No To American Legion Day September 16th

Please read the attached emails from Helen Galvan and Col. Vargas, and help to spread the word. Write to your representatives in Congress today.

Thank you. Willie Galvan, State Commander
American GI Forum of California

U.S. Immigration Laws - Clear As Mud; No To American Legion Day September 16^th(HR679)

There is a lot of information here; but, basically, the American Legion is asking Congress to designate Sept. 16th as American Legion Day. We all know this is September 16th, Mexican Independence Day, celebrated by Hispanics as a culturally relevant day reflective of our roots, and also the heart of Hispanic Heritage Month. Whether you agree with the American Legion's stance on immigration or not, I think we have to take a stand on their wanting OUR day to be designated as their day - and they are still willing to stir up the pot on immigration, which I don't believe they "get".

If you agree, please send a letter to your congress people letting them know. There is a sample letter that Col. Vargas wrote attached at the end of all these emails.

Thank you. Helen Galván, State Chairwoman
American GI Forum of California

LTC Stock -

Thank you for providing this superbly effective rebuttal to the legion's dismissive assertion that immigration laws are clear. The only thing that is clear is that the Legion has its head in the sand, with no exit strategy. I call on all our AGIF Forumeers to write to your Member of Congress in the House of Representatives. I am attaching a draft, which you can modify as you wish and send via email to your Congressional House representative. Please do so by no later than tomorrow, 16 September.

To: srobertson@legion.org
Subject: Re: Should AGIF Support American Legion Day, 16 September?
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:04:13 -0700

I emphatically disagree with the statement that current Federal immigration laws are "clear." Far more accurate is the statement by DHS spokesperson Karen Kraushaar (on the record in the Washington Post) that "US immigration law is a mystery and a mastery of obfuscation."

If the laws were so clear, DHS would not be erroneously deporting hundreds of US citizens each year (google "Mark Lyttle" for a recent sample case involving a military family). If the laws were clear, military families wouldn't be facing so much heartache as their own gov't won't allow them to bring their families to the US legally. If the laws were clear, DHS wouldn't be trying to deport honorably serving sailors who have citizenship applications pending (google "Karla Rivera" for that case). If the laws were clear, federal judges wouldn't be repeatedly complaining that they are like "King Minos's labyrinth in ancient Crete."

To give yet another example (I can give you hundreds of them): If the laws were clear, DHS would not have recently threatened to deport the 8 year old US citizen child of an Army soldier in CA; DHS agents who threatened this child with removal to the Philippines proved to be poorly trained on the complexities of US citizenship law. But they terrified this child's parents (both US citizens). And if you read the Legion resolutions, the child should be deported, because DHS says she's an "illegal alien" (they told her parents this in an e-mail).

Ronald Reagan once argued that the reason we were a nation of tax law violators was that tax laws made no sense. Rather than arguing for increased enforcement of arbitrary tax laws and the placement of IRS agents on every corner, he sought to reform the tax laws. Immigration laws today are far more complex, arbitrary, and incomprehensible than our tax laws ever were.

As a military police officer, I believe firmly in the "rule of law." But you cannot have the rule of law when only elite lawyers understand the law, and that's the situation we're in today with our immigration laws. It seems to me that the Legion might be better served by pointing out the realities of these immigration laws and their impact on the military, rather than repeating falsehoods from fringe anti-immigrant groups (as seems to have been the case with last year's Legion "report" on immigration).

As the Commander of the AGIF, the Col. Joseph C. Rodriguez, CMOH, Washington DC State Forum and on behalf of the Washington DC State Forum we are side by side with you on this issue. The US Congress designated September 15 though October 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Month, the month when we observe the contributions of Hispanic American Veterans men/women in defense of our country.

To support the American Legion on this issue will be an affront to our Hispanic American warriors, past and those present who are in “harms way.” Just a reminder to the American Legion, Hispanics Americans have the highest record of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients than any other ethnic group in our country, the USA. Since our Independence, the War of 1812, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the recent conflicts no one asked Hispanics if they were properly documented when they volunteer to join the Armed Forces of our country. One must have to visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC to read the names of our people who gave their lives in defense of our great nation and their adoptive country. During Vietnam no Lopez, Perez, Garcia’s, Ramirez, or any one with a Hispanic surname went to Canada to escape the draft, we volunteer our services to our nation.

Respectfully yours in the American GI Forum of the US,
Carlos H. Puertas, State Commander
AGIF/US, the Col. Joseph C. Rodriguez, CMOH
Washington DC State Forum

I respectfully request that you oppose House Resolution 679, which establishes today, 16 September, as “The American Legion Day”. HR 679 was introduced by Rep. Debbie Halvorson in late July.

My reasons for this request are several. While the Legion has done much to support Veteran causes, it has taken actions which are culturally insensitive and hurtful to patriotic Hispanic military Veterans and their families. Specifically, at its annual convention held in Phoenix, Arizona in late August 2008, the Legion approved a series of resolutions which branded undocumented immigrants as criminals, carriers of disease, and a burden to society. In so doing, the Legion stained the valuable contributions of hundreds of thousands of men and women, who as undocumented immigrants, answered the call of our Nation in times of conflict. Equally regrettable, the Legion measures set back our national debate on immigration reform and sadly have played into the hands of extremist, anti-immigration groups, resulting in heightened social tensions and misunderstanding in our country. In pushing these resolutions, the Legion espouses patriotism and asserts that it is merely upholding the Constitution and the laws of the nation which are “clear” on immigration (they are not). Attempts by the American GI Forum and other leading Hispanic American groups to have the Legion remove the offensive language from its resolutions have been repeatedly rebuffed.

This is the setting against which the HR 679 is introduced. To add insult to injury, the proposed Legion day of 16 September coincides with a day sacred to Hispanics, when Hispanic values, including patriotism, are revered. This honored day, coming during the heart of Hispanic Heritage Month, is a day of celebration and remembrance of all contributions to and sacrifices for our great Nation, including those of our valiant Hispanic soldiers and Veterans – many of whom remain as undocumented immigrants. The attempt by the Legion to use our day as theirs to celebrate is a poke in the eye to Hispanics and deeply offensive. For these reasons, I urge you to reject the designation of 16 September as “The American Legion Day.”