new jobs and that is a fact we are going to have to face as more Americans look for a job.

While the country debates a national health care bill, continues to debate the war in Iraq, and begins to worry about a larger intervention in a war in Afghanistan that many military officials say we cannot win, shouldn’t we be equally concerned about the growing unemployed workers in desperate need of a job?

Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, trying to explain the current job market and the contradiction of the unemployment numbers from the last two months, are still baffled. Although job loses in July were less than June, the unemployment numbers still rose.

In the FoxBusiness Report, two economists try to explain what may be going on. “The sharp rise in unemployment that we have seen,” economists Murat Tasci and Kyle Fee wrote, “is not due primarily to a sharp rise in separations but rather to the fact that once unemployed, the chance of finding employment has fallen dramatically. This means that unemployment durations are getting longer.”

The long-term prognosis is that we may not see any substantial creation of the quality jobs the economy has lost. As the economy tries to rebound, we may just find ourselves lowering our standard of living because many quality jobs may be a thing of the past.

I trust someone high in the Obama Administration is developing an employment policy to address a very volatile unemployment situation. With thousands of homeless and jobless Americans joining the unemployment lines, this is not what many will consider a sound economic recovery.

Meanwhile, is anyone paying attention to the number of people reaching the point of desperation? What will become of the thousands of workers who, having exhausted their unemployment benefits, still cannot find full-time employment and face the dread and fear of losing their homes, cars, livelihoods, self-esteem and, ultimately, any vestige of the American Dream?

This column first appeared at www.latinolandscape.com

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked as a broadcast journalist for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed as a minister in 1972.

Health Care or Just More Headaches

2009-08-25T19:00:00.001-07:00

By Fidel "Butch" Montoya

It is a shame that a full debate cannot take place on the different versions of the health care plan passed out of the committees in Congress without having to deal with all the gimmicks and chaos, and unfortunately, in some cases, violence.

I believe we need universal health care.It is unfortunate that the controversial details of the plan are not being taken seriously and, as a result, there have been no responses in a reasonable manner.

Many of the "lies" that are being spewed by many enraged and annoyed protestors still need answers, and the counter claims made by the proponents of the Obama care plan are just adding to the misinformation. As a result, we have seen this misinformation create more confusion, chaos and irritation in many of the Congressional town hall meetings.

For example, President Obama, at the AARP town meeting, claimed the national seniors organization had endorsed the health care plan. His press secretary, Robert Gibbs later had to explain that the president had “misspoke.”

In fact, AARP have not endorsed the Obama care plan and have serious questions that they want answered before endorsing the plan. Gibbs says the president “misspoke,” or is that a polite way of acknowledging that the president wasn’t telling the exact truth?

The reality is that the passion, anger and desire for change generated by candidate Obama has now become the hallmark of the opponents of the health plan. Community organizers have brought together crowds of people who are angry and fed up with government spending that has led to a record deficit.

Ironically, what worked for candidate Obama seems to be working for opponents of Obama care.

Mark Halperin, the editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time magazine, has expressed what I believe to be what many protestors want in their calls for a full debate on the issue. Halperin wrote:

"Of course we want a full debate. Of course, we want people who have dissenting views from the administration and Congress to have a full hearing. However, that is not what this is about. That is not the intent of most of these people. It's not the way the press is covering it."

While I agree that perhaps some of the town hall protests may have been orchestrated, it is giving the extreme right wing of the Republicans far too much credit to think that they could organize the widespread concern and anger that people across this country are feeling.

I believe it comes back to the fact the health care plan is being rushed too quickly without taking the time to answer the questions - legitimate questions and concerns that people are asking.

The chaos and anger – all the shoving and shouting - have pushed aside the valid arguments and costs of the health care plan. It is practically impossible for issues related to the health care plan to receive a fair debate at this point. Too much bad blood is creating a deep rift between proponents and opponents of the health care plan.

Political pundits say that in 1994, when President Clinton proposed his health care plan, it was even more unpopular than the president's plan today.That is increasingly becoming hard to believe.

One of the biggest differences is that the Internet is playing a larger role in disseminating facts and "lies". Because the president’s staff and the Democratic leadership ignored and did not react responsibly and decisively to answer all questions and “lies” raised by opponents, we have found the value of the Internet has worked in the opponent’s favor.

Still, all of the turmoil and chaos of the town hall meetings does not take away from the fact that we need to have this health care debate. While the president will continue to push his health care plan, the debate cannot continue on this negative tone.It is unfortunate that we have found ourselves in a very bad place in our country.

There needs to be an open debate on "the president's plan". If the protesters have ideas, everyone needs to hear them. But if they're just stunts and gimmicks being used to cause disruption in order to get the media's attention, I believe their strategy in the long run is bad for the country, whether you want the president's plan or not.

What concerns me more than the present debate on health care is the fact that I believe the future debate on comprehensive immigration reform has been compromised.

The current atmosphere in our country has reached a real critical crisis point by the lack of civil debate and discourse. While some of the "actors of the health care debate" have disrupted the national debate, they have also empowered other opponents of the debate who had legitimate questions as well.

In fact, President Obama has gone back on his election promise to make comprehensive immigration reform a priority in the first year of his presidency. He now says the debate on immigration reform will not take place until sometime in 2010.

Other seemingly promising proponents of comprehensive immigration reform have also disappointed those of us expecting an end to the immigration stalemate with a Democratic president and Congress.

Senator Schumer of New York has become increasingly hostile and tough on those he now calls “illegal immigrants.” In order to look tougher on immigration reform, Schumer has used words generally reserved for right-wing extremists and opponents of immigration reform.

The president’s own Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has even gone further by saying that reform may not be necessary at all. She went on to say a greater emphasis on enforcement would resolve many of the problems related to immigration reform. In fact, Homeland Security has continued to follow the mean-spirited polices of the Bush Administration, particularly when it come to raiding homes, place of employment and entertainment.

Unfortunate the angry and hateful tone of the health care debate has poisoned the water for future debate on immigration reform.

The outcome of the health care debate will determine whether future immigration reform will face a difficult and bumpy road when the debate starts on that controversial topic.

That debate will also depend on whether or not the anti-immigration forces take advantage of the turmoil and anger felt across our country, and use it to harness the unrest and chaos to their favor. I fear that a new chapter in civil disobedience and the lack of civility has entered a frightening stage in our country.

Regardless, the opportunity for passage of comprehensive immigration reform bill will become a difficult challenge in the future. It means we must be more vigilant as we move forward in our fight for justice and righteousness.

Unfortunately, what some pundits thought was the right time as far as passing new immigration reform – the present - will discover that it will not be easy to accomplish this time around.The ugly health care reform debate has hurt the chances for passage of immigration reform.

While we attempt to move forward with the health care debate and listen to the questions related to many of the contentious issues related to health care, and as we strive to work for consensus, let us pray that the national narrative will not continue in the same angry and mean-spirited tone poisoning today’s climate.

While it is critical that we find a way to create a health care plan that serves the needs of every American, we must work together.

We also need to change the tone and temperament of this current debate so that any future debates on issues of concern to our country – including immigration reform - can take place without all of the turmoil and chaos brought about by the present health care debate and debacle.

It is time for both liberals and the conservatives to realize their tricks-of-the-trade are causing what many consider a serious division in our country that will not be so easy to navigate and correct.

The time for bickering is over. Can we all just get along?

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This column first appeared at www.latinolandscape.com

Fidel "Butch" Montoya is Director of H.S. Power and Light Ministries. He was the Vice President/News Director of KUSA Channel 9 News from 1985-1990, and worked as a broadcast journalist for 24 years. Montoya also served as Deputy Mayor of City and County of Denver from 1995-1999; as the Manager of Public Safety for the City and County of Denver from 1994-2000. Montoya was Licensed as a minister in 1972.