Remember Arizona's Rep. Kyrsten Sinema? Well she is at her populist self again ... this time supporting the likes of Donald Trump and his immigration rhetoric.
Pelosi, House Democrats Throw Down For Immigrant Families As House GOP Passes Donald Trump Act
Under Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s direction, with major assists from Immigration Subcommittee Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, nearly all House Democrats — 174 in total — voted against the harmful, Steve King-sanctioned measure, which would severely undermine community policing strategies designed by local law enforcement to build trust with all residents they are charged with protecting.
Let this be a cautionary tale for Democrats in the Senate, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who has talked about working on her own legislation.
We already know Republicans aren’t looking for a policy solution. They don’t want to work in good faith on bipartisan immigration reform. They want the sound bite. They want the headline. And their sound bites and headlines demonize the immigrant community. Anyone who considers himself or herself a champion for that community cannot be a champion while trying to appease our staunchest opponents.
The 174 House Democrats who held the line for families should be applauded. Click here to find out how your House Member voted and please send him or her a thank you message or call if they did the right thing (and the opposite if they did not).
Unfortunately, six Democrats made the wrong choice and sided with the Steve King wing of the GOP, while eight Democrats sat out the vote entirely. The Democrats who voted against immigrants were: Reps. Ami Bera of California, Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Bill Keating of Massachusetts, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Krysten Sinema of Arizona.
A little bit about Sinema ... Democratic leaders like Carlos Galindo chant "no mas" on State Senator Kyrsten Sinema's SB1225 bill where she boasted of getting "tough....on immigration". Several activists told her not to support the bill, and Senator Sinema was told to kill the bill several weeks ago by Hispanic Democratic community leaders and activists. She had people jailed who voted and supported her in her own district. Sinema wants to take Russell Pearce's path as an Arizona Democratic legislator who is playing with Latino fire. This doesn't surprise us....after all, Obama promised Latinos he would work on passing immigration with 90 days, but he sold them down the Rio Grande River. Now Sinema wants to sell them down the river, too. We want Sinema to kill the bill. Arizona is notorious for over-criminalizing laws that are already on the books. Sinema and Pearce ought to tackle the budget, the deficit and job creation.
Watch video here.
(Above) Arizona Kyrsten Sinema asks security to detain Liberal Latino Leader Carlos Galindo as he protests her for getting tough on immigration within the State of Arizona. Video taken by DeeDee Garcia Blase in 2011.
