2008 Woodie Awards
Activist invites audience to take care of neighbors crossing border
Congress treads on Constitution with reforms and house resolutions, immigration activist says.
By Jason B. Hogan
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
Originally published: 4/3/08 at 7:29 PM CSTLast update: 4/3/08 at 7:27 PM CST
Enrique Morones, founder of the nonprofit organization Border Angels, said his group and 67 percent of the nation are asking for one thing, comprehensive immigration reforms in the wake of the 2008 presidential elections.
November will mark a period in history that will possibly change lives forever, Morones said.
The upcoming change in the White House administration is of great concern to Morones and his organization.
"I don't advocate a particular person ... Obama," Morones said tongue in cheek. "Just like me, you have the right to vote for anyone you want. Just vote. Be involved."
The Border Angels organization prides itself on human rights activism.
It was founded in 1986 to stop the unnecessary deaths of people crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
In 1994, the California government, along with the voters, made an effort to enact Proposal 187 nicknamed "Save Our State" which would have driven undocumented aliens from within the U.S. border.
But the legislative efforts were attacked by several lawsuits as being unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and the 14th Amendment.
The Supremacy Clause states that the Constitution and the laws and treaties formed are the supreme law of the land placing state laws as secondary to federal agencies and statutes.
According to the Library of Congress Web site, the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to people born and naturalized within the United States and are granted equal rights under its laws.
Morones called Proposal 187 discrimination.
"Building a wall will not solve these issues ... Since October 1994, two to three Mexicans die every day," Morones said. "It's very sad. These are human beings, human beings looking for a better way of life."
"The No. 1 reason people come into this country is economic opportunity," Morones said.
Morones spoke about a Mexican immigrant, Lutricia Dominguez, who sought to be reunited with her husband and two children, a 15-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl. Morones said 10 percent of Mexicans are seeking family reunification.
November will mark a period in history that will possibly change lives forever, Morones said.
The upcoming change in the White House administration is of great concern to Morones and his organization.
"I don't advocate a particular person ... Obama," Morones said tongue in cheek. "Just like me, you have the right to vote for anyone you want. Just vote. Be involved."
The Border Angels organization prides itself on human rights activism.
It was founded in 1986 to stop the unnecessary deaths of people crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
In 1994, the California government, along with the voters, made an effort to enact Proposal 187 nicknamed "Save Our State" which would have driven undocumented aliens from within the U.S. border.
But the legislative efforts were attacked by several lawsuits as being unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and the 14th Amendment.
The Supremacy Clause states that the Constitution and the laws and treaties formed are the supreme law of the land placing state laws as secondary to federal agencies and statutes.
According to the Library of Congress Web site, the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to people born and naturalized within the United States and are granted equal rights under its laws.
Morones called Proposal 187 discrimination.
"Building a wall will not solve these issues ... Since October 1994, two to three Mexicans die every day," Morones said. "It's very sad. These are human beings, human beings looking for a better way of life."
"The No. 1 reason people come into this country is economic opportunity," Morones said.
Morones spoke about a Mexican immigrant, Lutricia Dominguez, who sought to be reunited with her husband and two children, a 15-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl. Morones said 10 percent of Mexicans are seeking family reunification.
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Edward Anderson
posted 4/24/08 @ 4:58 PM CST
Morones shows his true colors once again as an advocate for Immigration Criminals by painting the very Federal Laws he claims over ruled California's Prop 187 as being simultaneously something to be ignored when it means stopping, pursuing and deporting the immigration criminals that those very laws mandate. (Continued…)
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