It’s sadly unsurprising, but this morning’s Washington Post reports on yet another example of the Republican Party’s hostility towards immigrants (really, towards people of color in general). First, bat****-crazy, right-wing extremist State Senator Dick Black (for more on him, see What Is It With Loudoun Republicans?!? Dick Black on Spousal Rape, “Nighties,” etc. and Republican Loudoun-sanity Continues: Dick Black Rails Against Gays in the Military):
*”We’ve got families who have paid Virginia taxes for a lifetime in the hopes that maybe one of their kids can go to a state institution of higher learning, and all of a sudden, we’re going to have foreigners on the fast track.”
Now, fellow far-right-wing Republican, Del. David Ramadan:
*”A ban “is what constituents want; this is what Virginians want; this is what my constituents are telling me – people who work hard and earn their money and earn their status.”
Of course, that’s exactly what comprehensive immigration reform – which Republicans have been blocking in the U.S. House of Representatives, even though it would have passed last year if Boehner et al. had simply put it to a vote – would do: give hard-working people a path to EARNED citizenship. And that’s what the vast majority of Americans support. But not the likes of Dick Black, David Ramadan, and Virginia Republicans, who seem to spend inordinate amounts of their time and energy figuring out ways to deny Latinos…well, pretty much anything. As Del. Alfonso Lopez puts it:
These anti-immigrant bills from Black and Ramadan are shortsighted, wrongheaded and ugly. The Virginia DREAM Act is the right thing to do – not only morally – but also economically. Why would we invest in these students’ education from kindergarten through twelfth grade, but then put up a barrier after graduation that only serves to drive away top talent from Virginia? The Black/Ramadan Anti-Dream Act bills would waste our investment in these incredible students.
Yes, this makes total sense economically, not to mention morally, but for Virginia Republicans like Dick Black and David Ramadan, apparently none of that matters. Remind me again, why does anyone vote for these people exactly?
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