GOP Tries To Spark Black-Brown Fight

Republicans were charged by Black lawmakers on Wednesday of stoking tensions between the African American and Latino communities by arguing during a hearing that if it were not for illegal immigration more minorities would find themselves with a job.

“I am concerned by the majority’s attempt to manufacture tension between African-Americans and immigrant communities. It seems as though they would like for our communities to think about immigration in terms of ‘us versus them,’ and I reject that notion,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a statement.

Democratic lawmakers also accused Republicans of using the argument to defer attention from the GOP’s lack of support of other programs more gainful towards the employment of minorities such as job training, affirmative action and college financial aid, etc.

The attack at the third hearing by the immigration and enforcement subcommittee came as no surprise and was even met by a stark rebuke at the beginning by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, who called any notion of pitting blacks against Latino immigrants “so abhorrent and repulsive.”

Even though undocumented immigrants take jobs that most Americans turn down, Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, is convinced that curtailing illegal immigration will translate into more jobs for the country’s unemployed.

“With unemployment at over 9 percent for 21 months, jobs are scarce. And that is especially true in minority communities across the U.S.,” Smith said.

The GOP is facing internal dilemma as it tries to balance its tough stance on immigration enforcement with its courting of Hispanic voters in order to win back the White House next year.