Texas Democratic Party Statement on Arizona, Texas Republicans

Texas Republican legislators, including Rep. Leo Berman, who abandoned his primary race against Governor Perry based on Perry’s promise to crack down on illegal immigration have indicated they will introduce legislation similar to the recently enacted Arizona law in the 2011 legislative session.

“The Arizona law violates basic American rights and freedoms,” said Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie.

“For generations, Hispanic Texans have made great contributions to our state and fought to protect the freedom all Americans cherish,” Richie observed. “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.”

Richie noted that yesterday Governor Perry expressed “concerns” about the Arizona law that echo criticisms Democrats have voiced related to its impact on law enforcement.

“Unfortunately, given reports about the promise the Governor made to get Rep. Berman out of the Republican primary, his ‘concerns’ about the Arizona law appear to be another case of Rick Perry trying to have it both ways on a hot political issue,” Richie said, noting Perry’s recent appearance with far right commentator Glenn Beck and State Rep. Leo Berman, who responded that Perry’s most recent position on immigration breaks a promise Perry made to Berman just last year.

“For ten years as Governor, Rick Perry has played politics when leadership was needed on border and immigration issues, from wasteful border cameras that cost $153,800 per arrest, to his failure to involve border sheriffs in developing plans to prevent violence in their communities,” Richie said.

“Texans can’t afford any more ‘politics as usual’ from politicians who talk out of both sides of their mouth, we need leadership we can trust to move Texas forward,” Richie concluded.