Two Hispanic LDS Branch Presidents in Utah Deported

On the heels of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) issuing a new statement on illegal immigration, a statement which both discourages members from entering a country illegally and calls for an opportunity for undocumented immigrants to "square themselves with the law," KSL reported today that two Hispanic LDS congregational leaders in Utah are being deported.

Beyond the story itself, the comments posted to the story show the feelings readers have regarding this issue.

To read the KSL story, click here.
To read the comments, click here.
To read the Church policy statement regarding Illegal Immigration click here.

New LDS Statement on Illegal Immigration

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a new statement on illegal immigration. To read the statement, click here.

The statement notes that it is Church policy to discourage "its members from entering any country without legal documentation, and from deliberately overstaying legal travel visas."

However, the statement also recognizes that how to deal with the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States, "is the biggest challenge in the immigration debate."

For the Church, "[t]he bedrock moral issue . . . is how we treat each other as children of God."

The statement expresses concern that legislation that only contains enforcement provisions will "fall short of the high moral standard of treating each other as children of God." The statement goes on to say that "[t]he Church supports an approach where undocumented immigrants are allowed to square themselves with the law and continue to work without this necessarily leading to citizenship."

The Supreme Court Upholds Part of the Arizona Immigration Law, but what does that mean?

In May, the United States Supreme Court upheld aspects of an Arizona anti-illegal-immigrant law which punishes employers who hire illegal-immigrants. (This is not the more well known anti-illegal-immigrant law SB1070 which punished illegal-immigrants more directly.)

Jennifer Rubin, writing in the Washington Post, draws together the opinions of Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, and Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUS blog and concludes that if the dispute over Arizona SB1070 reaches the Supreme Court, it will likely find a sympathetic majority.

Read the Washington Post story here.

You may also wish to read Did arizona Really Win at the Supreme Court? by Bill Ong Hing writing for the Huffington Post.

Spanish-surnamed Yankee Doodle Dandy not a legitimate American?

Ruben Navarrette Jr., member of the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board and national syndicated columnist, wrote an insightful commentary for CNN entitled, "I'm a Spanish-surnamed Yankee Doodle Dandy."

Navarrette states that he was born in the U.S., as were his parents, 3 of his grandparents, and a "handful" of his great-grandparents.

Because Navarrette identifies himself as a Mexican-American, he has received comments such as, "Why don't you try being a real American" from his readers.

He notes that he has friends who, although they do not use hyphens, call themselves Irish, Jewish, Italian, or German.

Navarrette is very articulate in describing that he is an American because of what he believes, including loving freedom and democracy, and believing that with sacred rights come equally sacred responsibilities to self, family, community and country.

This compelling article was met, however, with some rather disturbing comments posted to the story by readers (which are unfortunately no longer available online). The comments immediately bypassed his description of being American, or anything else he said, and immediately went after the issue of illegal-immigration.

This was a very clear example of how in the minds of some there can be no discussion of Hispanic in the U.S. without it being connected to a discussion of illegal-immigration. It actually seemed that for those posting the comments, that although some of Mr. Navarrette's family has been in the U.S. for 4 generations, and Navarrette himself has a clear understanding of what it means to be an American, he is not not legitimate, simply because he identifies himself as a Mexican-American.

To read the CNN commentary, click here.

Anti-Illegal Immigrant Rhetoric Becoming More Virulent

With the 2010 Census fast approaching, Utah state officials are concerned that every resident of the state be counted. However, with anti-illegal-immigrant legislation (SB81) poised to go into effect on July 1st, these same officials are concerned that some in the Hispanic community will be afraid to respond to the census, thus creating a significant under count.

Although this in itself is noteworthy, what is even more significant are the comments posted to stories run in the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News regarding this issue. The bitter, vitriolic, virulent nature of the comments shocked TMB reviewers despite years of dealing with this issue.

Commenter Santiago wrote:

The "message should be: GO HOME! We are SICK of your freeloading!

Commenter Bajarat wrote:

These illegal alien savages should only be counted as they get on a CBP bus headed to the airport or the border so we know how many green baloney sandwiches need to be ordered . . . . Illegal aliens are criminals and parasites, one and all . . . . They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, punished for their numerous crimes, then booted back to whence they snuck in from with such extreme prejudice that they will never, ever think of violating our sovereignty again.

Commenter Chaunte wrote:

. . . I loathe illegal immigrants . . . .

Commenter EscapedfromZion wrote:

I agree, the only reason they need to be counted is to figure out how many bologna sandwiches they will need to provide for the bus ride back to their precious May-hee-co.

Commenter Listen up wrote:

What is it going to take to finally have enough and boot these leeches out of the country.

Perhaps commenter Bajarat was unfamiliar with the reference, but the term "extreme prejudice" means to kill, to assasinate. With the recent shooting at the National Holocaust museum in recent memory, a shooting that was the result of racist hatred, to have that term appear in one of these postings is troubling indeed.

To read the Salt Lake Tribune story, click here.
To read the Deseret News story, click here.

A far more conservative agenda for Utah?

A Los Angeles Times blog posting commenting on the "political fallout" from Governor Huntsman's appointment as Ambassador to China, noted that conservatives were pleased to be rid of Huntsman and his relatively moderate stance on various issues.

The Times blog posting quoted Dr. David Magleby, dean at Brigham Young University, as saying:

This state will see, I think, a far more conservative agenda shared by both the governor and the Legislature than we've had in two decades.

A more conservative agenda by both the legislature and the governor's office may, oddly enough, not be all good news for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which has its headquarters in Salt Lake City. Although the Church would likely favor a conservative attitude toward same-sex marriage and perhaps even domestic partnerships, a more conservative approach in dealing with illegal-immigrants might hamper the Church's missionary efforts among that population.

Having the legislature and the governor's office both at the same end of the political spectrum raises the concern that "group think" may develop. In such a situation, either everyone thinks alike, or they are afraid to express a different opinion for fear of retribution.

A statement attributed to General George S. Patton serves as a word of caution here:

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.

To read the Los Angeles Times story, click here.

Arrests on Southern Border Drop

The Washington Post reported today that the number of arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border dropped by 27% over the last year, with the number now standing at the lowest level since the early 1970's.

The Post article notes that the decline in the number of arrests, along with the decline in remittances back to Mexico, and Mexican census data all would seem to indicate that the number of individuals entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico is in fact down. (See also Mexican Data Says Migration to U.S. Has Plummeted)

Observations:

• Community organizations, church groups, etc. who have been serving the Hispanic population may notice a decline in the populations they serve, OR
  
• They may find that the populations they serve are in greater need because of increased enforcement and fewer opportunities to find employment in the U.S.
• Additionally, churches who were revitalizing their congregations by recruiting Hispanic immigrants may notice a decline in recent arrivals to the U.S., or
  
• They may find that Hispanics are less inclined to join predominantly Anglo congregations or denominations, particularly if members of those congregations/denominations are vocal in decrying illegal immigration.
  

Perhaps the most disappointing and concerning aspect of the Washington Post article was the virulent nature of some of the comments posted to the story. One commenter suggested:

Solution: Create a "No-man Zone" on the border and let our military constantly use it for bombing practice!

Another wrote:

I prefer a 2,000 mile long, densely packed minefield as a solution. Blow a few limbs off and it becomes more difficult to complete, or re-attempt a crossing. Then Mexico can begin spending all of those remittances they're currently receiving on rehab for all the stumps.

To access the article, click here.
To access the comments page, click here.

- TwoMinuteBriefing thanks GW for recommending this story.

Survey delves into high birth rate for young Latinas

Report says 53% of Latina teens become pregnant as teens

According to a study conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, in conjunction with the National Council of La Raza, 53% of Latina teens in the U.S. become pregnant before age 20; this in spite of 81% of Latino teens believing that getting pregnant as a teen will delay or prevent them accomplishing their life goals.

The pregnancy rate among young Latinas is nearly twice the national average.

Although 79% of teens indicated that their parents had talked to them about sex, and 49% indicated that parents were their biggest influence in decisions about sex, 64% felt that parents did not know how to carry on a discussion about sex.

Another noteworthy finding from focus groups conducted in this study was that Latino teens often felt frustrated because of the pressure their parents placed on them to succeed academically, while those same parents were not prepared or in a position to help them reach those educational goals.

In light of all of the long term consequences that may result from a teen pregnancy, this report is very concerning. Community groups, churches, etc. working with and within the Hispanic population in the U.S. would do well to review this report, and particularly note that Hispanic parents may need additional assistance in working with their teen children.

Download the report here: Toward A Common Future: Latino Teens and Adults Speak Out

Read the CNN story here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/19/latinas.pregnancy.rate/index.html?eref=rss_us

Additional Links:

National Council of La Raza

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy