Response to Tom Campbell's email to the Courage Campaign
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Dear Mr. Campbell,
Thank you for your recent e-mail about our campaign to hold you accountable for your support of Arizona's SB 1070.
We generally agree with your premise that inaction at the federal level has been the catalyst for a host of costly local and state actions on the issue of immigration. While we may not agree with you on the specifics of Arizona’s SB 1070 and California “sanctuary cities,” we can surely agree that both policies were the result of failures at the federal level.
After reflecting on the fact that you had 10 years and either a Republican President or Republican Congress with which to fix this growing problem, we decided to give you the benefit of the doubt and research the matter further.
What we found is that in your ten years in Congress, you did not produce comprehensive immigration reform. By failing to lead on this vitally important economic and national security issue, you were part of the problem.
In fact, you've flip-flopped on the issue. In the 1990s you made a series of progressive votes on immigration bills, but now you support Arizona's law.
It seems to us you're trying to use your own failures as an excuse to lend your name and credentials to an indefensible law, while pandering to extremist elements with hopes that it will help you win an election. But facts, and your own record of outright failure to lead on the issue of immigration, speak much louder than election year pandering.
So now we are calling on you, formally, to apologize to the people of California and America for abdicating your responsibility to fix our immigration system when you had the chance.
As for SB 1070, you also suggested in your email that "Californians ought to watch the experience of our neighbor state before rushing to condemn it." It seems to us that Californians unfortunately have a lot of experience with using immigration status as a basis for racial discrimination. We know the division and pain it causes, and therefore have a strong basis to condemn Arizona. That's why a growing number of Californians, including faith leaders, are calling for Arizona to repeal its law.
You also view the application of legal authority by law enforcement officers from a perspective of privilege. African Americans across the nation, and now Latinos in Arizona, have been victims of documented racial profiling for decades. "Reasonable suspicion" allows for police officers to subjectively determine whether to pull-over or stop a "suspect". This law is similar to the law enforcement policy that allows police to shoot if they "feel in danger". This is nothing more than "shoot first, ask questions later". Already Californians are being targeted by Arizona authorities -- just two weeks ago a U.S. citizen from Fresno with dark skin was pulled over and arrested by Arizona police for not having his birth certificate on him.
Ultimately, we believe that comprehensive immigration reform -- not unlike the bi-partisan measure that was proposed by John McCain and the late Senator Edward Kennedy back in 2007 -- would fix the system. Instead of supporting an end to federal failures on this issue, you instead advocate a hateful law that many in Arizona law enforcement, including the Pima County Sheriff, oppose as being unenforceable and a drain on their already strained resources.
California deserves leadership that will deliver results when it comes to solving tough problems like our broken immigration system.
Your past failures and your recent efforts to trumpet divisive policies and hateful election year rhetoric show that you are not up to that test.
Again, we believe you owe the people of California an apology.
Sincerely,
Rick Jacobs
Chair, Courage Campaign
Rev. Eric Lee
California State President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Kenneth Burt
Political Director, California Federation of Teachers
Click here to read Tom Campbell's email response to the Courage Campaign
Click here to add your signature to the Courage Campaign's original letter to Tom Campbell.