Texas Democratic Party: Moving Texas Forward

The following is a transcription of remarks delivered by Rebecca Forest, founder of the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas and a prominent Tea Party leader.

“If you want to know why we can’t pass legislation in Texas it’s because we have 37, no 36, Hispanics in the Legislature. All of the states that have passed legislation have a handful and I mean literally, some of them have NO Hispanic legislators, well, maybe 3 or 5 or something. So that’s, umm, part of our problem and we need to change those numbers. Umm, we need to do something about that in fact, during the debate on “sanctuary cities,” several Hispanic legislators testified that their grandparents and their parents were migrant workers who came over here to work and that THEY even worked in the fields.  And some of them even admitted that they had been here illegally and that they came illegally. So the problem is these Hispanic legislators…is that it’s too close to them and they, umm… simply cannot vote their conscience correctly. So that’s about all I have to say to you, please come to the hearing, and help us spread this message. Thank you.”

The following is a statement from TDP Deputy Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez:

“While Ms. Forest’s comments are incredibly offensive, it’s about time a Republican was finally upfront about their Party’s hateful attitude toward Hispanics.  The ‘sanctuary cities’ debate is really about the belief Ms. Forest confirmed: that Republicans simply think there are too many Hispanics in Texas.

“This legislation being debated today is yet another attempt by Republicans to pander to the Tea Party by attacking Hispanics. Cowardly Republican politicians like Rick Perry, David Dewhurst and the legislative majority have shown they are willing to trample the rights of Hispanic Texans in order to score points with their Tea Party base.

“Just about every Texas Republican legislator has supported or feared the Tea Party – and today, those Republicans have to make a choice. We call on Rick Perry, David Dewhurst and all Republican legislators to denounce Ms. Forest’s racist comments and remove the sanctuary cities bill from the legislative agenda.”

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