Hope and Outrage of the Day

HOPE: The Illinois State House of Representative has passed a bill that would allow religious workers and clergy to have access to detainees in federal custody in facilities across the state.

The conditions for these undocumented workers are often deplorable. The New York Times, The Washington Post and 60 Minutes have uncovered immigrant deaths in detention, including an 81-year-old Baptist minister fleeing violence in Haiti. Medical care has been grossly inadequate.

What can you do? Go to progressillinois.com and learn who to contact to get House Bill 2747 passed in the Senate and signed into law.

Then what? After GOP presidential nominee John McCain wipes off all his makeup from his Saturday Night Live appearance, ask him what he is going to do to stop this federal persecution of undocumented workers and their families. He'll be coming to your state to campaign even before the GOP convention. Put him on the spot, make him take a stand against federal raids and the 287(g) deportation program.

Tell him to call Bush out on the matter in front of the TV cameras. Tell him to tell the president to take some time away from bashing Barack Obama and sketching the sunroom addition to his ranch in Crawford and call off the federal dogs.

OUTRAGE: Hurricane season begins June 1. Federal border officials have announced that they will check the legal status of all evacuees from south Texas when they board evacuation buses and get off of them at safe points.

This callous action will only ensure a humanitarian disaster on the Texas Coast. Undocumented workers and their families will not evacuate for fear of being deported and losing all they've gained as dependable workers, taxpayers, church goers and community members.

Sorry Republicans. But this again is your party's doing. Sen. McCain and President Bush must speak up and reverse this policy or more innocent blood will be on their hands.

And we as Hispanic voters will not forget in November.