Essay 4025

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

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Fear of growing Latino power drives bias

By SUE ONTIVEROS

Are you really surprised that Carpentersville’s stupid anti-immigration ordinance didn’t do anything but stir up emotions? I’m not.

That proposal would have given the village the right to take licenses from businesses that hired undocumented workers. It also would have allowed fines for landlords who rented to those same workers.

All that proposal did was get everyone’s shorts in a knot and gave a lot of people a chance to voice their hatred toward Latinos. Because, let’s face it, when people say they are against illegal immigration, they aren’t talking about the Irish nanny on the North Shore. The anti-immigration forces are solely interested in getting rid of Latino immigrants.

They are tired of all “those people” and want to send them all back where they came from.

I don’t doubt that Carpentersville Trustees Paul Humpfer and Judith Sigwalt didn’t recognize that vitriol and knew it could work to their advantage come re-election time. And you know what? It all went just fine for them. As Sigwalt was quoted in the Sun-Times this week, “I’ve got four more years on the board and so does Paul, so it’s not going to fade away.”

Of course not. Anytime they need to whip up emotion and support for anything, they’ll just trot out that proposal again and people will be lining up behind them. It’s a great political move for them personally. Don’t be surprised if one or both of them use this as their launching pad for higher office.

Not such a hot move for their town, unfortunately. I can’t wait to see what this does for property values there. And what business owner in his or her right mind would choose Carpentersville now? Any national chain would have to be nuts to locate there, knowing a law like that could wreak havoc for business. The village could come in any day and just yank the business license. What business wants to operate under such Gestapo tactics?

I suspect few businesses would pick a town that has alienated an entire ethnic group, either. Latinos, documented or not, have major buying power, and are touted repeatedly as being the fastest-growing minority in this country.

And that’s exactly what I think is at the heart of a lot of this anti-Latino immigrant rhetoric. Mainstream America worries that a growing Latino population could change the landscape, especially when it comes to political power. They’ve tried to turn the issue of immigration into a situation solely concerning Latinos.

The Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform knows that the undocumented workers at the center of the immigration battle aren’t only Latino. They are Polish, Asian, African and many more ethnicities. So on Sunday, the campaign is going to host Welcoming the Stranger, a procession beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Division and Ashland that will culminate in a trilingual mass at St. Stanislaus Kostka, 1300 N. Noble.

Those participating have been asked to wear ethnic clothing to demonstrate the diversity of the immigration issue. Postcards bearing the names of real families hurt by the unsettled immigration situation will be handed out. The cards also will include names of the Illinois delegates to Congress. Participants will be asked to pray for those families and to call members of Congress to asking them to support immigration reform.

Cardinal Francis George will address the crowd. In the Archdiocese of Chicago, more than 50 percent of the population is made up of recent immigrants, legal and otherwise, said Elena Segura, Midwest director of the campaign. This is the first time the cardinal will be in this type of liturgical setting concerning immigration reform. His support is critical, especially because immigration reform efforts seem to have fallen apart.

And when it comes to leading the flock, especially on this volatile issue, the cardinal makes no distinctions, Segura said. “He is the pastor of everyone, documented and undocumented.”