Tavis Smiley and Antonio Gonzalez Discuss Proposition 200 on NPR

• Orignally published by National Public Radio (NPR) September 21, 2004 

Copyright 2004 National Public Radio (R)

TAVIS SMILEY, host:

While certain groups are working to get more voters to the polls this fall, Arizona residents will decide on a proposition aimed at ensuring that all of those who vote are, in fact, citizens. Proposition 200, if passed, would require proof of citizenship to register, to vote, and it would require proof of eligibility for non-felony mandated public benefits or welfare. The proposal comes at a time when another controversy over immigrant rights is resurfacing next door right here in California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will veto a bill that would allow non-citizens to obtain driver's licenses. Our regular commentator Antonio Gonzalez joins us now in the studio with more.

Antonio, nice to see you.

ANTONIO GONZALEZ (NPR Commentator): It's good to be with you, Tavis.

SMILEY: What did the immigrants do to make somebody mad because Arizona, California? What's going on here?

GONZALEZ: Well, what we are seeing is the return of the wedge issue politics of an extreme wing of the Republican Party in the presidential election. Not only does Arizona have...

SMILEY: Hey, hey, Schwarzenegger's not part of the extreme wing, is he?

GONZALEZ: On immigration issues, he has been very bad, and there's just no dressing that up. He has tilted to the extremist wing of the Republican Party, the same people that brought you Prop. 187 in 1994 in California. In fact, it's the same people that were with Pete Wilson that are in his campaign today. Remember, Pete Wilson championed Prop. 187 which would have--is essentially identical to what Prop. 200 is doing in Arizona, denying immigrants benefits, essentially turning the state, local and federal governments into a wing of the Immigration Service.

This trend is happening throughout the country. There's also a big fight going on in Colorado, and there's really two kinds of things going on. One is this inexorable demographic growth of the Latino community. Anti-immigrant posturing is a masking of anti-Latino posturing and anti-Asian posturing. So you have, you know, sort of the majority community afraid of change. That's underneath the numbers, you know, between the writing trend and then there's some consultants at least in these places think Republicans can win with anti-immigrant wedge issues. Republicans can make gains, although there's division within the Republican Party on it.

SMILEY: Let's talk about Bush and Kerry. We'll start with Bush since you mentioned a division in the Republican Party. Bush touts himself as the guy that is most deserving of the Hispanic vote. He championed that in Texas and got a good number of Hispanic votes in Texas. He got a good number of Hispanic votes when he ran in 2000. I'd say a decent number. You know the numbers better than I do, but he has portrayed himself as the best Republican for Hispanics ever in the history of this country. How can this be happening on the Republican side of the aisle on his watch given his rhetoric?

GONZALEZ: Well, for the record, the president has gotten between about 25 and 33 percent of the Hispanic vote which...

SMILEY: That's a good number.

GONZALEZ: It's a better number than what Bob Dole did in '96 or what Bush 1 did in '92 or '88. So you're right on that regard comparatively speaking. There is a contradiction within the Republican Party. President Bush is more allied with the business sort of wing of the party on immigration issues. The business community thinks immigration is good. It's profitable and it's a labor force healthy in their view, and President Bush comes out of an experience in Texas where he knows Hispanics and at least there's some kind of accommodation there.

The extremist wing of the Republican Party is totally against this, and unfortunately when the rhetoric has been put to a test, the president has backed down. He proposed immigration reform theoretically but backed down when that wing of the Republican Party led by Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo went nuts. He backed down. So there is this tension there and the president has not gone with the Hispanic interests or immigration rights interests when it's come down to the test.

SMILEY: And John Kerry?

GONZALEZ: John Kerry, consistent with Democratic Party where most Latino leadership lies and where two-thirds of the vote lies, has been in favor of immigration reform issues. In fact, he said within the first 100 days of his term, he will propose a broad-based legalization bill that will bring in those qualified documented immigrants that have been here working, no criminal record, into legalization and then citizenship down the road. That's his proposal and it's one that has wide support within the Hispanic community.

SMILEY: Well, let me ask you finally how your community is, or better yet, or moreover, I should say, how they are going to respond to this controversy on November 2nd?

GONZALEZ: Well, like other tests when we've had other kinds of propositions like this in other states, we think that he'll get two- or three-to-one Hispanic vote against the anti-immigrant initiatives like Prop. 200 in Arizona. And you'll see if and when the governor in California vetoes the driver's license, when they test in the opinion surveys, you'll find that that was an unpopular act by the governor. He still has a chance to sign it, and I hope he does, but in case he doesn't, he will lose some points with Hispanics because of it.

SMILEY: Right quick, honestly, is Hispanic opposition in Arizona enough to defeat this measure, because it wasn't enough to defeat Prop. 187 here in California?

GONZALEZ: That's the $64,000 question and, honestly, I don't think so. You need white voters to be with you. There are some Republicans like John McCain who's against Prop. 200 in Arizona to his credit, you know, the honest Republican national leader there, but I will tell you, like California, Arizona's undergoing a demographic shift and the Republicans there who've had a lock on the state for two generations might be committing the same mistake that Pete Wilson did in California. You'll win Prop. 187, but you lose the state.

SMILEY: Regular commentator Antonio Gonzalez is the director of the William Velasquez Institute.

Antonio, thanks for the insight. Nice talking to you.

GONZALEZ: It's always a pleasure, Tavis.

SMILEY: It's 17 minutes before the hour.