WASHINGTON & SANTA FE, NM (By Jon Garrido, The Jon Garrido Network) October 26, 2011 ― Marco Rubio is a liar and hypocrite. He claims his parents sacrificed coming to the United States to provide a better life for their children.

 

The sacrifice may be honorable but is no different or higher than the sacrifice of 12 million undocumented Mexicans.

 

Rubio's canticle below reads like a Broadway play. Theatrical, staged with a hollow ring.  It is like striking a cymbal expecting a bang but no sound is emitted. Nothing but silence. There is no substance to be found:

 

"...the central and defining event of my parents’ young lives – the fact a brutal communist dictator took control of their homeland and they were never able to return – is something I will not tolerate."

"My parents talked about their desire to find a better life, and the pain of being separated from the nation of their birth. What they described was the struggle they faced growing up, and their obsession with giving their children the chance to do the things they never could."

"Regarding the Washington Post article the Post story misses the point completely."

 

"The real essence of my family’s story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro’s Cuba forever and permanently settled here."

"The essence of my family story is why they came to America in the first place; and why they had to stay."

 

"Not, as some have said before, as part of some special privilege reserved only for Cubans. They came because they wanted to achieve things they could not achieve in their native land."

 

"They wanted to go back — and in fact, they did. Like many Cubans, they initially held out hope. After 1959, they traveled back several times — to assess the prospect of returning home."

 

"Soon after, Castro officially declared Cuba a Marxist state. My family has never been able to return."

"I am the son of immigrants and exiles, raised by people who know all too well that you can lose your country. By people who know first hand that America is a very special place."

"My father spent the last 50 years of his life separated from the nation of his birth. Separated from his two brothers, who died in Cuba in the 1980s. Unable to show us where he played baseball as a boy. Where he met my mother. Unable to visit his parents’ grave."

"My mother has spent the last 50 years separated from her native land as well. Unable to take us to her family’s farm, to her schools or to the notary office where she married my father."

"The Post story misses the entire point about my family and why their story is relevant."

 

"People voted for me because, as the son of immigrants, I know how special America really is. As the son of exiles, I know how much it hurts to lose your country."

 

The egocentrism of Marco Rubio

 

 

To simplify, Rubio must be living in a cave if he thinks his parents are unique. He is the incomplete differentiation of the self and the United States. He is extremely selfish not acknowledging there are millions of Hispanics/Latinos living in the United States who have the same story.

 

There are 12 million undocumented Mexicans and other Hispanics/Latinos from Central America and South America who can match Rubio word for word why they have come to the United States.

 

Rubio is simply naive and extremely self centered to use one set of standards to justify why his parents came to the United States and in the same breath, condemn Mexicans for using the same justification his parents used for coming to the United States to find a better life for them and their children.

 

Cuba has Fidel Castro who declared Cuba a Marxist state preventing Rubio's family from permanently returning to Cuba but Mexicans flee Mexico for the United States to escape more than 40,000 people killed by drug cartels since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006. Brutal killings have become commonplace throughout Mexico preventing Mexicans from returning back to Mexico for fear of their lives.

The Mexicans, as are Cubans, are exiles who know all too well you can lose your country.

 

Rubio adds, "By people who know first hand that America is a very special place."

"My father spent the last 50 years of his life separated from the nation of his birth. Separated from his two brothers, who died in Cuba in the 1980s. Unable to show us where he played baseball as a boy. Where he met my mother. Unable to visit his parents’ grave."

"My mother has spent the last 50 years separated from her native land as well. Unable to take us to her family’s farm, to her schools or to the notary office where she married my father."

 

It is puzzling why Rubio's parents who came from Cuba are lauded but Rubio condemns Mexicans.

 

Holding all other factors constant ― passage between countries is controlled by immigration visas enabling Rubio's parents to freely enter the United States and to travel back and forth to Cuba with ease but Mexicans, out of necessity, are forced to enter the USA in the dark of night.

 

The real question

 

The real question in this entire paradox is why Cubans have access to immigration visas and Mexicans do not? The answer below is as clear as the nose on your face why Cubans have ease of entry and the impossibility of entry for Mexicans.

 

In the article found at Jon Garrido News: Immigrants Find Legal Paths to U.S. take 20-30 Years, the process for entering the United States from Mexico, Central America or South American is a 20-30 year process for skilled worker classifications or family ties the immigration system typically favors.

 

Pablo Pilco's saga underlines a major reason many newcomers to the United States find it difficult to go through the legal process of immigration. Few visa categories, high expenses and processing times can stretch decades put several obstacles along the legal road to immigration.

Immigrants traditionally take two paths to reaching this country: Family ties or employment opportunities.

The federal government caps family-based immigration visas at 226,000 a year, and work-based immigration visas at 140,000. By comparison, the Pew Hispanic Center estimated Alabama had 120,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2010.

Temporary nonimmigrant visas are available but often require applicants to possess particular skills or resources to qualify. Those considered unskilled have a more difficult time.

"It definitely favors people who have the financial means, skills and education," said Jeremy Love, legal services director for the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama. "It's not people who have the strong desire and need."

Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens have relatively short wait times on immigration visas, as do those planning to marry citizens after immigrating. Those holding advanced degrees or considered to have "extraordinary ability" in arts, athletics or business also see low wait times.

For others, the process can take years

 

Take a man from the Philippines with brother who holds U.S. citizenship. If he wants to immigrate but has no advanced degrees or special skills, the man could have his brother file a petition for an F4 visa, capped at 65,000 a year. The family will have to wait for a number to be assigned to the case before the visa application can be processed.

That wait is currently 23 years. According to the monthly Visa Bulletin published by the U.S. State Department, F4 visa applications filed in the Philippines before Aug. 22, 1988, are now being processed. If the family is from Mexico, the wait time is 15 years; wait times in China and India are now at 11 years.

"You can wait six years, 15 years or 20 years to come on a family visa," said President Tamar Jacoby of ImmigrationWorks USA, a coalition of pro-immigration business groups. "For a young, able-bodied man to look for work, he'd apply when he's 18 and come when he's 40."

Processing of work-based immigration visas is slightly better. Immigrants with advanced degrees generally have their applications processed faster, but those listed as "other workers" might wait six to eight years before receiving a decision.

 

Hispanic Americans are not a monolithic group

 

How we arrived in the United States has a significant influence on how we think as American Hispanics.

 

Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Mexicans are all treated differently by the United States government. (In this article all other Latin American groups where there are subtle cultural differences are grouped together as one group for immigration purposes and this is the "Mexican" group).

 

Cubans need only to put one toe on U.S. soil and they were granted automatic provisions on becoming a U.S. citizen.

 

Mexicans even thought there is a treaty between the United States and Mexico granting some special considerations to Mexicans and their descendents, all Mexicans must adhere to all immigration law as all other persons from all other countries. Separated by only a line in the sand or river, Mexicans have no consideration for entry by visa other than as required by all other persons in the world, except Puerto Ricans and Cubans.

 

Puerto Ricans and Cubans do not have to comply with stringent archaic immigration laws of the United States. Consequently, all persons entering the United States utilize a different point of reference than all others except Puerto Ricans and Cubans who are given special preferences resulting in Mexicans and all other Latin Americans treated as outcasts.

 

This is a profound significant reason why Puerto Ricans and Cubans do not view the need for Immigration Reform as do Mexicans.

 

Cubans

 

Political upheaval in Cuba created new waves of Cuban immigrants to the U.S. between 1960–1980. In 1959, after the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, a large Cuban exodus began as the new government allied itself with the Soviet Union and began to introduce communism. From 1960 to 1979, hundreds of thousands of Cubans left Cuba and began a new life in the United States. Most Cuban Americans that arrived in the United States initially came from Cuba's educated upper and middle classes. Between December 1960 and October 1962 more than 14,000 Cuban children arrived alone in the U.S. Their parents were afraid their children were going to be sent to some Soviet bloc countries to be educated and they decided to send them to the States as soon as possible.

 

This program was called Operation Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan). When the children arrived in Miami they were met by representatives of Catholic Charities and they were sent to live with relatives if they had any or were sent to foster homes, orphanages or boarding schools until their parents could leave Cuba. In order to provide aid to recently arrived Cuban immigrants, the United States Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966. The Cuban Refugee Program provided more than $1.3 billion of direct financial assistance. They also were eligible for public assistance, Medicare, free English courses, scholarships, and low-interest college loans. Some banks even pioneered loans for exiles who did not have collateral or credit but received help in getting a business loan. These loans enabled many Cuban Americans to secure funds and start up their own businesses. With their Cuban-owned businesses and low cost of living, Miami, Florida and Union City, New Jersey (dubbed "Little Havana-on-the Hudson") were the preferred destinations for many immigrants and soon became the main centers for Cuban American culture. It was not until the mass exodus of the Cuban exiles in 1959 that Miami started to become a preferred destination. Westchester, Florida within Miami-Dade County, stands as the area most populated by Cubans and Cuban Americans in the United States, followed by Hialeah, Florida in second.

Another large wave of an estimated 125,000 people of Cuban immigration occurred in the early 1980s with the Mariel boatlifts. Most of the "Marielitos" were people wanting to escape from communist tyranny, and have succeeded in establishing their roots in the US.

The wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says, essentially, anyone who fled Cuba and got into the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later. After talks with the Cuban government, the Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba it would stop admitting people found at sea. Since then, in what has become known as the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (i.e., with "wet feet") would summarily be sent home or to a third country. One who makes it to shore ("dry feet") gets a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status and U.S. citizenship.

 

Since the mid-1990s, after the implementation of the "Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy immigration patterns changed. Many Cuban immigrants departed from the southern and western coasts of Cuba and arrived at the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico; many landed on Isla Mujeres. From there Cuban immigrants traveled to the Texas-Mexico border and found asylum. Many of the Cubans who did not have family in Miami settled in Houston; this has caused Houston's Cuban American community to increase in size. The term "dusty foot" refers to Cubans immigrating to the U.S. through Mexico. In 2005 the Department of Homeland Security had abandoned the approach of detaining every dry foot Cuban who crosses through Texas and began a policy allowing most Cubans to obtain immediate parole.

 

Why Cuban Americans vote republican

 

Cuban Americans vote Republican because Cubans do not like the communist regime in Cuba and identify with the Republican party's strong anti-communist, pro-capitalist point of view,

 

To understand Miami Cuban politics, one must go back to the Bay of Pigs invasion, which some Miami Cubans will tell you President John F. Kennedy blundered.

 

The invasion took place two years after Fidel Castro seized power from Fulgencio Batista, a U.S.-backed dictator who would order public executions of children.

 

On April 17, 1961, a brigade of CIA-trained Cuban exiles invaded a beach in southern Cuba with the expectation the United States Air Force would provide them air support.

 

The air support never came. Kennedy called it off when it became apparent the American involvement in the invasion was no secret and had the potential to lead to a full-scale war against the Soviet Union.

 

More than 1,200 exiles were captured and 118 killed in the failed invasion.

 

Although Kennedy negotiated a deal with Castro to exchange $53 million in food and medicine for the release of the prisoners 20 months later, his credibility within the exile community was destroyed and the majority of Cuban exiles became diehard Republicans.

 

“Our perception is JFK fell asleep at the switch,” said Henry Gomez, a Cuban American born in Miami who is a main contributor on the right-wing blog Babalu, which bills itself as an “island on the net without a bearded dictator.”

 

Democratic presidents since then have been perceived as dupes by the Cubans.

 

Rubio wants to deport 12 million undocumented Mexicans

 

 

Marco was to have been the Great White Hope winning the Hispanic/Latino vote for Republicans in 2012 but this reveals a lens focused on a racist society.

Marco Rubio does not support Immigration Reform. Marco Rubio believes in double standards of Cuban Americans supreme over Mexican Americans. Marco Rubio supports deportation of all undocumented immigrants.

 

Marco Rubio has cut off his nose to spite his face and if the Republicans use Marco Rubio on the 2012 presidential ticket, it will be a kiss of death for only some Cuban Americans will vote for Rubio with 98% of all Hispanics/Latinos in the USA remembering Rubio's double standards, will not vote for the Republican ticket.

 

The answer why Cubans have access to immigration visas and Mexicans do not

 

Why does the United States government reach out to Cubans to enable their entry into the United States and at the very same time, the United States government puts up a border fence to prevent the entry of Mexicans?

 

The only viable answer: Cubans vote Republican and Mexicans vote Democrat.

 

Since President Kennedy, the Republican Presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush have nurtured the Florida Cuban community in partnership with savvy Cuban American Republican congressional members to obtain direct assistance in facilitating the ease of entry for Cuban immigrants. Operation Pedro Pan, the Mariel boatlifts and the "Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy were magnificent programs facilitating Cuban immigrants entering the United States.

 

It is the tenacity and diligence of the Cuban American Republican congressional members for being steadfast in advocating immigration programs and services to serve the Cuban community in Miami, Florida and surrounding areas and the payback for Republicans has been Cuban votes.

 

The mirror opposite is the Congressional Hispanic Caucus dominated by the Puerto Ricans and more concerned with obtaining $7.3 billion in health programs for Puerto Rico than concerned in obtaining expedited immigration processing and immigration reform.

 

If Mexican American congressional members instead of silence as their mantra were instead advocates for immigration reform, the dominant Mexican American community would not have to take a back seat to the needs of Puerto Ricans and Cubans.

 

With the 2008 presidential election, Florida Democrats did carry the state for Barack Obama but the Obama emphasis on immigration has been directed to deport undocumented Mexicans and thus services to the Mexican community regarding immigration services have been thwarted.

 

As for Marco Rubio, the viability of his election on the 2012 Republican national ticket will never materialize. 

 

As for Obama, there is no enthusiasm from Mexican Americans to vote for him in 2012. Obama promised immigration reform in the first year of his presidency and failed to make good his promise. In the second year, Obama again failed. Obama then proceeded to deport 1,000,000 undocumented Mexicans and then lied he had no alternative but to uphold the law. The payback for this will be Mexican Americans will not vote for Obama in 2012 and without Mexican American votes, Obama will not be re-elected.

 

The 2012 presidential election is up for grabs and in early 2012, The Jon Garrido Network will ask Mexican Americans and other Hispanic democrats to vote for someone but it will not be Obama. 

 

And as disappointed as we are with the lack of immigration reform, there is a long litany of failures that  have caused the demise of the United States of America.

 

Early in 2012, the The Jon Garrido Network websites will begin to identify these failures to build consensus to get rid of Obama and his White House staff for failing to provide fiduciary leadership for all Americans. 

 

Jon Garrido

A proud 5th generation Mexican American