Thanks to the good folks at the Texas Democratic Party, there’s a list of comments made by Dan Patrick about Latinos and immigrants. Let’s not forget that this would be representative of an Abbott-Patrick administration if Latinos don’t show up at the polls. Is it any surprise that Patrick has refused a debate with Democrat for Lt. Governor Leticia Van de Putte at tonight’s Univision Town Hall?
Another reminder: Watch a frank discussion about the future of Texas featuring State Senator Leticia Van de Putte on Friday, 9/12 at 6PM. Watch it online here.
Background On Dan Patrick’s History of Disrespect Towards Hispanic Community
Patrick Said Number One Problem We Are Facing Is “Silent Invasion Of The Border.” At a campaign speech in October 2006, Patrick said, “The number one problem we are facing is the silent invasion of the border. We are being overrun.” [The Texas Observer, 2/24/2006]
Patrick Said Texas Faces “Hardened Criminals, Not Illegals Here For A Job…They Threaten Your Family. They Threaten Your Life. They Threaten Your Business. They Threaten Our State.” At a January 2014 forum, Sen. Dan Patrick said the question of border security was tied to violent crimes in the U.S. He said an improved immigration policy was necessary because the state had been facing “hardened criminals we arrested from 2008 to 2012—not illegals who were here for a job … but hardened criminals—141,000 we put in our jails just in four years in Texas. They threaten your family. They threaten your life. They threaten your business. They threaten our state,” he said. [Off the Kuff, 1/21/14]
-
Chairman of Associated Republicans of Texas Said Patrick’s Rhetoric “Sounds Like Thinly Veiled Racism.” In February 2014, New York Times reported Hector De Leon, Chairman of the Associated Republicans of Texas, stated that the issue of illegal immigration “can be addressed by not engaging in rhetoric that sounds like thinly veiled racism.” [New York Times, 2/7/2014]
Patrick Said Immigrants Are Bringing Third World Diseases With Them Such As “Tuberculosis, Malaria, Polio and Leprosy.” In February 2013, The Monitor reported Dan Patrick said of unauthorized immigrants, “‘They are bringing Third World diseases with them.’ Although Patrick cited ‘tuberculosis, malaria, polio and leprosy,’ a state epidemiologist later rebutted his statement and said there was no evidence of that.” [McAllen Monitor, 2/19/2014]
Patrick Painted Immigration In Dire Terms, ‘There Are Terrorists and Drug Runners Coming Into Texas And Sheriffs Are Being Asked To Stop Them With Only .45 On Their Hip And A Shotgun In The Trunk.’ In February 2013, The Monitor reported, “At times in his political career, Patrick has painted illegal immigration in dire terms. ‘There are terrorists and drug runners coming into Texas and the sheriffs in 15 border counties are being asked to stop them with only a .45 on their hip and a shotgun in the trunk,’ he told a Houston business group in 2006, according to the Texas Observer.” [McAllen Monitor, 2/19/2014]
Patrick Said We Are Going To Be Overrun By People Who Have No Sense Of Our History, Our Culture, Or Our Language. Dan Patrick said, “We are going to be overrun by the masses coming here. By 2050 we could have over one hundred million people with no sense of our history, no sense of our culture, no sense of our language…Your property taxes will never go down as long as a fourteen-year-old can show up at the schoolhouse and we pay…And that student is destined to drop out anyway.” [TEXAS MONTHLY, 1/2007]
doscentavos.net 