http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/21/2208470/burleson-tea-party-schedules-hispanic.html Three weeks after nationwide protests showed that many Hispanics oppose Arizona's new immigration law, a local Tea Party group hopes to provide a different perspective.
The Burleson Tea Party is hosting a "Keep America Free" town-hall meeting featuring Hispanic speakers who support the law, which allows officers to ask people for documents to prove that they are in this country legally.
Among the speakers Sunday will be Bert Hernandez, vice president of the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County.
"As a Hispanic, as a Mexican-American and as an immigrant, I am not alone in saying that I support Arizona," Hernandez said. "I think Arizona did the right thing."
Hernandez, general manager of a Ford dealership in Waco, said his family entered the country legally when he was young. He didn't become politically active until last year, when he grew concerned about President Barack Obama's plans for healthcare reform.
"I can understand why the citizens of Arizona want to take the law into their hands and do those things that the federal government won't do," Hernandez said. "They don't want the culture of corruption that's in Mexico to infect our states."
Two Cuban refugees are also scheduled to participate.
Juan Baldor, head of the Spanish department at Dallas Baptist University, and Dr. Irma Aguirre, a family practice physician in Central Texas, will speak about life under the Fidel Castro regime. Polatik, a Hispanic political rapper who has appeared at other Tea Party events, is scheduled to attend.
"I'm of Mexican descent, and I openly say to all that the governor and legislators of Arizona responsible for passing SB1070 are symbols of hope in my eyes," Polatik wrote recently on his website.
Angela Cox, a leader of the Burleson Tea Party, said the roster of mostly Hispanic speakers for Sunday's event was not planned and is "just a coincidence." Her group and others are expected to lobby the Texas Legislature to pass a law similar to Arizona's next year.
This week, Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized the Arizona law during Calderon's state visit to Washington. Obama called the law "misdirected" and confirmed that he may challenge its constitutionality.
Gov. Rick Perry and former Houston Mayor Bill White, his Democratic opponent, have also criticized the Arizona law.
Texas Democratic Party spokesman Boyd Richie said the Arizona law violates basic American rights and freedoms.
"For generations, Hispanic Texans have made great contributions to our state and fought to protect the freedom all Americans cherish," Richie said in an e-mail. "Every American should be insulted by a law that would require fellow citizens to carry a birth certificate when they leave home in case they are forced to prove their citizenship because of the way they look or speak."
AMAN BATHEJA, 817-390-7695
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