Democratic Convention speakers list and immigration

Summary

This post has a list of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention and links to more information on their immigration positions when known. There are also a preview of how the immigration issue will be presented at the convention, and some things you can do if you oppose illegal immigration.

Preview

Immigration was barely mentioned at the Republican National Convention, despite how the GOP could use the issue to discredit most national Democrats and to win elections.

Expect the Democrats to be much more vocal about the topic. However, since they can read polls of the general electorate, expect them to be vague about it in ways that might mislead some people who don't follow the topic closely. Don't expect them to come right out and admit that they support illegal immigration or that they're trying to help foreign citizens get jobs even as millions of people they pretend to represent are struggling.

Instead, expect the usual euphemisms and talking points that conflate legal and illegal immigration. For instance, expect more than one politician to discuss Obama's recent amnesty as "helping outstanding young immigrants" or similar. However, some Hispanic speakers might be a bit more explicit when speaking in Spanish (as they will occasionally, and to a live audience with few people who'll understand what they're saying).

Suggested reading

* Obama immigration has extensive coverage of Obama's statements and actions on the issue, and why they're wrong.
* DREAM Act describes that anti-American bill that would let some illegal aliens covered by it deprive citizens of college educations.
* Most of those harmed by Obama's DREAM Act-by-executive fiat will be Democrats (not those Democrats who'll be at the convention, just the lower-skilled workers who tend to vote for that party).
* Immigration talking points lists several of them and explains why they're misleading or wrong. That list probably has about 90% of the lines the speakers will use.

What you can do

Republican, Democrat, whatever: you can oppose the Democratic Party's leadership's support for massive illegal activity. See the Take Action column to the right for general ideas.

I'll personally be pointing out to leading voices on Twitter the link between Castro and Bloomberg (see below) and I'll be asking them who profits from massive illegal immigration. When some of those listed below are speaking I'll be tweeting links to my coverage of them. I'll also be calling out those establishment media sources (i.e., all of them) who retail the immigration lines used by the speakers and who refuse to ask them tough questions. That's a lot of work, so you're urged to help out in one way or another.

Speaker list

Aside from the first, these are ranked by a combination of how much power they have, how bad they are on immigration, their impact on the convention, and how likely they are to mention immigration.

Make sure and see each link for more details. You can also move your mouse over any link that's followed by an "S" symbol to see how many posts there are about that person. Titles are adapted from those given by the DNC.

* Julian Castro - San Antonio Mayor
Castro isn't a national figure on immigration, but he's at the start of the list because (per the DNC) he'll be "the first Latino keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention". Thus (together with Villaraigosa) he'll be spearheading the Democrats' push for the "Hispanic vote".
Point out to those interested that he's working with Michael Bloomberg to push mass immigration. Ask those in the general Occupy Wall Street sphere why he's helping Richie Rich get what he wants. Direct anyone in the Democratic sphere to Approach B.

* Bill Clinton
pushed NAFTA; on immigration itself, see the note about Doris Meissner at the end of this
in 2008, joined with Arnold Schwarzenegger to fool people into supporting illegal immigration
while amnesty isn't a major issue for him, he's second in the list because he'll be the star of the whole convention

* Dick Durbin - U.S. Senator from Illinois
a top supporter of illegal immigration, including the anti-American DREAM Act

* Jared Polis - Colorado Congressman
such a strong supporter of illegal immigration, the Mexican government gave him an award for it.

* Harry Reid - U.S. Senator of Nevada

* Charles Schumer - U.S. Senator of New York

* Antonio Villaraigosa - Los Angeles Mayor, Democratic Convention Chair
like Castro is a board member of Bloomberg's pro-massive immigration group. But, that's just the start: see the link

* Tom Vilsack - Secretary of the Department of Agriculture

* Ken Salazar - Secretary of the Department of the Interior

* Cristina Saralegui
the Hispanic Sally Jesse Raphael; has done ads for Obama ( peekURL.com/vd6YWdQ )

* Deval Patrick - Massachusetts Governor

* Nancy Pelosi - House Democratic Leader

* Elizabeth Warren - Senate candidate from Massachusetts
"fauxcahontas" is just the start: she's fake on policy too. Ask her supporters why she'd drive down wages for lower-skilled American workers. You should do that especially if you *agree* with her stated position on financial matters: she's fake on wages, and she might be fake on financial issues too.

* Tim Kaine - Former Virginia Governor

* Charlie Gonzalez - Texas Congressman

* Kamala Harris - California Attorney General
her "program trained illegal immigrants for jobs they couldn't legally hold"; and of course use [1] as a starting point for more

* Michael Nutter - Philadelphia Mayor

* Cory Booker - Newark Mayor
pushed by some Republicans as an acceptable Democrat due to going off reservation [2]
on immigration, he's quite on the reservation
in 12/19/10 on Meet the Press he said opposing the anti-American DREAM Act was crazy ( peekURL.com/vMXe4Rv )
speaking in Spanish (some time apparently around Jan 2012), he said that GOP immigration positions are very bad ( peekURL.com/vHfHATW )
note, of course, that some of the same Republicans supporting him on Bain also side with him on immigration

* Arne Duncan - Secretary of the Department of Education
supporter of the anti-American DREAM Act

* Rahm Emanuel - Chicago Mayor
not good on immigration, but not as bad as others

* Barney Frank - Massachusetts Congressman
among other things, voted to let banks accept the Matricula Consular card, which is almost always an indicator that the bearer is an illegal alien

* Eva Longoria - Obama Campaign Co-Chair

* John Hickenlooper - Colorado Governor
strong illegal immigration supporter ( peekURL.com/vAT4E8q and denverpost.com/ci_16037664)

* Martin OMalley - Maryland Governor
close with the radical illegal immigration supporting group Casa de Maryland
will probably be leading the Democrats' push for "Ethnic-Americans"

* Lincoln Chafee - Rhode Island Governor

* John Kerry - U.S. Senator of Massachusetts
refused to go after George W Bush on immigration, even when Bush proposed one of the most anti- and un-American plans of any president

* Judy Chu - California Congresswoman
co-sponsor of a 2009 amnesty bill
in 2006, as an assemblywoman, joined with Gil Cedillo to support illegal immigration. Also supported his efforts to give driver's license to illegal aliens

* James Clyburn - South Carolina Congressman
amnesty supporter

* Charlie Crist - Former Republican Governor of Florida
position not clear, but probably not good

* Walter Dalton - North Carolina Lieutenant Governor
in 2010, voted against giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens ([3])

* Diana DeGette - Colorado Congresswoman
2010: appears at protest against Arizona immigration law SB1070 where she also promotes amnesty and the the anti-American DREAM Act ( peekURL.com/vb4aB2B )

* Tammy Duckworth - Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
amnesty supporter ( peekURL.com/vDF9NwU and peekURL.com/vpub7uT )

* Jennifer Granholm - Former Michigan Governor

* Kay Hagan - U.S. Senator of North Carolina
supporter of amnesty and guest workers: kayhagan.com/issues/immigration

* Steny Hoyer - Maryland Congressman

* Kathleen Sibelius (correct spelling: Kathleen Sebelius) - Secretary of Health and Human Services
as Governor of Kansas, supported in-state tuition for illegal aliens; such plans let illegal aliens deprive some citizens of college.

* Ted Strickland - Former Ohio Governor

* Debbie Wasserman Schultz - DNC Chair, Florida Congresswoman

* Steve Israel - Congressman of New York, DCCC Chairman

* Barbara Lee - California Congresswoman

* John Lewis - Georgia Congressman

* Tom Menino - Boston Mayor

* Patty Murray - U.S. Senator of Washington

* Barbara Mikulski - U.S. Senator of Maryland, together with the women of the U.S. Senate

Pelosi "will also lead a presentation of the women of the House:"
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez of New York
Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania
Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland
Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Joyce Beatty of Ohio
Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

* John Perez - California Assembly Speaker

* David Price - North Carolina Congressman

* Pat Quinn - Illinois Governor

Other speakers:
President - Planned Parenthood Action Fund Cecile Richards
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
Costco co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal
Congressman Chris Van Hollen
Congressman Mel Watt - North Carolina
Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland
Georgetown Law School Graduate Sandra Fluke
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx
Former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt
Former Governor of North Carolina Jim Hunt
Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau
Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy (ret.)
Congressman John Larson of Connecticut
CarMax co-founder and former CEO Austin Ligon
President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Nancy Keenan
Caroline Kennedy
Women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy
Delaware Governor Jack Markell
The Honorable Karen Mills

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[1] examiner . com/article/kamala-harris-winner-of-this-week-s-immigration-idiocy-award
[2] mediaite . com/tv/matthews-goes-epic-rant-against-cory-booker-for-sabotage-on-obamas-bain-strategy
[3] heraldsun . com/view/full_story/6781132/article-Enrollment-approved-for-illegal-immigrants