Civil Rights and Immigration Lawyer, Shirl Mora James — President of Somos Independents reminds Senator Ted Cruz why he should support the Gang Of Eight and Legal Immigration Reform:

Unfortunately, Cruz has forgotten that we also have a legacy of slavery, the Indian Wars, Chinese exclusion laws, the Jim Crow Laws, etc., which is why immigration reform is so necessary in regards to immigration law. It is a bit hypocritical for Cruz to be so anti-immigrant when his own father was a Cuban immigrant.

Somos Independents is a Mexican-American and woman-led movement that encourages Latinos to vote and participate in the political process.  It is an organization that supports immigration reform that will help grow our economy while fixing the broken immigration system.

Shirl Mora James made the above statement in light of discovering how Cruz has flip flopped his immigration position.  Republican critics now scoff at the Texan’s opposition to a pathway to citizenship because they know his history.

According to The Atlantic:

Bush, a self-described “compassionate conservative,” went on to win the presidency and champion a law that would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants to earn citizenship. Cruz went on to win election to the Senate from Texas as a hero of the tea party movement and emerge as a sharp critic of a pathway to citizenship in the latest attempt at immigration reform on Capitol Hill.

The route Cruz chose, from working on the reform-minded Bush campaign to voting against the bill Wednesday as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, confounds some of those who crossed paths with him. His role on the Bush campaign is a lesser-known part of the biography of a politician increasingly viewed as a potential presidential contender in 2016.

“I’m disappointed in Ted because he’s a very bright, articulate lawyer with a substantial base of knowledge about immigration,” said Houston lawyer Charles Foster, who advised the Bush campaign on immigration and said he worked closely with Cruz. “But instead of using that knowledge, he’s acting like a typical politician and just talking about the border being out of control.”

FULL STORY HERE>>>

Cuban-American Cruz becomes the convenient “Hispanic” while he stabs the many Mexican-American families living in Texas in the back.  The majority of the Latin population in the United States (almost 70%) and in Texas are of Mexican descent.  He wants the media to go to him on Hispanic issues, but does not vote what the majority of us are screaming for in our communities.

It’s no wonder DREAM Act activists all across the Nation have been referring to him as a “vendido.”

The tail has been wagging the dog, but it will be time for the dog to wag the tail. Cruz has been backstabbing Mexican-American families.

The Southern Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions seems to have a lot to say even though he does not represent a border state in our Union and lives in the State of Alabama that has only 4% Latin population.  Many of the Latinos living in Alabama are indeed Americans with Latin backgrounds, but the few undocumented immigrants in the State of Alabama have helped Alabama’s agricultural output by the billions providing more non-farm labor jobs to native-born American workers.

There are 48,000 people in Alabama who call themselves farmers, and for generations those few families have dedicated their lives to creating a $4.7 billion business — Alabama’s largest.

Economic think tank, CATO Institute writes:

“According to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are 3.1 related jobs off the farm for every job on the farm. Eliminating the on-farm jobs would put at risk many more jobs paying middle-class wages and employing native-born American workers.”

Does Jeff Sessions know how much the agricultural industry depends on immigrant ag labor?

When will Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) communicate to the their members that Jeff Session is one of the most restrictionist and protectionist southern Republicans in our Union?   Where is Rogers S Rocky Top Farm at?

What about these other Alabama farms?

1. Sullivan Jersey Farm
2. Noxibee River Farm
3. Johnathan Wooldridge
4. Michael Dial Farms
5. Sara Buck

If Sessions is so concerned about jobs (even though immigrant labor provides more jobs), why doesn’t he reduce farm subsidies and create jobs from the $40 million given to these Alabama agricultural companies?  Some reasons to reduce welfare for farmers can be read here.

Does Sessions have any idea the following:

- The cattle industry is one of Alabama’s largest agricultural products in terms of cash income?

- Agriculture reaches far beyond the farm gate.  Alabama’s agribusiness industries account for 476,000 jobs with annual earnings of more than $9 billion — that’s 21% of the state’s workforce. 

- Indeed, 85% of all jobs created by agriculture are not on the farm at all!

- Industries account for more than $43 billion or 22% of the state’s direct output — more than any other industry.

Alabama’s Agricultural Economic Output

Why doesn’t Jeff Sessions reduce the millions and millions of Alabama farm subsidy recipients  that totaled $45,003,000 in  2011?

In 2011, Alabama’s farmers said that without the immigrant farm labor they depend on, they will soon be forced out of business. The exodus of immigrants has already created a labor shortage and they do not want to lose their family farms. Like many other states, undocumented workers are the backbone of Alabama’s farming industry.  Alabama farmers have spoken out saying  immigrants are the only ones willing to do this kind of back-breaking farm field labor.

From the Washington Post regarding farm concerns in light of anti-immigrant and restrictionist laws:

Farmers and state officials have said that some produce was left to rot in the field last year because there weren’t enough workers to help with the harvest.Farmers have claimed not enough U.S. citizens want the jobs, but some said the issue is actually that producers won’t offer a high enough wage to attract legal workers.

Brett Hall, Alabama’s deputy agriculture commissioner, said nurseries across south Alabama are trying to find workers to fill about 2,000 jobs ahead of the spring growing season. Many nursery growers are staffing job fairs in hopes of attracting employees, he said.

It’s a start…

Democratic politician via Barry West of Tennessee apologizes to Mexican-American community today and recognizes our contributions and our efforts.  Bottom line:  He admits what he said, he apologizes, he wishes he never said it, he wishes he never targeted groups, and he has learned his lesson.

Barry West, a Coffee County Tennessee commissioner returned my phone call today with regard to the Mexican remark he made to the the Tullahoma News.  He said he returned my call because I did not block my number and I did not leave a hateful message.  He told me he has been receiving hateful emails and threats.  He cancelled his facebook account and changed his email recently in light of the numerous non-delightful emails he has received.

In my voice mail to Mr. West … I communicated to him that I was a Gulf War I woman veteran who served my country honorably and I expressed my frustration with regard to the anti-Mexican rhetoric I perceived.

He called me back and said he was a veteran, too –  of the Vietnam war and confessed to serving and working with fellow Mexican-Americans who fought beside him in that American war.  I was glad West acknowledged Mexicans as “hardest working sons of guns.”  You see — I believe we are hard workers, too.

He said:

“I’m a God fearing people loving human being. I’m not a bigot, I’m not a racist. The Mexicans he served with in Vietnam War were just as diligent as anybody. We were Americans fighting an American war together.”

Speaking with Barry West … I have come to the absolute conclusion there is still a disturbing and wrong perception out there in southern parts of our Nation where many forget about the economic contributions Mexicans have given to the United States economy.  We have a lot of work yet to do with regard to educating and reminding people in those dark ignorant places when indeed Mexicans contribute billions and billions of dollars to our economy.  Immigrants do pay sales taxes, gasoline taxes, liquor taxes, tobacco taxes and so on.  In addition to that, immigrants offer a competitive labor wage rate KEEPING OUR FOOD PRICES AFFORDABLE.  If it were not for the Mexicans — agricultural farm industries would die.  But this economic fact is not getting out there enough with regard to the contributions given by those of Mexican descent.  Therefore I did a bit of research:

In Coffee County, there are approximately 93.1% white person, 3.9% black persons and 3.9% brown persons (of Latin descent):

Coffee County Population Statistics in Tennessee

Here is what the population looks like in Tennessee:

Tennessee population

The point in bringing to light the various ethnic groups and population living in Tennessee has much to do with the bad information that is out there regarding Mexicans.

Apparently there are people out there who believe Mexicans are taking advantage of welfare benefits when in all actuality  the majority of welfare recipients are Anglo.  In other words … Tennessee cannot blame Mexicans for being one of the top ten Welfare states in our Union when the majority of the people living in there are Anglo.  Approximately 80% living in the State of Tennessee are Anglo, about 17% are African-American and only 4.7% are of Latin descent.   The majority of the Mexicans who live in Tennessee work in the agricultural industry and  they are helping the United States American farmer keep their businesses afloat.

That said, it seems everyone is ignoring the large elephant in the room with regard to farm subsidies.

Did you know that Tennessee ranks 25 out 50 with regard to receiving farm subsidies?

Farmers are getting billions of dollars in ‘welfare’ a/k/a subsidies, too, and of those billions — only 10 percent of the farms are getting 87% of those subsidies. How does that happen?

Here’s a snapshot below:

Snapshot of Tennessee Farm Subsidies

As you can see….we have a lot of work to do with regard to writing about the economic contributions of the Mexicans. We will no longer stand for drafting Mexicans only to deport them later.  We are the most patriotic people you will ever meet and it is high time we start treating fellow man like human beings.

Bottom line: We are going to be the ones who save our elderly regardless of race, religion and whatever via sustaining social security benefits.

Immigrants will also help to become the new taxpayers that will sustain the aging white baby boom generation (currently usurping approximately 60% of the federal tax payer revenues due to Social Security, medicare and medicaid).

We ought to stop targeting ethnic groups and help one another moving forward.  The blame game gets us nowhere.  Thinking out of the box and finding solutions are helpful.

On a last note:  While I was in the military … I was taught not to view fellow comrades as white, black,  brown or yellow. We were taught that green was the only color we should see when serving with one another because green was the color of our Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) as we all continue to fight for freedom and the preservation of our Nation.

Here’s a little reminder on how the US and Mexico sought to work together during WWII via this propaganda poster. This poster was all over Houston, South Texas and California. (Photo shared by Russell Contreras)

For Immediate Release– May 3, 2013
Cinco de Mayo Weekend Celebration
[email protected]
Shirl Mora James, President and Civil Rights and Immigration Lawyer –
DeeDee Garcia Blase, Communications –

Mexican-American Women-led Political National Organization Slams Tennessee County Commissioner Barry West for his anti-Mexican remark

Lincoln, NE / Phoenix, AZ — Somos Independents (a national Latina-led political movement) believe the Tennessee County Commissioner Barry West ought to apologize for his anti-Mexican remarks. We believe xenophobia is on the rise in light of Mexican-Americans accounting for almost 70% of the Latin population pie. Xenophobes are afraid the fabric of our great Nation is at risk even though Mexican-Americans continue to spill our blood defending Her.

Mexican-Americans contribute to patriotism in our Country. In addition to this — we believe in taking care of our elderly. There is no need for the likes of Barry West to be afraid of our ethnic group since many of us know we are going to be the ones who will ensure social security benefits will continue despite the aging white baby boom population. Mexican-Americans contribute billions and billions of tax dollars and we will not allow Barry West to minimize our efforts and contributions any longer.

Mexican-American Patriots continue to enlist and serve our military today. We volunteer because we have patriotic hearts and we love the United States of America. Several of us remember our grandfathers, uncles and/or ancestors who were drafted, and a great number of them spilled their blood to defend our country in a time of war. We honor them for that.

Americans of Mexican descent have been fighting for the United States since the American Revolution. In fact, Latinos served as “rough riders” with Teddy Roosevelt and were recognized for that patriotism under the former President.

During World War I, approximately one third of the U.S. population was recent immigrants; the United States implemented a draft for the war effort (drafting many of Mexican descent). Ten years after the war, the economy slowed down and the U.S. adopted a repressive anti-immigration policy against “Mexicans,” using mass deportation roundups and repatriation that forced many established Latinos out of their homes and forced the separation of families. These events occurred during the economic depression of 1929-1939 in a backlash to create jobs for European Americans. Thus, they deprived Mexican-Americans of their public- and private-sector jobs and ignored many past contributions to the military and our nation.

We will no longer allow the likes of Barry West to forget the contributions of Mexican-Americans who spilled our blood and unafraid to go to the frontlines during war drafts — in an effort to protect this great Nation blessed by our Creator.

###

SOMOS INDEPENDENTS (formerly known as the National Tequila Party Movement) is a woman-led political movement. It is our goal to communicatto women and Latina matriarchs across the nation with regard to the need in fixing the broken immigration system. We organize events, and college rallies that encourages a massive Latino Get Out The Vote and political participation. This movement is a non-partisan movement. We don’t care how people vote, we just want them to get on the early ballot system, become consistent primary and general election voters.

American GI Forum Dr. Hector Garcia

Senator John Cornyn of Texas is up for re-election in 2014.  Texas Senator John Cornyn is also the Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs -- but what good does that do when  he is Missing In Action (MIA) on legal comprehensive immigration reform efforts? In fact, according to a Congressional Record search via the Library of Congress, the Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs has basically been MIA since the late 90's.

Indeed the State of Texas shares a whopping 64% of it’s border length with Mexico — yet both Texas Senators are nowhere to be found on legal immigration reform that will fix the much needed broken immigration system.   If Jeb Bush plans on running for President in 2016, he ought to convince these Texas Senators why they should help American families who are of Mexican descent and who can help ease tax burdens.   Current American tax payers do not want an increase in our taxes burdens, and we should create new tax payers from those who are already here buying houses, cars and etc.

Almost a year ago today, Sen. Cornyn made a controversial statement about Arizona’s SB1070 law when he made his “mañana” comment.

Now “mañana” is “today” for Mr. Cornyn.

According to an opinion by Cesar Vargas featured in the Houston Chronicle:

Since 2005, Sen. Cornyn has had a record of defeating reform efforts while portraying himself as a fighter to fix the country’s outdated immigration system. At the 2011 Hispanic Leadership Network conference, Cornyn said, “They (Democrats) have controlled Congress for four years, have occupied the White House for two years, and yet they’ve broken every promise to lead on immigration reform.” And last month, while accepting the “Small Business Advocate of the Year” award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Cornyn talked about the need to fix our broken immigration system. And yet, Cornyn in 2010 voted against the DREAM Act – a bill that would provide a path to legal status for certain undocumented students – and recently introduced a “border security only” bill despite the country’s overwhelming support for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau:

Hispanic Americans By the Numbers

States and Counties

More than 50%
The percentage of all the Hispanic-origin [most of which are of Mexican descent] ...  According to the 2010 Census, California was home to 14.0 million Hispanics, Texas was home to 9.5 million…

9.5 million Mexican-American families are affected by the inaction of Texas Senator Cornyn.

Joaquin Luna (DREAMer) committed suicide in Texas the day after Thanksgiving in 2011 because he felt he had no hope. Courtesy of KGBT Action 4 News.

District Judge Reed O’Connor, a federal judge in Texas was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2007, and last week he he indicated he was likely to block President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process.According to David Leopold — past President of AILA: “…the order, written by Judge Reed O’Connor, came in a lawsuit challenging DACA and prosecutorial discretion filed by nativist lawyer and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach on behalf of ICE Union Boss Christopher Crane. The judge found that the DACA process, which gives eligible DREAMERs a temporary reprieve from deportation, likely, violates the law…”

What are the implications of Judge O’Conner blocking the DACA process that helps DREAM Act students across our nation?

For starters — we know that Mexican-Americans are already livid with Texas Republican lawmakers who are trying to implement anti-Latino laws, and it is creating quite the stir — particularly in south Texas.

2016 Presidential hopeful via  Jeb Bush already has concerns with regard to Texas.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush tells Joe Hagan of New York magazine: “It’s a math question. Four years from now, Texas is going to be a so-called blue state. Imagine Texas as a blue state, how hard it would be to carry the presidency or gain control of the Senate.”

Hagan starts the article for New York magazine with this idea that  Texas’ rapidly changing demographic will unfavorably affect the Republican party.  He writes:

“Sitting down across from me, [Jeb] assumes his role as party Cassandra, warning of the day when the Republicans’ failure to tap an exploding Hispanic population will cripple its chances at reclaiming power—starting in Texas, the family seat of the House of Bush.”

DREAM Act students are well educated students who know no other way except the American way.  They have pledged allegiance to our United States flag, and they want to contribute their much needed talents and taxes that could only ease the burdens of existing American tax payers.If this Texas Judge blocks the DACA process, there will be a Mexican-American / Latin backlash like never before.  And the backlash will occur because the Republican National Committee failed to control the bigotry that stinks amongst their political ranks.  Nativist Republicans like Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach are destroying the Republican Party with their bigotry faster than a raging sagebrush  fire that sits on top of a Texas oil field.  I do not know the final outcome with regard to this Texas case (where the plaintiff lives in the State of Utah), but I do know that there will be grave political consequences and unprecedented political collateral damage for the Republican Party once more and more Mexican-Americans find out that this judge was appointed by a former Republican President via George W. Bush.

Are you listening, Texas?

Can you afford to turn a blind eye to legal immigration reform and fixing what is broken in a state that shares 64% of the border length of Mexico?

What are you afraid of?

Does Sen. Cornyn cite his participation with the Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs when it only benefits him and during campaign years?

Meet District Judge Reed O'Connor, a federal judge in Texas who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2007.  You can learn more about him in the Robing Room (a place where judges are judged), and you will find that O'Conner is somewhat sub-standard receiving only a 4.1 grade out of 10.  Yesterday he indicated he was likely to block President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process.

According to David Leopold -- past President of AILA: "...the order, written by Judge Reed O'Connor, came in a lawsuit challenging DACA and prosecutorial discretion filed by nativist lawyer and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach on behalf of ICE Union Boss Christopher Crane. The judge found that the DACA process, which gives eligible DREAMERs a temporary reprieve from deportation, likely, violates the law..."

What are the implications of Judge O'Conner blocking the DACA process?

For starters -- we know that Mexican-Americans are already livid with Texas Republican lawmakers who are trying to implement anti-Latino laws, and it is creating quite the stir -- particularly in south Texas.

2016 Presidential hopeful via  Jeb Bush already has concerns with regard to Texas.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush tells Joe Hagan of New York magazine: “It’s a math question. Four years from now, Texas is going to be a so-called blue state. Imagine Texas as a blue state, how hard it would be to carry the presidency or gain control of the Senate.”

Hagan starts the article for New York magazine with this idea that  Texas’ rapidly changing demographic will unfavorably affect the Republican party.  He writes:

“Sitting down across from me, [Jeb] assumes his role as party Cassandra, warning of the day when the Republicans’ failure to tap an exploding Hispanic population will cripple its chances at reclaiming power—starting in Texas, the family seat of the House of Bush.”

DREAM Act students are well educated students who know no other way except the American way.  They have pledged allegiance to our United States flag, and they want to contribute their much needed talents and taxes that could only ease the burdens of existing American tax payers.

If this Texas Judge blocks the DACA process, there will be a Mexican-American / Latin backlash like never before.  And the backlash will occur because the Republican National Committee failed to control the bigotry that stinks amongst their political ranks.  Nativist Republicans like Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach are destroying the Republican Party with their bigotry faster than a raging sagebrush  fire that sits on top of a Texas oil field.

The burning questions are:

Why are the birthers and nativists using a plaintiff who lives in the State of Utah?  Why didn't Kobach choose Utah to submit his lawsuit.  Why Texas?   Plaintiff Christopher L. Crane is an ICE Deportation Officer who earns his salary by detaining and deportingimmigrants.  

David A. Martin makes an interesting observation with regard to Kansas Sec. of State in the Yale Law Journal:

The suit relies primarily on a superficially attractive and syllogistically neat statutory theory that Kobach first trumpeted in TV appearances and op-eds shortly after DACA was announced in June.⁶ Under Kobach’s theory, virtually every time an ICE agent encounters unauthorized aliens, he or she has a duty under federal law—with which no supervisor can interfere—to place the aliens into formal removal proceedings. The same argument has also been picked up by congressional opponents of DACA.⁷ But the argument’s central reasoning is legally erroneous. The theory takes out of context a provision Congress enacted in 1996, marries it with a misunderstanding of two provisions that have been in place for decades, and ignores the actual practice under those provisions.  READ MORE>>>

I do not know the final outcome with regard to this Texas case (where the plaintiff lives in the State of Utah), but I do know that there will be grave political consequences and unprecedented political collateral damage for the Republican Party once more and more Mexican-Americans find out that this judge was appointed by a former Republican President of the brother (via Jeb Bush) who wants to run for President in 2016.

Where is the leadership of RNC Chairman Reince Preibus?  Meanwhile, "Hispanic" / Cuban Republican Texas Senator Cruz is still missing in action with regard to legal immigration reform even though Texas shares 64% of the border with our trade ally and neighboring country of Mexico.

Incredible isn't it?

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

    A court challenge by federal immigration agents seeking to block President Barack Obama’s deferred-deportation initiative will probably succeed, a judge said.

  U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Dallas today put off his own decision on whether to grant the request for a preliminary injunction by 10 U.S. Immigration and Customs agents. He asked both sides to file additional arguments no later than May 6.

    Announced by Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last year, the directive gives agents the ability to defer action on people unlawfully in the U.S. if they came to the country under the age of 16, are in school or have obtained a high school diploma, haven’t been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor or multiple misdemeanors, and aren’t a threat to public safety or national security.

Shirl Mora James, President of Somos Independents who is a Civil Rights and Immigration lawyer believes the Texas case is influenced by xenophobia.

It is a special kind of xenophobia to drive lawsuits across the nation directed against mainly brown Spanish speaking immigrants, I seriously wonder if Kobach would be suing Napolitano in Texas, if the immigrants in question were blonde and blue-eyed!

My sentiments exactly.

In fact, I am waiting for media to go to the Texas “Hispanic” / Cuban Republican Senator Ted Cruz who has had family benefit from the Cuban privileged amnesty.  Where is Cruz at?  Just because he is of Cuban descent means nothing to me.  The majority of his constituents are of Mexican descent and last time I checked — Mexican-Americans make up almost 70% of the Latino population pie.

Keep in mind that people at one point and time in our history were fighting to keep Cuban immigrant Elian Gonzalez in our Nation, but when one of our own DREAM Act kids via  Texas Joaquin Luna commits suicide — those same people are nowhere to be found.

Kris Kobach has a history, too, with being affiliated to groups who have white nationalist ties to the John Tanton Network.

From the Southern Poverty Law Center on Kobach:

It looks like some Republican lawmakers are starting to ‘get it.’  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Monday he disagrees with the idea that the Boston bombing should delay immigration reform. “If we fix our immigration system it may actually help us understand who all is here, why they’re here, and what legal status they have,” Boehner said on Fox News, according to Think Progress.

I want to underscore that the 2013 Legal immigration reform bill is a major step forward in securing our Nation because only after everyone is registered and documented will we know who is in our Nation and where we can find them. We know that once we fix the broken immigration system, and once we document all immigrants — then they can feel safe to help law enforcement agencies to target criminal activity without the fear of deportation when they report suspicious activity to the law enforcement authorities. Therefore, bringing the immigrants out of the shadows will only strengthen our Nation’s security.

I do not believe in delaying Comprehensive Legal Immigration Reform.  

I don’t support illegal immigration — I support LEGAL immigration and this is precisely why I believe in bipartisan immigration reform talks. The system has been broken for too long and it is now time to fix it and give a legal arm.  American citizens have to pay taxes, and new taxpayers would help ease tax burdens, too.

In the meantime, there should be no delay from a National Security standpoint — we need to know who is here right now.

Please register and participate!

You can see the entire 844 legal immigration bill also known as the ‘Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act’ on  United States Chuck Schumer’s page here.

If you support legal comprehensive immigration reform, and if you believe our current immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed — I urge you to call call 877-746-2575 to tell your senator that you support reform.  Those who are falsely referring to this bill as “amnesty” have ties to white nationalist organizations and white supremacy groups.  They are an evil people.

Again, please call 877-746-2575 and tell your senator you support CIR.