Lucas County Latino Caucus and Ted Strickland

This La Prensa story "Strickland campaign hits big brown bump Ohio-governor hopeful encounters Latino opposition" is I think an important one. Especially when you consider the huge attention that was made to just one immigration comment by Paul Hackett. Yet, it made barely a "bump" in the Main Stream Media.

Cleveland Plain Dealer and here:

About three dozen people protested outside the grand opening of the Cleveland office of U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland's gubernatorial campaign Saturday afternoon.

The demonstrators, organized by the Coalition of Latino Pastors of Northeast Ohio, voiced objections to Strickland's vote in December for the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005."

Among its provisions, the bill, now before the Senate, would make illegal immigrants (and anyone who helps them) subject to criminal charges under federal law.

After meeting with members of the coalition, Strickland said he understands and shares some of their concerns. He described the bill's passage as a "first step," noting that it would return to the House for a final vote.

"I assume and hope that a lot of the onerous provisions will be removed," he said. "If not, I will not support it in its final form."

San Diego Indymedia covers it but gets the number of Democrats who voted for it wrong, they state:

On Saturday, the Coalition of Latino Pastors of Northeast Ohio organized a protest at the new office of House Rep. Ted Strickland, one of 16 democrats who voted in favor of the bill.

What bothers me is given Strickland was the only Ohio Democrat who voted for this bill why? It did not even get across the board support from all Ohio Republicans. Given the "onerous provisons":

The erection of almost 700 miles of wall, separating the United States and México, whose border is almost 2,000 miles in length.

The bill would make any person working, serving or employing any undocumented immigrant, a felon. This would include any organization that services migrants. Mandatory sentencing ranges for persons aiding or assisting certain reentering aliens.

The bill makes it more difficult for legal permanent residents to become U.S. citizens.

What was it exactly about this bill that he felt was worth voting Yes on? Only 36 Democratic Congresspersons joined him in voting "Aye".

Thanks to Govtrack it's easy to discover how our Ohio Representatives voted:

Rep. Ted Strickland [D-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Steven Chabot [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Jean Schmidt [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Michael Oxley [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Paul Gillmor [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Steven LaTourette [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Deborah Pryce [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Ralph Regula [R-OH] voted Aye.
Rep. Robert Ney [R-OH] voted Aye.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich [D-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. Stephanie Jones [D-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. Sherrod Brown [D-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. Timothy Ryan [D-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. Michael Turner [R-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. David Hobson [R-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. John Boehner [R-OH] voted Nay.
Rep. Patrick Tiberi [R-OH] voted Nay.

I do believe we have to do something about illegal immigration, however this bill at first glance seems more punative towards illegal immigrants rather than addressing the real reasons why illegal immigration from Mexico exists. I also find it very hypocritical that this has not been made a major issue with Strickland. Paul Hackett makes one comment and David Sirota jumps in as well as Talk Left calling him the Tancredo of the Democrats. Yet Strickland did more than just make a statement, he voted for this bill.

There is one group that seems happy about the Strickland vote, The Ohio Jobs and & Justice PAC