Insiders Passing Bad Information Part I

Marisa Treviño
New Report Analyzes the Immigration Reform Caucus' Role in Derailing True Immigration Reform
Huffington Post
Posted October 11, 2007 | 10:57 AM (EST)

...Why does there exist a fanaticism against the immigration issue, not outside the halls of Congress but within its very corridors?

Though the extreme right-wing bloggers would love to take all the credit, come to find out it's not them who are purposely setting up the roadblocks and getting the 11th hour changes of heart from Congressional members who previously were supportive of immigration reform measures.

And as much credit is given to the "American People" as some Congressional representatives repeatedly like to cite, it's common knowledge that the American People don't have and never had anywhere near the kind of influence that is responsible for derailing action on immigration reform.

So who is it that has this kind of influence and unprecedented access to our Congress and system of government?

It's our Congress, or to be more exact, 110 members of the House of Representatives who make up the largest ideological caucus in our government known as the Immigration Reform Caucus.

In a new report released today by the Building Democracy Initiative titled Nativism in the House,

http://www.buildingdemocracy.org/Nativism_In_the_House/A_Report_on_the_HIRC/Nativism_In_the_House:_A_Report_on_the_House_Immigration_Reform_Caucus_200710091083/

the existence of the Immigration Reform Caucus is revealed with an in-depth analysis of this all-white, highly influential group which coincidentally (written sarcastically) was the brainchild of Rep. Tom Tancredo -- the subject of Latina Lista's post yesterday.

While it would be easy to dismiss this report since it comes from a group obviously sympathetic to the resolution of the immigration issue, it must be acknowledged that the report deals with facts that were easily obtainable through public records kept on voting practices, precinct demographics, bill sponsorships, and of course, information on the Caucus' own web site.

From all outward appearances: bills sponsored, political rhetoric, voting patterns, organizational affiliations, this group has more in common with the Ku Klux Klan than a mere caucus promoting a benign political cause.

In fact, by calling themselves the Immigration Reform Caucus (IRC), they deflect any hint that their agenda relies heavily on extremism, racism and ethnic oppression rather than actively working to find a true solution that benefits all Americans.

By hiding behind the IRC name, they don't alarm anyone -- voters or their fellow Congressional representatives -- that such an extremist group has infiltrated the very halls of our government. They are merely seen as another special interest group that feels strongly about their cause.

Yet, what is different about this group is that they are not outsiders looking in -- they are insiders, passing bad information under the guise of doing it for the American people.

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