ˇEXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR THE LATINO COMMUNITY!
THIS WILL ONLY TAKE FIVE (5) MINUTES OF YOUR VALUABLE TIME!
Please call Governor Corzine, your local legislators and members of the Legislative Latino Caucus and express your opposition to Bill S1312 filed by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D) that will unfairly target New Jersey businesses that cannot document the immigration status of their employees. Let them know that you believe this legislation unfairly scapegoats the immigrant population and places unfair burdens on the business community.
Calling State Democratic Chair Cryan and Sweeney cannot hurt.
ˇIT IS IMPORTANT THE LATINO COMMUNITY BE HEARD ON THIS MATTER!
Below is a sample of what you can say when you call:
My name is ________________________________
I am a member of the Latino Leadership Alliance (or any other group you’re associated with)
I am calling Governor/Assemblyman(woman)/Senator ____________________ to let him/her know I oppose Bill S1312 filed by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney. This Bill will unfairly target New Jersey businesses that cannot document the immigration status of their employees.
Please let Assemblyman(woman)/Senator ___________________ know of my opinion.
Who am I speaking with, please? (Get the name of the person that answered the call)
Thank You …
--------------------------------
Telephone numbers:
Governor Jon Corzine 609-292-6000
Assemblywoman Nellie Pou 973-247-1555
Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Pérez 856-541-1251
Assemblyman Eric Muńoz 908-918-0414
Assemblyman Vincent Prieto 201-770-1303
Assemblyman Joe Vas 732-324-5955
Senator M. Teresa Ruiz 973-484-1000
Assemblyman Rubén Ramos 201-714-4960
Assemblywoman Caridad Rodríguez 201-854-0900
Assemblyman Joe Cryan 908-624-0880
Senator Steve Sweeney 856-251-9801
To obtain the name and telephone number of your local legislators please go to:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/njmap210.htmlTHANK YOU!
ˇIT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THE LATINO COMMUNITY BE HEARD ON THIS MATTER!
---------------------------------
Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey
100 Jersey Ave. Box 15, New Brunswick New Jersey 08901 Phone: 732.249.0400 Fax: 732.249.0206
Latino Leadership Alliance Opposes
Proposed Anti Immigrant Legislation
Legislation threatens relationship of Latinos with the N.J. Democratic Party
For Immediate Release: February 21, 2008
Contacts:
Martin Perez – 732-397-8700
Frank Argote-Freyre – 908-670-0552
The Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey (LLANJ) today announced that it opposes the proposed legislation filed by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney that will unfairly target New Jersey businesses that cannot document the immigration status of their employees. LLANJ believes that this legislation unfairly scapegoats the immigrant population and places unfair burdens on the business community.
President of LLANJ, Martin Perez, explained: “As our state fiscal crisis looms, the New Jersey legislature faces two options: create a realistic payment plan for enormous state debt or face bankruptcy. The former means increased taxes and fees of all kinds for the working people of New Jersey, the later is unthinkable. At the same time, the disposable income of working people has decreased. Understanding all of this, Senator Sweeney has announced he will introduce legislation that will enable him, and other legislators, to deflect responsibility for years of legislative fiscal mismanagement and for the painful choices that will be made by the legislature in the coming months. With this legislation Senator Sweeney places blame on the private business sector and the undocumented for both depressed wages as well as the costs of state services, when the truth is that an irresponsible legislature created the debt, as well as the conditions for depressed wages. It is the fiscal irresponsibility of state government that has poisoned the overall business climate of our state, with a toxic mix of unfunded pension obligations, waste and inefficiency at all levels of government, the pay to play environment that inflates the costs of doing the peoples’ business, no show jobs, and last but not least, those legislators and politicians who view state and local revenue streams as a payroll for themselves, their friends and family, while their brethren legislators look the other way.”
Perez continued, “It is the toxins of legislative fiscal irresponsibility that Sweeney should target for elimination, not the business community that already faces disincentives, and certainly not the immigrant and Latino population who make real contributions to the welfare of the state, and who live by admirable values in their family and work lives. Senator Sweeney has singled out the most vulnerable and voiceless in targeting the immigrant population, who at worst are guilty only of civil violations. Yet, Sweeney has offered no legislation to target the abuses of the public trust that have been committed inside the statehouse by likes of too many elected state officials presently under indictment for corruption. His silence in this regard speaks volumes.”
Perez concluded, “For Latinos, it appears that the state Democratic Party is out of touch with a reality that has taken the country by storm. Their Democratic Majority Leader is proposing legislation [targeting the undocumented] that puts him to the right of John McCain, while ignoring what has captured the attention of the nation – that the Latino vote determines electoral outcomes. We will not be taken for granted by the Democratic legislative and party leadership, and unless they denounce and remove Majority Leader Sweeney from his leadership positions in the Democratic Party, when we go to the polls we will make sure the Democratic Party understands how important the immigration reform issue is to the Latino community.”
LLANJ is calling on all Civil Rights and Immigration advocates letting the New Jersey Senate Leadership and Majority Leader Sweeney know that it is time to stop playing on people’s fears and prejudices to advance an insidious political agenda. Majority Leader Sweeney can be contacted via e-mail at
steve@district3dems.com.
LLANJ was founded in 1999 and is the largest Latino advocacy organization in New Jersey, and represent most of the leading Latino organizations across the state. The principal goals of LLANJ are to mobilize and empower the Latino community across New Jersey to obtain political, economic and social equality.
----------------------------------------------------------
When myths impact human life
When myths impact human life, they must be rebuked. I am deeply concerned because we have people that base their opinions on personal biases rather than on researched facts. Unless these individuals can cite reputable sources to base their opinions, other than superficially researched newspaper articles and politically influenced think tanks, then I must infer that they do reflect and express xenophobic characteristics. Let us examine the facts.
According to the Census Bureau, one in every seven New Jerseyans is a Hispanic constituent. The Hispanic population has become the largest minority in New Jersey and the nation. As our numbers grow, Hispanics are quickly becoming a significant consumer market, a crucial source of labor, and an increasingly important block of voters.
The Southwest Voter Research Institute estimated that in New Jersey, Hispanics will become an increasingly powerful voting block at the state and local level. We are one of the best organized communities in this State. Every year we are involved in voter registration and education campaigns, and, are considered by many, the potential swing vote for close elections. It behooves elected officials and policy makers to pay closer attention to us.
Yet we must not forget that immigrants now, as they have throughout our history, push forward the economy through their labor and tax revenues contributions. Every current reputable study, including some performed by the former Immigration & Naturalization Service, illustrates that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, contribute much more in taxes and to the economy than they use in government benefits.
Undocumented immigrants pay the same real estate taxes, whether they own homes or taxes are passed through to rents, and the same sales and other consumption taxes as everyone else. The majority of state and local costs of schooling and other services are funded by these taxes. Additionally, the U.S. Social Security Administration has estimated that three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay payroll taxes, and that they contribute $6-7 billion in Social Security funds that they will be unable to claim (Porter 2005). Nationally, only 1.5 percent of elementary schoolchildren (enrolled in kindergarten through 5th grade) and 3 percent of secondary children (grades 6-12) were undocumented.
A study by the Urban Institute entitled "How Much Do Immigrants Really Cost?"ť confirms that immigrants receive in government services only 38 percent of what they contribute in taxes. A study by the California Senate Office of Research entitled "Immigrants and the California Economy" asserts that although poverty rates among immigrants are higher than the average, they use fewer public benefits on average. Moreover, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and most other public benefits (Fix, Zimmermann, and Passel 2001).
Local governments that have carefully studied the issue have determined that the presence of immigrants has allowed their economy to withstand additional economic decline. Hispanics are an integral part of the economic development realized in the urban areas of New Jersey. Without the Latino entrepreneur, our cities would have fallen into further decay.
A 2004 report by the conservative Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found that "the average illegal household pays more than $4,200 a year in federal taxes, for a total of nearly $16 billion." The same 2004 study stated that "illegals" cost the American government $10 billion per year.
Texas state comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's 2006 report, "Undocumented Immigrants in Texas: A Financial Analysis of the Impact to the State Budget and Economy" found that aliens in Texas paid about $2 billion in taxes and fees while using $1.16 billion in government resources.
A study by Vedder, Gallaway, and Moore, "Immigration and Unemployment: New Evidence," maintains that undocumented workers do not displace U.S. workers in the job market. Higher immigration has historically been associated with lower unemployment. Lower unemployment is often the result of the presence of immigrants who create a demand for labor and consumer goods and who perform low-skilled jobs at lower than prevailing wages. Evidence suggests that immigrants create at least as many jobs as they occupy.
Immigrants are here in search of jobs and a better quality of life, the same reasons attracting most of the previous ethnic or national immigrant groups. As a society, our memory and knowledge of history are lacking, and we tend to forget how previous generations in our families arrived to the United States and the housing, employment, and social discriminatory conditions they experienced.
In fact, many individuals may not be aware that they could themselves be direct descendants of people who did some illegal migrating of their own many years ago. In one of the great ironies of American history, lawless squatters of public land in our western territories underwent a dramatic image makeover in our collective memory to become noble pioneers.
Our Federal government, and only our federal government, is justified in attempting to regulate immigration. However, efforts to get a handle on the problem must be undertaken with a proper respect for the dignity of illegal migrants and for the legitimate needs that push them to break the law.
We must analyze policies, and prejudices, from the perspective of what drives them. As a society, and as individuals, we must reflect upon and evaluate the genuine sources of our preconceptions.
Guillo
LatinosNJ Forum Boards
