Latino Affairs director not eager for immigration debate

Dec. 26, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Many presidential candidates and even state lawmakers are eager to talk about illegal immigration.

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But don't expect the administrator of Iowa's Division of Latino Affairs to eagerly join in the debate.

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That's because Armando Villarreal, doesn't see much genuine discussion about the issue.

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In an interview with The Associated Press, Villareal argued that two words paralyze any chance for a real discussion 

about immigration in this country.

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One is "illegal."

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"As soon as you say that you've shut off discussion," Villarreal said. "As soon as you say 'illegal' you're modifying the person and not the action, so now the person's a criminal."

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The other is "amnesty."

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"When you say 'amnesty' then you say you want to reward illegality so look at where the argument is placed at," he said.

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Villarreal may be frustrated by the debate, but it seems to be only growing in intensity.

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Presidential candidates, especially Republicans, have made illegal immigration a key topic of their campaigns in Iowa and throughout the nation. Most Republicans call for tightening border security and working harder to deport immigrants in the country illegally.

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The issue also is expected to come up during Iowa's upcoming legislative session, with Democratic leaders saying they will crack down on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

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Villarreal, a fifth-generation Texan who moved to Iowa two years ago, declines to identify himself as anything other than simply "American."

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He said he saw the Iowa job as a chance to have real impact on an emerging Hispanic community.

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"It was frontier stuff," he said. "I felt Iowans could be a guiding light for the rest of the country. (In) Texas the divisions are so deep."

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In his job, Villarreal has tried to be the go-to expert on all things Hispanic, offering help for state officials and individual Iowans alike.

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He points to a variety of factors that have influenced immigration trends, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which tied the issue to terrorism.

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Most recently, Villarreal said the issue has arisen as middle-class Americans became more worried about the movement of jobs overseas -- he sees it as politicians creating a "boogie man."

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Villarreal said such suspicions are misplaced.

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"The easiest thing to do is to work at the fear that already exists because it's an emotion," he said. "To educate takes more time and more resource, and the culture that we live in doesn't permit that," he said.

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Still, politicians have emphasized the issue, he said, eclipsing concerns about issues such as the Iraq war and a still evolving mortgage crisis.

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"What I've discovered in political campaigns is sometimes when you don't want to talk about the real stuff you create something else to talk about," he said.

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Villareal said he'll participate in the precinct caucuses, but the candidates' immigration stands will make little difference to whom he'll opt to support.

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"I think there's a lot of insincerity going on, disingenuous insincerity going on on both sides, all the way around," he said.

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Given federal failure to act and the persistent political attention given to immigration, Villareal said he's not surprised that Iowa lawmakers are pushing for a crackdown at the state level. But he said attempts by states to deal with the matter reflect the fragmented nature of immigration policy.

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"It's done in silos, it's done in isolation and it's done for (a) quick fix."

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Instead, state and local authorities should urge federal leaders to act, Villareal said, adding that such action must include participation by leaders in Canada and Mexico.

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"All this energy should be forced on getting the national leadership to overhaul

immigration," he said. "It's going to take at least the countries involved in NAFTA to fix it. We can't do it in isolation. The failure of the federal government forces the local government to do something and they do it with a disconnect. We've gotten ourselves into a hysteria."

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It's essential, Villarreal said, that the nation get it right.

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"What's at stake is how our character has been defined since (the) founding of our country and how we want it to be defined as we move forward," he said. "How we handle and define ourselves as a country in dealing with this question of immigration and other problems facing us is a further definition."

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NAME: Armando Villarreal

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HOMETOWN: Corpus Christi, Texas

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EXPERIENCE: Administrator of Iowa's Division of Latino Affairs since 2005. Previous jobs include positions with voter rights efforts in the U.S. southwest; working to create civic organizations in El Salvador and South Africa; first latino in Texas to own a computer store; political director for United Farm Workers in Texas; consultant for the Kerry-Edwards campaign in New Mexico and Colorado.

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EDUCATION: BA Antioch College.

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