[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE: Latino Green candidates lead on immigrants' & labor rights

[Green Party of California Updates]

     GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
         http://www.gp.org



For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, October 17, 2006


Latino Green candidates lead on immigration, call for
living wages and repeal of 'three strikes' law

• Repeal of NAFTA urged; sharp criticism for
U.S.-Mexico 'security wall'

• List of Latino Green candidates included below


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Latino Green candidates for
congressional, statewide, and local office in the 2006
election have taken the lead on civil rights,
immigration, labor rights and living wages, and
numerous other issues.

In California, Peter Camejo, the Green candidate for
Governor <http://www.votecamejo.com>, has strongly
criticized his state's 'three strikes' law.  Mr.
Camejo initiated and is serving as spokesperson for
the campaign to free Santos Reyes, who was convicted
six years ago for cheating by taking a DMV test for a
relative
<http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0914-07.htm>.
 Mr. Reyes was convicted at age 17 back in 1981 for
stealing a radio and at 22 for robbery; after serving
time he had no offenses for the next 11 years, found a
job, and raised a family.

"It's no secret that life sentences, 'three-strikes'
laws, and the death penalty fall disproportionately on
Latinos, immigrants, African Americans, and other
people of color and the poor," said Liz Arnone,
co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and
an immigrant to the U.S.  "Greens call this a civil
rights issue.  We believe that justice begins with
making punishment commensurate with the seriousness of
the crime.  Otherwise, it means punishment for being
the wrong color or not having enough money."

Greens, who noted that October is Hispanic Heritage
Month, have called for full human rights and amnesty
for undocumented immigrants, and have blamed the
passage of trade agreements like NAFTA for the
increased flow of immigrants across the U.S.'s
southern border.

"If we want to curb the number of undocumented
immigrants, the first step must be repeal of NAFTA,
which forced people all over Mexico into poverty and
desperation," said David Minton Silva, Green candidate
for California State Assembly (District 34, Tulare)
<http://home.comcast.net/~greensurfer2/greensurfer2.html>.
 "We must renegotiate with Mexico and Canada for a
real 'fair trade agreement' that would provide for
livable wages.  Working people and families throughout
North America would prosper, and there would be little
need to sneak across borders.  The worst things we can
do are to enact vicious punitive measures against
undocumented immigrants and those who assist them, or
erect a medieval 'security wall' -- which passed in
the Senate with a bipartisan 80-19 majority."

"We must look to the root causes of immigration -- our
government's meddling in the affairs of sovereign
nations for corporate profit, disastrous free trade
agreements such as NAFTA, and economic strangulation
and destabilization by the U.S. government of nations
who decide to take matters into their own hands and
care for their citizens, as opposed to having their
national policy decided in Washington," said Paul
Aranas, Oregon Green candidate for the U.S. House of
Representatives in District 5
<http://www.votearanas.org>.  Mr. Aranas noted Public
Citizen's critical report on NAFTA's ten-year track
record <http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta>.

Other Latino Green candidates on the November 7
ballot:

• Ricardo Costa, for California State Assembly
(District 44, Los Angeles) http://www.vote4ricardo.net

• Pamela Elizondo, for U.S. House of Representatives,
California (District 1)
http://sonomagreenparty.org/pages/hotstuff/gpsc_election_main.shtml

• Francisco Romero, California, for Oxnard City
Council http://allpowertothepeople.org

• Mike DeRosa, for Connecticut Secretary of State
http://www.mikederosa.org

• Joseph Sanchez, for Maryland House of Delegates
(District 36)

• Edgar Rodriguez (incumbent), for School Committee,
New Paltz Central School District, Ulster, New York

• Anita Rios, for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio
http://www.bobforohio.com

• Logan Martinez, for Ohio State House of
Representatives (District 39) http://www.votelogan.org


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

Green campaign listings, news, photos, and web sites
http://www.gp.org/2006elections

Database of 2006 Green candidates
http://www.greens.org/elections

Video clips of Green candidates
http://www.gp.org/2006elections/media.shtml

Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml

Greens on immigration and trade
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_08_04.shtml
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2006_04_12.shtml
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2006_04_26.shtml
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2006_05_30.shtml

"Activists cite contributions of immigrants, urge more
support" (Peter Camejo featured)
By Marjorie Hernandez, The Ventura County Star,
September 4, 2006
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/ox/article/0,1375,VCS_238_4967595,00.html