JEWISH GROUP BANDS WITH LATINOS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
By Dianne SolÍs / dsolis@dallasnews.com

Dallas Morning News, TX
Nov 15 2007

N. Texans among those at Washington immigration workshop

Leaders of a national Jewish group say the hate being directed at
Mexican immigrants resonates with their own experience. So they’ve
taken up the cause and convened a series of meetings and workshops
with immigrant and Mexican-American leaders, including some from
North Texas.

Laura Gonzalez, a Dallas college professor, and Jacobo Kupersztoch,
a Dallas biologist, were among about three dozen Latinos from around
the country who made the trek to Washington for sessions on organizing,
fundraising and advocacy.

The American Jewish Committee co-sponsored the three-day workshop with
Mexico’s Institute for Mexicans Abroad, which includes an advisory
council established by the country’s Foreign Relations Ministry.

And immigration – an issue that has polarized the nation – took
center stage."The whole immigration debate is not a Latino issue;
it is an American issue," said Dina Siegel Vann, the director of the
Latino and Latin America initiative at the American Jewish Committee.

Ms. Siegel Vann grew up in Mexico City – and was part of the small
but active Jewish community of about 40,000 there.

"From a moral perspective, Jews feel that having successfully
incorporated into the U.S., they now feel a responsibility to help
other minorities," she said.

Beyond that, there are practical motivations, she said. The Jewish
population is in decline in the U.S., she said, and now numbers about
5 million. The Hispanic population is growing and numbers 44 million.

"Both communities have a self-interest in building a coalition," she
said. "The only way you can advance an agenda is through a coalition."

The American Jewish Committee has long been a strong supporter
of immigration. Earlier this year, the AJC supported a broad plan
to overhaul U.S. immigration laws. After the Senate failed to pass
comprehensive immigration reform, the AJC urged Congress to continue
working on a "balanced and bipartisan bill."

"The Senate’s failure to advance the immigration legislation only
prolongs the national crisis in failing to deal humanely with the 12
million undocumented immigrants in our country," said Jeffrey Sinensky,
AJC’s director of domestic policy.

‘Responsibility to lobby’ At the Washington meeting, workshops
focused on everything from effective lobbying and letter-writing to
the power of personal relationships to a point-by-point presentation
on advocating on Capitol Hill.

"Script your meeting – practice speaking. … Don’t be afraid to show
your passion, but don’t let your passion overshadow your credibility,"
read one handout.

The group members met with legislative aides and with Rep. Howard
Berman, a veteran Democratic legislator from Los Angeles who
has supported measures to legalize immigrants who are in the
U.S. unlawfully.

They also met with various leaders of the Jewish community in the
Washington area, and with Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan, whose
grandfather immigrated to Mexico from Armenia.

"Now, more than ever, we must underscore a self-evident truth:
Migrants are not a threat to the security of the U.S.," he said,
according to a transcript of his remarks. "They are important actors
in the fabric of what makes America great."

Mr. Kupersztoch said he identifies with the plight of illegal
immigrants. "I was exposed to discrimination as a Jew in Mexico and
exposed to discrimination as a Mexican in the U.S.," he said.

And he hopes to use what he learned to set up a network of people,
possibly retirees, who can establish phone trees and e-mail trees to
call on Congress, the state Legislature and municipalities when key
issues arise.

The Jewish community is "so very organized, and I came away very
positively impressed," he said. By comparison, he said, "we are not
organized. The Latino community is not organized."

Another idea calls for developing training plans that would enhance
the skills of the many blue-collar workers from Mexico in North Texas,
he said.

Ms. Gonzalez, who is active in the League of Women Voters of Dallas,
said political advocacy was of keen interest.

"What we share with the Jewish community is discrimination,"
Ms. Gonzalez said.

"They convinced us that it is not only our right and responsibility
to lobby," she said. "We [as] U.S. citizens have the right to go and
lobby for the issues that relate to our interests."

Mr. Kupersztoch and Ms. Gonzalez both served on the first advisory
board of Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry from 2003 through 2005.

Praise and doubt In North Texas, some immigrant leaders praised the
AJC effort.

For years, some have discussed the merits of U.S. Latinos acting
as a lobby on Mexican issues, just as U.S. Jews have done on behalf
of Israel.

And for nearly as many years, Mexico’s halting march toward democracy
impeded such moves because Mexican-Americans wanted little association
with the often-corrupt ruling party of Mexico.

But that political party rules no longer. And the current crackdown
against Mexicans living illegally in the U.S. has served to galvanize
many members of the community.

The Jewish people "have suffered much more than we have, and for
that reason they are stronger than we are," said Jorge Navarrete,
who served on the advisory board of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad.

"That’s why we need to take advantage of them as an example for
ourselves. Hopefully, what these people [who’ve attended AJC seminars]
learned will be shared with others."

Others question the AJC measure.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration
Reform, a group that wants restrictions on both legal and illegal
immigration, said many times an organization’s leadership doesn’t
represent the rank and file.

"Jewish opinion on immigration tends to probably be more sympathetic
than the general population," said Mr. Mehlman, who is Jewish and
co-founded the now-dormant American Jewish Immigration Policy
Institute. "But it is not hugely out of step with the general
population."

Mr. Mehlman noted that FAIR also helped form a group of Hispanics
against illegal immigration and African-Americans against illegal
immigration in 2006, as protests for immigrant rights swept through
such U.S. cities as Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago.

IMMIGRANT STATISTICS 11.6 million The estimated number of "unauthorized
immigrants" living in the U.S. in 2006

6.6 million, or 57% The number of "unauthorized immigrants" from Mexico

1.64 million Unauthorized immigrant population in Texas, which is
second only to California

37.5 million The foreign-born population of the U.S., which includes
those lawfully in the country

221,000 The number of people removed from the U.S. in the fiscal year
that ended in September

261,000 Total number of repatriations, including for the first time
statistics on those who chose a procedure known as voluntary departure,
which differs legally from a deportation

631,000 The number of removals of illegal immigrants over a three-year
period (roughly the population of Fort Worth).

SOURCE: Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration
Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau

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