®*!' ^forilanh (Obserurr
September3, 2014
Page 7
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the
Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and
story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
Earning an Immigration Red Card
Stalling reform
further alienates
Latino voters
R aul A. R eyes
Rep.
Luis
Gutierrez, D-Ill., used
a World Cup analogy
to castigate his Re
publican colleagues
for blocking immigra
tion reform. “Leave the field, too
many flagrant offenses and un
fair attacks. You’re out,” Gutierrez
said. “Hit the showers. It’s the
red card.”
(In case you’re not into soc
cer: Referees bestow red cards
on players they deem guilty of
misconduct warranting expulsion
from the field. These infractions
leave a team down a player and at
a big disadvantage.)
President Barack Obama has
no choice but to take executive
action on immigration, Gutierrez
added. He’s right. Yet Republi
cans shouldn’t celebrate the de
feat of immigration reform, even
if Obama made it a top priority.
Not only have GOP lawmakers
by
responded disgracefully to the
child migrant crisis along the bor
der, they’re setting themselves
up for a demographic slap in the
face in 2016— courtesy of Latino
voters.
The Republican response
to the current crisis on the
border has been long on
rhetoric, short on solutions.
For example, Sen. Jeff Ses-
Y sions, R-Ala., holds Obama
“personally responsible”
for “incentivizing” children to
com e to the U n ited S tates
through the Deferred Action for
C hildhood A rrivals program
(DACA). The program grants
undocumented youth relief from
deportation, but it’s not com
prehensive. The Obama admin
istration is deporting undocu
mented imm igrants at record
levels, and its deferred action
policy doesn’t apply to recent
arrivals.
Republican lawmakers aren’t
letting the facts interfere with
their grandstanding.
C onsider the thousands of
unaccompanied minors who this
summer overwhelmed the Bor
der Patrol in South Texas. U.S.
government officials believe that
these kids were making the dan
gerous journey north because
traffickers have promised them
that they could stay here, and
because their home countries
are awash in violence.
Yet this crisis actually makes
the case for reform. Had the
House passed the immigration
bill that the Senate approved
last year, it could have cleared
up confusion about our immi
gration policy. Moreover, the
Senate bill included additional
money for Border Patrol agents
and for more fencing. These
beefed-up security provisions
were called the “border surge.”
In response, House Republi
cans sat on their hands. So, the
only “border surge” w e’re ex
periencing today is one of des
perate children fleeing Central
America.
The fact that Republicans have
seized on the child migrant cri
sis as their latest excuse for not
passing immigration reform is
as unconscionable as it is disin
genuous. The UN High Com
m issioner on Refugees esti
mates that about 60 percent of
these children may be eligible
for humanitarian status. These
kids shouldn’t be used to score
political points — they deserve
humane treatment and compas
sion.
The G O P’s other excuses for
not dealing with immigration fall
flat too. They range from the
budget sequester to the Boston
Marathon bombing to Syria to
not trusting Obama.
The bad news for Republi
cans is that the GOP is firmly
saddled with the blame for kill
ing immigration reform since
2007. T hat’s bound to cost them
in the 2016 general elections
and could boost the Democrats’
prospects in the 2014 midterms.
A June survey by Latino De
cisions found that 74 percent of
Latinos said they would view
Republicans less favorably if
reform didn’t pass, significantly
diminishing their chances of re
taking the White House.
True, not all Republicans op
pose immigration reform. Sena
tors John McCain, R-Ariz., and
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., both
worked with their colleagues
across the aisle to craft the Sen
ate immigration bill, only to have
their voices drow ned out by
House hardliners.
And just because reform has
died legislatively doesn’t mean
nothing can be done. Obama
has said that he would take ex
ecutive action on deportations
once there was no chance of
reform passing Congress. Pro
imm igrant measures continue
to pass at the state level, with 11
states allowing undocumented
immigrants to obtain driver’s
licenses and New York consid
ering a “state citizenship” plan
for undocumented workers.
Meanwhile, immigration activ
ists will soon turn their attention
to voter registration and to help
ing elect candidates pledging to
back new immigration laws. Im
migration reform may be dead in
Congress for now, but change
will come.
H ouse R epublicans have
squandered a historic opportu
nity. They should be ashamed of
their deliberate inaction on immi
gration and unsurprised when they
face the consequences at the polls.
Raul A. Reyes is an attorney
and columnist in New York City.
Ferguson is a Critical Reminder for All Cities
Trust is a
perishable
commodity
greater trust between police of
ficers and the people we serve is
paramount; particularly among
those communities whose rela
tionship and history with the Po
lice Bureau has sometimes been
by M ichael R eese
strained. Trust is a perish
As we watch the
able commodity; it's some
tragic
ev en ts
in
thing we must work on
Ferguson unfold, there
every day.
are som e pow erful
At the Portland Police
themes that have come
Bureau, we have had a lot
to the forefront and
of conversations recently
have emerged as critical remind about building legitimacy for the
ers for all cities and law enforce work we do in protecting the
ment agencies across America.
public. These unfortunate circum
The importance of building stances in Missouri help make
‘^'tJo rtlan h (Obstruer
P u b l is h e r :
E d it o r .
Established 1970
Mark Washington, Sr.
M ich a el L eig h to n
E xecutive D irector :
Rakeem Washington
C reative D irector :
P aul N e u fe ld t
O ffice M anagf . r /C iassifieds :
A dvertising M anager :
clear to me, and hopefully to ev
eryone in our community, that
creating a police-community re
lationship built on trust is our
most important obligation.
A law enforcement agency
must mirror the community in
which it serves. In Portland, we
continue to increase diversity as
we hire new police officers. We
are committed to building strong
partnerships with community
members and agencies that assist
us in serving and protecting the
people of Portland.
Police use of force and the
policies and training that accom
USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0
R eporter /P hotographer Donovan M.
Smith
ing or high-profile incident, we
are committed to transparency.
There is no daylight between
our values as an organization and
the values and expectations the
community has for their police
officers. This is important to all
of us. Our Portland Police Offic
ers go out every day committed
to doing their very best to serve
and protect our community. As
an agency, we pledge to continue
to develop and enhance our ser
vices to match our community's
expectations.
Michael Reese is Portland’s
Chief o f Police.
4747 N E Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied
by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or
personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORT
LAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The
Portland Observer-Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association -Founded in 1885, and The
National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association
Lucinda Baldwin
Leonard Latin
pany it need to be continually
reviewed and improved upon. The
Portland Police Bureau has made
significant changes to our use of
force policies and training aimed
at reducing use of force and im
proving de-escalation tactics. Our
use of force numbers have de
clined over the last four years,
and all uses of physical force are
investigated by a supervisor. Citi
zen complaints also have de
creased.
Finally, communication, includ
ing listening, remains the key to
better understanding. When we
have an officer-involved shoot
news @portlandobserver, com
CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015
ads@portlandobserver. com
subset
P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8