June 26, 2008

State Farm not a good neighbor to Republicans (Hispanic voting drive with NCLR, NALEO)

The questionable organizations National Council of La Raza (among other things, funds extremists and gave an award to a vile racist) and National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (has a relatively minor link to the Mexican government) are behind a citizenship and voting drive for Hispanics called "Ya Es Hora" ("It's About Time", naleo.org/veyvota.html). And, State Farm Insurance has announced that they'll be the lead sponsor.

It's great that State Farm is encouraging people to get out and vote. However, it's unfortunate that they're making it ethnicity-specific rather than working to get everyone regardless of race or ethnicity to vote. And, considering that a good majority of those who will be driven out to vote will be voting Democratic, those Republicans who hold StateFarm policies should consider contacting the company to complain or should consider switching to a different company. And, that goes for everyone, considering the groups involved in the effort:

In addition to the cash infusion [$1 million], 4,000 State Farm agents who serve the Hispanic community across the country will provide U.S. citizenship applications and voter-registration materials to clients. More than eight million green-card holders, or legal permanent residents, currently are eligible to become U.S. citizens, and the majority are immigrants from Latin America.

Some might suggest that State Farm just give the money they'll spend on this to the Democratic Party to cut out the middleman.

Other companies involved include the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, and Univision; the latter network's vile, illegal immigration-supporting anchor Maria Elena Salinas was on hand for an event last year [1]. A current or previous sponsor was ConAgra Foods [2]. Others involved include ImpreMedia, the Service Employees International Union SEIU and the We Are America Alliance [3]. Members of the WAAA are linked to the Mexican government. Others involved include Entravision Communications and Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund [4].

This NCLR press release makes it clear they only care about one thing: race-based power [3]:

Strategically, the campaign seeks to expand the Latino electorate in key battleground states, solidify the strength of the Latino vote in traditional Latino states, and help lay the foundation for a Latino electorate in nontraditional states where the Latino population has significantly increased in recent years. The strategy will establish Latinos as an important national electorate.

"The dramatic success of this year's naturalization efforts demonstrates our community's desire to help shape the future of our country at the ballot box," said Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO. "This unprecedented effort will give Latinos the key to victory in 2008," added Murguia. "The campaign will also build the capacities of local communities to engage in the electoral process for years to come," concluded Murguia.

And, they even reference the 2006 illegal immigration marches, where foreign citizens marched through our streets demanding that we change our laws to suit them [5]:

The campaign was launched as the Latino community's action-oriented response to the mobilizations of 2006 and represents the largest and most comprehensive effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process.

[1] nclr.org/content/news/detail/47243/
[2] hispanicprwire.com/news.php?l=in&id=9072&cha=8
[3] hispanictips.com/2007/07/10/
multimedia-grassroots-campaign-launched-help-achieve-historic-
latino-turnout-2008-nclr/
[4] nclr.org/section/yaeshora/veyvota
[5] nclr.org/section/yaeshora/ciudadania

Posted to Immigration2008a at June 26, 2008 09:54 AM