Pro-immigrant GOP Group Slams Ann Coulter for Anti-Latino Bigotry

PRESS RELEASE

An Open Letter to Ann Coulter:

Marshall, MN – We demand an immediate apology for your latest anti-Latino and anti-immigrant rant titled “America Nears el Tipping Pointo.”

Also please stop referring to yourself as a conservative and an expert on liberals. Hatred of minorities and immigrants is not a conservative value, and you apparently get most of your facts about Latinos and immigration from organizations founded and led by population control liberals like John Tanton. Tanton founded or co-founded the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA, Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), US English, Pro English, etc. Although you’ve made a career as an ‘expert’ on liberals, apparently you’re not always able to recognize liberals like Tanton and Roy Beck, especially when they appeal to your ‘dark side’ on Latinos and immigrants.

If Abe Lincoln or Ronald Reagan could read your latest column, they would turn over in their graves. You obviously know nothing about the Latino vote, and your repeated and shrill rhetoric against Latinos are a major reason that so many conservative Latinos hold their nose and vote Democrat.

Reagan famously told Lionel Sosa “Latinos are Republican. They just don’t know it yet.” He’s right, and whenever Republicans have engaged in constructive outreach to Latinos, Latino support for the GOP has improved, while harsh rhetoric such as in recent years has depressed GOP support among Latinos. As Marco Rubio pointed out recently “It’s very hard to make the economic argument to people who think you want to deport their grandmother.”

Abraham Lincoln had issues with Nativists too. Fragments of the vehemently anti-immigrant “know nothing” party joined the Republican party when the “know nothing” party disintegrated. Instead of allowing himself to be bullied by Nativists, Lincoln reached out to German-Americans, a major group of New Americans of the era, who had voted Democrat because Whigs and Republicans had never bothered to ask them for their vote. Lincoln even bought a German language newspaper to help with outreach, and Lincoln’s two presidential campaigns were successful in large part due to outreach to German-Americans.

According to Pew Research, 62% of Latinos are ideologically conservative or moderate, and yet just 27% of Latinos voted for Mitt Romney. Before Mitt Romney softened his tone after the primaries, some polls found Mitt Romney’s Latino support among likely Hispanic voters in the 14% range.

In 2004, following years of sensible Latino engagement by forward thinking Republican leaders, George Bush won 40% of the Latino vote. If not for the shrill anti-immigrant and anti-Latino rhetoric from people like you, that trend would have continued and Mitt Romney would have won the election.

You conveniently never mention in your columns that the GOP was competitive in California until the harsh rhetoric surrounding proposition 187 caused Latinos to leave the GOP in droves. Since proposition 187, the GOP has not been competitive in statewide races. This phenomenon has followed the rhetoric and spread from California to the rest of the nation. The GOP is now often perceived by many Latinos as hostile to Latinos.

There’s a common thread in your rantings… you parrot talking points from John Tanton and his motley alliance of population control liberals and bigots. For example, in a 2001 memo to a supporter, Tanton bragged about hiring a lobbyist to manipulate Republicans:

“The goal is to change Republicans’ perception of immigration so that when they encounter the word “immigrant,” their reaction is “Democrat.”

“Our plan is to hire a lobbyist who will carry the following message to Republicans on Capitol Hill and to business leaders: Continued massive immigration will soon cost you political control of the White House and Congress, given the current, even division of the electorate, and the massive infusion of voters about to be made to the Democratic side. We are about to replay the Democratic hegemony of 1933-53, fueled back then by the massive immigration of 1890-1924.”

Apparently you’re not as adept in detecting liberals as you would have us believe!

The real reason why Republicans did so poorly among Latinos is due to manipulation by anti-immigrant groups, and shrill rhetoric by yourself and a small minority of Republican politicians which provides ample ammunition for liberals to frame the Republican Party as anti-Latino and anti-immigrant. The Republican Party is neither anti-Latino or anti-immigrant. In fact, a May 2011 poll by Pew Research found a majority of Republicans favor comprehensive immigration reform, including a 49%/49% split of “staunch conservatives.”

We won’t allow extremists like you to hijack this issue anymore! The future of the Republican Party depends upon dispelling the perception among many New Americans that the GOP is hostile on immigration.

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Cafe Con Leche Republicans is a national organization of Republicans who welcome “New Americans”, defined as immigrants and family of recent immigrants. Our mission is to make America and the GOP, more welcoming to “New Immigrants” through political activism, “in-reach” and education within the Republican Party, and lobbying government to adopt more immigrant friendly policies. We also seek to bring more conservative and moderate “New Americans” to the Republican Party. These efforts will strengthen the GOP, and lead more Republicans to embrace welcoming policies for immigrants and their families. We have members nationwide, with chapters in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and California. Our members and leadership are predominantly Hispanic, though we define ourselves by mission and guiding principles, not ethnicity, and we welcome all who share our goals. Our leadership is 100% Republican.