STATE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION TURNS IMMIGRATION DEBATE INTO RACISM LECTURE, OMMITTING OTHER FACTS THAT DESERVE DISCUSSION by Howard B. Hanson

December 12, 2007

Rights! Rights! Rights! Why is it that here in the United States, we are hearing all this shouting and protesting for Human Rights and Indigenous Rights coming from the activists demanding radical changes in our country’s immigration policies? And, why are State leaders only talking about Human Rights?

On Wednesday evening, November 28, my wife and I attended a Minnesota Human Rights Commission gathering at the Hopkins City Hall on ”Immigration” to find out. A movie was shown that was produced a few years ago in Maine. It talked about how Somali immigrants were being accepted into the local communities. There was a racist Nazi group in the area and they were protesting the immigration of the Somalis. The whole movie, which was about 45 minutes too long, repeatedly went on just pointing out how racist the group of white people were. On and on about racism, showing the same few people on close-ups over and over perhaps twenty times, when a couple of times would have delivered the message just fine.

The Nazi group was definitely right out of a page of the Third Reich and without a doubt, the group was racist. But there were other issues that needed to be discussed that were not. The mayor of the city, where the movie was shot and where demonstrations took place was, over and over again, shown as someone who was anti-immigration but his voice was never used on any of the times his close-up was on camera. Like me, I am sure he had many, many questions that needed answering. Most important, perhaps, “How are we going to pay for all the logistics needed to make this work correctly?” Like the Hmong, who were welcomed into our country from refugee camps in Cambodia and Thailand a couple decades ago, these Somalis certainly deserved the same caring, loving treatment and support we gave those Asian immigrants. But instead of discussing the other important issues “racism” was the only issue presented.

There is much more to the immigration story than “Racism.” According to a new study by the Center for Immigration Studies, based on the latest Census Bureau data, the number of immigrants in America, has swelled to 38 Million, with a third of those being illegal. Chris Gonsalves, writing for Newsmax on 11/28/07 stated that one third of the immigrants are on welfare costing states nearly $20 Billion a year. That is at least a few hundred million per state.

Our country is a country with the greatest of opportunities, but it is also a country of laws. We are totally blessed that our forefathers had the courage to fight a revolutionary war that eventually resulted in a Constitution and Bill of Rights, unlike that of any other country on earth. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. service men and women have fought and died to protect that freedom, democracy, and a level playing field. Our 14th Amendment, with its “Equal Protection of the Law”, guaranteed to all United States Citizens, is without a doubt the finest equalizing document ever written by any government anywhere and should be deeply treasured and protected by every American citizen, regardless of race, color, or creed. Equally important is our founding fathers’ vision to assure the right of every United States Citizen to gain wealth by the ownership of property and their constitutional protections concerning “Eminent Domain.” These gems are what make our country a treasure and one that citizens in most other countries can only dream about.

Like the mayor in the movie, we think there should be some quality debate on this very important subject. Is there a hidden agenda here that is benefiting only a small percentage of our population? Are our Federal Agencies following the immigration laws they should ? Is our Justice Department doing its job? What are the logistical costs and what are the benefits. Are the Corporate benefactors of the immigrants cheap wages picking up their share of the costs?

And we can also tell you that there is a hidden agenda working here that is trying to take away our level playing field and destroy our “American Dream.” Attached is an article about Mexican Immigration that we received that clearly shows the American Indian Movement is involved in Mexican immigration with politically trained activists supporting the “Aztlan Movement”. This in turn is part of the United Nations “Indigenous Peoples Movement”. The AIM Indians mentioned in the article are not spending their own money in their attempt to dismantle our country’s constitution and replace it with “Communistic Tribalism.” The Aztlans want all of the Southwestern United States back. Plus both AIM and the Aztlan are supporting the Akaka legislation that would invent an Indian Tribe in Hawaii. Earlier this year these groups held a protest, where a million people across the country were protesting on the same day waving signs and banners that asked for “Indigenous Rights”. “Human Rights”, and “Sovereignty”. All three of which have no promises of any personal rights or ability to own private property or obtain wealth. If you don’t believe what we say, go to most any Indian reservation here in the United States and see for yourself how we have totally exploited and enslaved our Indian friends.

My biggest question of the day? Why is this so called “Minnesota State Human Rights Commission” out spreading “racism” instead of debating the immigration issue in a manner in which we can discuss these other issues? So to create some debate about the “Immigration Issue” we would appreciate your reading the enclosed articles so you can start calling our state and federal leaders and start asking some serious questions. The George Will article should have been written at least two years ago and not after the Hawaii Bill passed in the House of Representatives. It still has to be voted on in the Senate where our own Senator Coleman is one of the chief sponsors. We asked him for a public debate about the bill three years ago and we are still waiting.

Please make a New Years pledge for the coming New Year to be a better citizen and get more involved in the debates leading up to the election in November. Help make the negative effects of “Tribalism” in our country a topic for serious debate. Call Sen. Coleman’s office and ask him why he is sponsoring unconstitutional legislation for Hawaii. His St. Paul # is 651 645 0323. Remember – I can’t do it! You can’t do it! Only together – We can do it!