Latino lawmakers call on Schwarzenegger to condemn Racist GOP ads
Wednesday, December 22, 2004 at 09:11PM
TheSpook
Accusing the Republican Party and business groups of stoking
"anti-immigrant, anti-Latino" fervor, the Legislature's Democratic
Latino Caucus last week urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to denounce
"racist" GOP campaign ads mailed during recent Assembly races. Members
of the 27-member caucus also called on the Republican governor to speak
out against a campaign to qualify a ballot measure that would deny
benefits -- including drivers licenses -- to illegal immigrants. "I
would hope that the governor will make a response to these (campaign)
tactics," said state Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Whittier, the new
chairwoman of the caucus. Escutia invoked the memory of Proposition
187, which she contends inflamed ethnic divisions in California and
drove voters away from the Republican Party. Schwarzenegger supported
the 1994 ballot measure that was overwhelmingly approved by voters, but
gutted by legal challenges. But the governor has dismissed the new
measure as "old hat" and cautioned that "we should find ways to work
together rather than to find ways of going the other way." Caucus
members said he should he raise his voice louder. The mailers
criticized by Latino legislators were sent out during the final days of
the recent elections by JobsPAC, formed by the California Chamber of
Commerce and California Manufacturers Association, and the state
Republican Party. The ads targeted four Democratic Assembly candidates
-- who all won their races -- and said they wanted to allow illegal
immigrants to obtain drivers licenses and other benefits. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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