Platform takes a swipe at GOP support for plan to stop illegal immigration
By CLAY ROBISON and KRISTEN MACK Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
FORT WORTH - Striking a markedly different posture from Republicans, the Texas Democratic Party on Saturday endorsed an immigration policy encouraging assimilation over wall-building.
The party, many of whose voters, candidates and officeholders are Hispanic, has traditionally been supportive of immigration. But a new platform adopted by delegates to the party's state convention included language specifically striking back at GOP-led attempts to tighten up the border with Mexico without helping immigrants become citizens.
Texas Democrats also continued to poke fun at the proposed border wall, which Texas Republicans have endorsed.
"Before we start building a fence, all of us need to know two things: how much it's going to cost and then who's going to build it," said state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, whose father was born in Spain and mother emigrated from Mexico.
"The reality is, we probably will need more undocumented workers to build that fence than we have currently in the United States," he added.
In other business on Saturday, delegates re-elected Young County Attorney Boyd Richie, of Graham, a veteran party activist, as their state party chairman. Richie overcame a strong challenge from former state Rep. Glen Maxey, of Austin, the only openly gay person to ever serve in the Texas Legislature.
"We leave here today united," Richie said after winning the election. "We are going to kick rump in November."
Delegates also heard from Democratic nominees for statewide offices, including Houston lawyer Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a first-time candidate challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Bentsen honored
Radnofsky criticized Hutchison for taking campaign contributions from the oil industry, for failing to secure adequate health care facilities for veterans and for close ties to Tom DeLay, the former U.S. House majority leader from Sugar Land who resigned from Congress in an ethics scandal.
"I'm proud to be running for Lloyd Bentsen's seat, which is temporarily occupied by someone else," said Radnofsky, who spoke after a convention tribute to the late U.S. senator, who recently died in Houston.
Gubernatorial nominee Chris Bell, of Houston, addressed the convention Friday night.
State Rep. Garnet Coleman, of Houston, who co-chaired the platform committee, insisted the platform was not intended as a direct response to the Republican immigration plank.
"It's a wedge issue for the Republican Party," he said. "We are not arguing this with them. We have a point of view."
Still, the platform does take direct swipes at the GOP.
"We believe it is the height of hypocrisy for Republicans who consistently oppose increases in the minimum wage and worker protections to now claim they are 'protecting American jobs' with extreme immigration proposals," the document says.
The Democratic platform calls for sufficient personnel, training and equipment to ensure a strong Border Patrol.
"We believe that national security requires that we determine who is in our country and what their intentions are, but our nation has neither the economic nor the emotional capa- city to expel 11 million people," the platform reads, referring to a widely accepted estimate of the illegal-immigrant population in the country.
Call for a 'better Texas'
The platform also supports creating a path to citizenship for most illegal immigrants who are already here and specifically opposes GOP proposals to charge individuals with a felony "simply because they are undocumented." The Democratic Party is emphasizing a "better Texas" in its platform and that is not defined by immigration policy alone, Coleman said.
"This is their issue. It's an internal fight in their party. It's not a fight in our party," he said. "They have chosen hate and divisiveness as a way to win elections."
Republican members of the U.S. House from Texas voted for an immigration bill that focuses primarily on security and would make criminals of illegal immigrants. And both Hutchison and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, voted against a more-balanced immigration bill approved by the Senate.
Radnofsky said she supports an "arduous path to citizenship," similar to what the Senate has approved, for illegal immigrants.
"You must learn English, you must keep your nose clean, you must pay fines, you must stay a period of time and frankly you must stand behind the line in terms of those who have legally applied (for citizenship)," she said.
GOP warns of 'disaster'
Texas Republican Party spokeswoman Gretchen Essell said the Democrats' policy ignored border security. "This is a recipe for disaster, and they are gambling the safety of Texans," she said.
Anchia said immigrants were attracted to the U.S. by an "insatiable" business demand for labor. The most effective way to counter illegal immigration was to adopt policies encouraging legal immigration, he said.
"We think border security is very important, but we think that those (Republican) proposals might do more damage to Texas than good," he added.
State Rep. Dora Olivo, D-Rosenberg, said she was saddened to see some Hispanics vote for Republicans.
"They must be blind or deaf," she said. "The Democratic Party is just like America. It welcomes people. It doesn't send them away or treat them like trash."
The convention also heard from other Democratic candidates on Saturday, including lieutenant governor nominee Maria Luisa Alvarado, a Veterans Affairs analyst from Austin; attorney general nominee David Van Os, a lawyer from San Antonio; and comptroller nominee Fred Head, a former state representative from East Texas.
Adoption of the platform was one of the last pieces of business at the convention. By the time the party got around to it, hundreds of delegates had already gone home.