He has at best a very checkered record. He voted against immigration reform in 2007 and claims now he did it because allegedly, guest workers are treated so inhumanely that it was better to have no reform at all.
Recently Dolores Huerta, a very important activist in the community-perhaps comparable in the Latino community to John Lewis in the black community-reported that some Bernie Bros screamed 'Speak English' at a polling station in Nevada. This certainly did them no credit. This story was very widely verified.
Now Ms. Huerta is calling the candidate himself out on his shaky record.
"If you’ve been following the Democratic primary, you may have noticed that Bernie Sanders has positioned himself as a champion of the immigrant community. From the letter he sent to Barack Obama last week, to the work he, his campaign, and surrogates have done attacking other candidates’ positions, you would think that he has been a lifelong champion on issues that matter to Latinos and immigrants. But here’s the truth: Candidate Bernie Sanders, advocate for immigrants, is not the same as Senator Bernie Sanders."
https://medium.com/@DoloresHuerta/on-immigration-bernie-sanders-is-not-who-he-says-he-is-b79980adff6a#.9detxq2gj
Very interesting. The other night at the Flint debate, Bernie very piously lectured Hillary that 'it's too late to find religion.'
This is part of Bernie's shtick. I am the True Progressive and got here first.
On immigration reform, though, he's very late.
"Let’s start with the letter he sent to President Obama. Bernie, candidate, decried the deportation raids — which he should. But in 2006, Bernie, congressman, actually voted…to create and fund two of the programs he criticizes in the letter."
"Furthermore, in 2006, he voted for a bill pushed by James Sensenbrenner, one of the most anti-immigrant members of Congress, that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to be detained indefinitely pending deportation. This bill was widely viewed as a desperate attempt by Republicans to boost their reelection prospects that year by cracking down on immigrants, and the ACLU called it “inhumane.” Bernie voted for it anyway. (You’ll note that he was running for Senate — as an independent.)"
"In fact, in 2011, Harry Reid, and other Senators sent a letter to President Obama urging him to end the deportation of DREAMers. You can probably guess who didn’t sign that letter."
"If you go to Bernie’s website, you’ll note that the first thing comprehensive reform is one of the main policy points on his website. Well, that’s funny. In 2007, he voted against Senator Ted Kennedy’s immigration reform bill."
"Heck, here’s how much of a johnny-come-lately he is. During this campaign, he defended the vote with the same talking points."
His true position is clearly the one he expressed in an interview with Ezra Klein last Summer: he thinks that many immigrants keep down American wages.
“What I think [Wall Street is] interested in is seeing a process by which we can bring low-wage labor of all levels into this country to depress wages in America, and I strongly disagree with that.”
But it gets even worse. In the past he was on the wrong side of the issue of the Minutemen.
"Perhaps you’re familiar with the Minutemen. You know — the anti-immigrant militias who patrol the border trying to stop undocumented people from coming to do their jobs. You would think that such a self-appointed lifelong advocate for the community would vote against anti-immigrant vigilantes. You would be thinking wrong. Bernie voted to protect them — and provided a weak excuse as to why. This point is especially egregious. Anyone claiming to be an advocate for the community shouldn’t have voted for this. Period."
"I like Bernie. He’s a nice guy. I have no doubt he means well. Latinos matter in this election, and he knows it. But my question for Bernie is, where the heck was he for the last 25 years? Where was he on immigration reform? On indefinite detentions? On vigilante justice against undocumented workers? He was nowhere. That’s where."
"Perhaps he’s had a change of heart, in which case, great. But why is he speaking as though we, the advocates and community members working for years to keep families together and push for immigration reform, haven’t been trying to make any progress until now? Specifically, why is he pretending like Hillary Clinton hasn’t been on the right side of this while he was on the wrong side? She’s got the track record to prove that she was in the fight with our community, Ted Kennedy, and President Obama. Bernie certainly doesn’t."
Again, it's sort of like when John Lewis said he never saw Bernie. He meant not that he doubted that he marched in 1962, just that he hadn't seen him since, in 50 years.
Ms. Huerta as a leading activist in the Latino community is saying the same thing: Where's he been? I never saw him.
Recently Dolores Huerta, a very important activist in the community-perhaps comparable in the Latino community to John Lewis in the black community-reported that some Bernie Bros screamed 'Speak English' at a polling station in Nevada. This certainly did them no credit. This story was very widely verified.
Now Ms. Huerta is calling the candidate himself out on his shaky record.
"If you’ve been following the Democratic primary, you may have noticed that Bernie Sanders has positioned himself as a champion of the immigrant community. From the letter he sent to Barack Obama last week, to the work he, his campaign, and surrogates have done attacking other candidates’ positions, you would think that he has been a lifelong champion on issues that matter to Latinos and immigrants. But here’s the truth: Candidate Bernie Sanders, advocate for immigrants, is not the same as Senator Bernie Sanders."
Very interesting. The other night at the Flint debate, Bernie very piously lectured Hillary that 'it's too late to find religion.'
This is part of Bernie's shtick. I am the True Progressive and got here first.
On immigration reform, though, he's very late.
"Let’s start with the letter he sent to President Obama. Bernie, candidate, decried the deportation raids — which he should. But in 2006, Bernie, congressman, actually voted…to create and fund two of the programs he criticizes in the letter."
"Furthermore, in 2006, he voted for a bill pushed by James Sensenbrenner, one of the most anti-immigrant members of Congress, that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to be detained indefinitely pending deportation. This bill was widely viewed as a desperate attempt by Republicans to boost their reelection prospects that year by cracking down on immigrants, and the ACLU called it “inhumane.” Bernie voted for it anyway. (You’ll note that he was running for Senate — as an independent.)"
"In fact, in 2011, Harry Reid, and other Senators sent a letter to President Obama urging him to end the deportation of DREAMers. You can probably guess who didn’t sign that letter."
"If you go to Bernie’s website, you’ll note that the first thing comprehensive reform is one of the main policy points on his website. Well, that’s funny. In 2007, he voted against Senator Ted Kennedy’s immigration reform bill."
"Heck, here’s how much of a johnny-come-lately he is. During this campaign, he defended the vote with the same talking points."
His true position is clearly the one he expressed in an interview with Ezra Klein last Summer: he thinks that many immigrants keep down American wages.
“What I think [Wall Street is] interested in is seeing a process by which we can bring low-wage labor of all levels into this country to depress wages in America, and I strongly disagree with that.”
But it gets even worse. In the past he was on the wrong side of the issue of the Minutemen.
"Perhaps you’re familiar with the Minutemen. You know — the anti-immigrant militias who patrol the border trying to stop undocumented people from coming to do their jobs. You would think that such a self-appointed lifelong advocate for the community would vote against anti-immigrant vigilantes. You would be thinking wrong. Bernie voted to protect them — and provided a weak excuse as to why. This point is especially egregious. Anyone claiming to be an advocate for the community shouldn’t have voted for this. Period."
"I like Bernie. He’s a nice guy. I have no doubt he means well. Latinos matter in this election, and he knows it. But my question for Bernie is, where the heck was he for the last 25 years? Where was he on immigration reform? On indefinite detentions? On vigilante justice against undocumented workers? He was nowhere. That’s where."
"Perhaps he’s had a change of heart, in which case, great. But why is he speaking as though we, the advocates and community members working for years to keep families together and push for immigration reform, haven’t been trying to make any progress until now? Specifically, why is he pretending like Hillary Clinton hasn’t been on the right side of this while he was on the wrong side? She’s got the track record to prove that she was in the fight with our community, Ted Kennedy, and President Obama. Bernie certainly doesn’t."
Again, it's sort of like when John Lewis said he never saw Bernie. He meant not that he doubted that he marched in 1962, just that he hadn't seen him since, in 50 years.
Ms. Huerta as a leading activist in the Latino community is saying the same thing: Where's he been? I never saw him.
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