"They were here first"

[UPDATE: The link doesn't work anymore, here's google's cache of the page.]

KCET's Life & Times did a report a while back featuring California State Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, who created a bill to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. "For public safety." Yeah, right.

In the piece, Cedillo uttered the line "they were here first." I've always wondered exactly how to parse that sentence.

Let me restate it first: "A was here before B." So, who is "A", and who is "B?" Is Gil a member of "A?" And, the more important question, does Gil, a citizen of the United States and an elected politician, consider himself a member of "B?"

Does "A" include the Gabrielino Indians, or the original settlers of Los Angeles, or the settlers and their descendents?

Or, does it include all current residents of Mexico and Central America and just about anyone else who might end up using their new driver's license to vote for Cedillo regardless of how factually incorrect the supposition that "they were here first" may be in their particular case?

I think it's the latter.

Gil's former page is here. Earlier this month, he was elected to the CA State Senate.

Immigration2003 · Thu, 11/21/2002 - 12:16 · · Importance: 1