Prepare for a poisonous election
At this point, no credible political analyst will try to predict who
will fill the 48th District Congressional seat. I’m not going to do
it either, although early betting is that Republican state Sen. John
Campbell will win the ticket to Washington, D.C., unless something
truly unexpected happens.
What won’t be unexpected is this: It will be a malicious election.
I think many people won’t like the process, because soon Orange
County will turn into an open forum for anti-immigration rhetoric and
Latino bashing. Campbell and other mainstream Republicans will look
like docile doves, and former Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer will come
close to being a liberal feminist once James Gilchrist, candidate of
the American Independent Party, begins throwing heavy punches against
them. Our politicians don’t do enough to stop illegal immigration
from south of the border, he’ll likely say.
Did you hear about the Minuteman Project? If you didn’t, give me a
minute to let you know what these people are all about. They are a
tiny minority in our political system, though they carry loudspeakers
that magnify their anti-immigrant rhetoric whenever they move around.
These people aren’t known for their peaceful demeanor. They like
to show off their guns, a few of them own mean dogs and almost all
have great distaste for anybody crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
Whether immigrants come by legal or illegal means matters little to
them -- anyone with a Latino background is unwelcome.
A few months ago, the Minutemen were in the Arizona desert. They
said they were there to help immigration agents patrolling the
U.S.-Mexican border. They received front-page coverage, and their
leadership acquired national prominence for a few days.
Then their vigilante approach moved to the California border,
where they found a stiff challenge from well-organized groups in the
Mexican-American community and from human rights activists. Unlike
the Arizona experience, this venture was a total fiasco.
Now they are back in the coastal area of Orange County, ready to
print a new chapter in their short political life. James Gilchrist,
founder and current leader of the Minuteman Project, has registered
to run for the Congressional seat Chris Cox left vacant when he
decided to take the Securities and Exchange Commission job a few
weeks ago.
I assume the Minutemen are pleased to be here. At least in Orange
County they don’t have to endure the unbearable heat of the Arizona
desert or face hostile organizations like those found in San Diego.
Although they’ll continue dealing with some opposition groups here,
Orange County will suit quite well their brazen character.
Gilchrist will use his anti-immigration language to get people to
vote for him in this election. He will try to blame our economic woes
on the undocumented workers. His dislike for Latinos is so great that
he might even attempt to associate rising oil prices with illegal
immigration. Who knows what other irrationalities he might bring to
the table while debating with the other candidates.
Americans have been affected by a net increase of Latinos in the
urban areas. But that increment is hardly due to illegal immigration,
as most Minutemen will point out. Many of the Latinos moving to
coastal cities such as Costa Mesa or San Juan Capistrano are second-
or third-generation. They are moving up the economic ladder.
As more Latinos establish their families in other cities, their
chances of displacing other ethnic groups in the labor market are
also high. Gilchrist’s rhetoric plays especially well among those
being displaced. His political agenda is based on fear.
During the election process, he will ridicule his opponents for
being soft on illegal immigration. He will also try to create doubts
about their leadership abilities. But we aren’t naive. Most of us
know where our economic problems orginate. They come from
Washington, and they have little, if any, relationship to
immigration.
* HUMBERTO CASPA is a Costa Mesa resident and bilingual writer. He
can be reached by e-mail at o7hcletters@yahoo.comf7.
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