Hispanic Vote Should Be An American Vote

By Douglas V. Gibbs

During the GOP debate in Las Vegas the Republican Presidential candidates were asked what they planned to do to get the Hispanic vote. Now, the Associated Press says that the Hispanics have a tough choice, for Obama has hurt them with his bad economy, but those Republicans want a fence between America and Mexico.

What to do, what to do, what to do. . .

My wife was born in Mexico. She came here as a young child, and grew up with a green card. As a resident alien, she felt divided, for she was raised in America, but her citizenship belonged to Mexico.

She grew up with the La Raza crap around her, believed it blindly, until the day I told her she had no business complaining about President Clinton when she had some choice words about him. "You have no room to complain," I said, "because you can't vote."

The day she said the oath and naturalized, the first words she said to me once we met in the corridor was, "Now, I can vote."

When she became a citizen she renounced her Mexican citizenship. She did not lose her culture, and she recognizes herself as someone with a small piece of Mexico inside her. But on the day she raised her hand to say the oath, and then waved that little Stars and Stripes, she became an American. To this day she refuses to call herself a Mexican-American. She is an American.

My wife is not one that supports illegal immigration. When her sisters asked her why she won't support "her people," my wife responded, "They are not my people. If they were my people, they would come here legally."

Illegal immigration is a slap in the face to people like my wife, who played by the rules. And illegal aliens hurt the Hispanic community by taking jobs that legal Hispanics, along with other Americans and legal residents, would like to have.

In other words, the way to gain the Hispanic vote is to appeal not to Hispanics as a group, but to appeal to Americans as a whole. The liberal left tends to break us up into groups, but in reality, an improved economy helps all Americans, a dropping unemployment rate helps all Americans, a government that is reduced back to a size more in line with the authorities granted by the Constitution helps all Americans.

The Hispanic vote is like any other vote. . . it is an American vote, and the way to get those votes is to do what is best for America - not by pandering to groups.

As for all of these illegals in the country? You don't have to deport them. Secure the border, and enforce the immigration laws that are on the books, and they will deport themselves.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Hispanic voters: Stick with Obama or go with GOP? - Associated Press

Immigration Law Blamed for Reported Bullying of Hispanic Students in Alabama - Fox News

First Individual Arrested Under Alabama Immigration Law is From YEMEN - Stand With Arizona