March 11, 2016

Volume 2 Issue 7

State Representative Janel Brandtjen

Sanctuary Cities, Immigration Reform and ID Cards:

There seems to be an extremely large disconnect between various groups of people regarding public safety and immigration policy in the united States.  There also is a very perplexing phenomenon that has Republicans in the State of Wisconsin puzzled. The very people who would benefit most from immigration reform are the ones who are fighting against  immigration reform. On February 18th close to 20,000 Hispanics came to the capitol to protest two pieces of immigration reform. The Hispanic community would benefit from the very bills they came to protest against.

Voces de la Frontera and Unions Provide Misinformation:

The first was a bill that is known as the "Sanctuary Cities" bill.  It would require that anyone who is charged with a crime must prove their legal status or be turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Of course these simple details weren't disseminated throughout the Hispanic community. The Democrats and their unions have managed to convince the Latino population that they would be deported for no reason whatsoever.  Not only did the bill in its original form require proof of legal status only if someone was arrested, the author amended the bill to require proof only if they were charged with a crime.  Latinos have as much desire to live in crime free neighborhoods as any other group.  Safe and drug free neighborhoods are essential to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The Press Reports are Biased and Incomplete:

In Monday's, March 7th Edition of the Waukesha Freeman, Greg Moore from the Associated Press claims that the bill  "would require police to check the immigration status of criminal suspects." Of course it doesn't and both the Freeman and the Associated Press should take their responsibility to their readers a little more seriously.

The second bill was a bill that would require municipalities that issue ID cards to clearly mark the cards as "Not Valid For Voting Purposes." Greg Moore was able to find several Latinos who would love to be able to prove who they are and get medicines, forgetting to mention that the ID cards in question still wouldn't allow them to buy Sudafed. They would also get that warm fuzzy feeling of "I'm wanted here".  Of course for some reason having the cards marked as  "Not for Voting Purposes" just kind of of ruins the whole thing. The mainstream media in their never ending quest for victims of the ultra-right wing conspiracy routinely forgets to mention that the bill allows ID cards to be issued to anyone who is here.

People who follow politics often accuse both sides of not working together. I believe that that opportunities to cooperate would be far greater if the mainstream media wouldn't mislead the public.

God Bless Wisconsin!

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             Wisconsin State Capitol