Posted on 05/10/2005 12:58:31 PM PDT by crazyhorse691
CALDWELL, IDAHO -- An outspoken man with no political experience wins a seat on the board of commissioners in Canyon County, a rural slice of Idaho known for potatoes, beets and onions. After he takes office, Robert Vasquez calls undocumented immigrants "illegal aliens," likens the growing number to an "unarmed Mexican invasion" and sends the government of Mexico a $2 million bill.
Only in Idaho, right?
Wrong.
A movement to reform immigration laws, a movement nationwide, is struggling in this corner of Idaho, on Oregon's eastern border, where some residents fear the effort threatens a return to the state's racially troubled past. No matter what happens next, the push for reform doesn't seem likely to end.
Not in Idaho, where Vasquez said he won't give up.
Not nationally, where initiatives targeting illegal immigrants have cropped up in Georgia, California and Colorado since Arizona voters approved a measure requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for those seeking public benefits.
And not in Oregon, where advocates pushing for legislation say the climate for reform has never been better.
Vasquez may be the Northwest's most rash activist when it comes to illegal immigrant backlash. Among other things, he brings to his advocacy Mexican ancestry, Vietnam war service and uncommon political bravado.
A former state employee and part-time columnist for the Idaho Press-Tribune, Vasquez established his position more than a decade ago when he wrote a column advocating English as the country's official language. Before last November's elections, he wrote an editorial claiming servicemen such as he -- he lost a leg in a Vietnam battle and wears shrapnel scars on his face and hand -- made the country safe for "liberals."
"As you sit in your Subaru Outback with the 'Save Tibet' bumper sticker, sipping your decaf-soy milk-latte, dining on your veggie burger, and whining about the poor al-Qaida being bombed, think about this: Freedom is not free," Vasquez wrote. "But don't worry, your friends and neighbors are paying the price."
But his sharpest attacks are aimed at illegal immigrants.
Last year, when he submitted the bill to Mexico, Vasquez said: "They simply drain away tax dollars, lower the wages of the hard-working Americans, bring disease and crime, and create a threat to our national security."
Latino residents were surprised and offended by the sentiment from a second-generation U.S. citizen, the grandson of Mexican immigrants.
No hyphens for him
Vasquez doesn't care. "I'm not one of them," he told The Oregonian. "I'm not a hyphenated American. I'm an American citizen representing my constituency."
Backlash of any kind against illegal Latino immigrants is fairly new to Oregon, which did not have a substantial Latino population until the late 1980s, said Barry Edmonston, director of Portland State University's Population Research Center.
Latino immigration in Oregon began during the labor shortage of World War II and surged in the 1980s after California's economy tanked and Congress granted amnesty to 3.1 million undocumented immigrants. One reason the number has climbed since may be because, as farm workers tell researchers, life is easier here.
"I don't think it's Utopia," Edmonston said of Oregon, "but I think it's not as hostile for them here as in border states."
Vasquez, meanwhile, cites Idaho as a good home for his sentiments. "I appreciate the sense of patriotism here, the sense of being an American citizen that Idaho has," he said.
Detractors say Vasquez uses extremist views and charged rhetoric to get attention -- a strategy he denies. Vasquez thinks he has sufficient support to consider a run at Congress or Idaho's governorship in 2006.
A sense of injustice in the way immigration laws are "selectively" enforced motivates him, he said. The turning point came in 2003 after said he saw "busloads of illegal aliens traipsing across the country heading to Washington, D.C., to lobby their rights." He was incensed. "In my opinion, they have no rights, except a safe return to their homeland."
Once, he submitted the $2 million bill. Another time, he sought a resolution asking the governor to declare Canyon County a "disaster area." Vasquez led a failed legislative push that would have required proof of citizenship for indigent residents to receive health care.
Now he is considering a legal defense fund so counties can fight welfare claims. He also is awaiting a report from a Chicago lawyer who specializes in racketeering laws. Commissioners paid $2,500 to determine whether racketeering laws can be used to sue businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
"I'm constantly seeking ways to address it," said Vasquez, a man who wears pin-striped suits, silver cufflinks and diamond-print ties in a county where feed stores and animal auction barns dominate the landscape. He is a man who programs his computer so the voice of George Carlin tells him he has e-mail; a man who smokes Marlboro reds and keeps a jar of Saddam Hussein hot sauce ("good on a cooked goose") on his desk; a man who decorates his office and the dashboard of his Jeep with glass and ceramic elephants as a reminded that he won office with no more support from the local Republican Party than a $60 in-kind contribution.
Refuses to speak Spanish
When Telemundo asked Vasquez to do an interview in Spanish, he refused, even though he speaks the language fluently. "Because I'm a U.S. citizen," he explained. "I'm an elected official, and my constituents are American citizens, and we speak English."
Corrine Tafoya Fisher, a social worker, said many in the Latino community were so offended that they raised $2,000 in four days to take out an advertisement in the newspaper stating their opposition.
"The unilateral action of Commissioner Robert Vasquez has brought national attention to Idaho," the ad said. "Unfortunately, it is the kind of attention that will continue to perpetuate the negative reputation that Idaho has endured in the past, due to the Aryan Nations and like-minded hate groups. So many Idahoans have worked hard over the years to dispel the negative image. . . Those of us signing this letter chose to use hope and education to ensure the growth and development of our county and state."
Tafoya Fisher helped form a group called Action Against Hate to fight Vasquez. Since then, she said, she has had telephone calls telling her to "go back where you came from."
"It's the language of hate that people are drawn to," said Donna Vasquez, a group member and executive director of the Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho in Nampa. Donna Vasquez is no relation to Robert Vasquez.
Tapping a sentiment
Albert Pacheco, executive director of the Idaho Migrant Council in Caldwell, said the current efforts come at a time when the Canyon County economy is hurting. "People like Commissioner Vasquez take advantage of the situation to promote their own agenda," Pacheco said. "The damage it will leave, the divide between the Hispanic community here and the non-Hispanic population, is my concern."
Robert Vasquez said the opposition is misleading. He said he has tapped into a sentiment that flows from the east side of the country to the west, a sentiment that appears in Idaho and Oregon and elsewhere, a sentiment that refuses to go away.
If that is true, Jim Ludwick of Oregonians for Immigration Reform may be evidence.
"People are just fed up with this concept that illegal aliens don't have to obey our laws," Ludwick said. "The only difference to what is happening here is in Idaho you have an elected official seeking reform, and here (in Oregon) you have a group of citizens."
He said he's also seen a change in attitudes when he speaks to civic groups.
"I know the people in the audience agree even if they don't admit it outwardly," Ludwick said. "Even if they don't want to say anything out of political correctness, I know they support me."
Larry Bingham: 503-221-8262; larrybingham@news.oregonian.com
I would suspect that most legal immigrants, including many Latinos, resent all the people who jumped the queue....
it is only natural, you jumped all the hoops, why shouldn't everyone?
because it is also true that illegal immigrants could spoil it for legal immigrants in the future, as well.....
Maybe this guy needs to start a "Third Party".
We have waited too late to do anything about the massive number of illegals who are coming here. President Bush wants the country destroyed, so he can join America with a union of other nations.
He is trying his best to bankrupt the nation, as he has declared that all illegals will be entitled to free health care all over the nation, and citizens will pay for it.
How free will our Repubic be once Bush is allowed to literally destroy this country? and like the guy said, a lot of people agree but few have the guts to speak out.
The only "racially troubled past" that I know of has been media created.
When Telemundo asked Vasquez to do an interview in Spanish, he refused, even though he speaks the language fluently. "Because I'm a U.S. citizen," he explained. "I'm an elected official, and my constituents are American citizens, and we speak English." <<<
Wow! I think I love this man . . .
I'll help him any way I can..maybe move to his State. Bravo!
Yep. The Chinese workers who settled here did not receive the hostilities that their brethren received in California after the railraod work was complete. The Chinese settled in and became quite prosperous in Idaho.
He is trying his best to bankrupt the nation, as he has declared that all illegals will be entitled to free health care all over the nation, and citizens will pay for it.<<<
I think we should refuse to pay for it.
I also think we should BOYCOTT hospitals who knowingly treat illegals without expecting some sort of payment from them. (I'm sure a patient could afford $1 a week if they are that "poor".)
By boycott, I mean those of us who have insurance and are able, DO NOT use County (taxpayer) funded hospitals.
In my town there is a choice of for-profit and non-profit hospitals. I only use physicians who have access to hospitals where people are expected to pay for services.
Thanks for the tagline, Bob.
"I would suspect that most legal immigrants, including many Latinos, resent all the people who jumped the queue....
it is only natural, you jumped all the hoops, why shouldn't everyone?
because it is also true that illegal immigrants could spoil it for legal immigrants in the future, as well....."
Hi!
bump
Ya know, I don't thank that woman's from 'round here...
Idaho, especially southern Idaho, has a long-established Hispanic population that tends to be quite conservative and isn't any happier with illegals than anyone else is - that comes of paying taxes, I suspect. Some of my Basque friends make me look like a bleeding-heart liberal...
Let me guess. Grandma and Grandpa came to the US legally.
I'd like to see that divide open to about 1200 miles due south.
I couldn't locate an e-mail address for Vasquez, but the Canyon County commissioners' website (with a picture) is here and their phone number is 208 454-7507.
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