I would like to applaud McHenry County College’s President for supporting the right of the Illinois Minuteman to rent event space on the campus, and reminding the protesting student group, Latinos Unidos, that free speech only exists when you support the rights of people you oppose.
However, one group’s protest does not necessarily give anotherr group credibility. Both the Minutemen and their supporting local group, Fox Valley Citizens for Legal Immigration, are complete farces. They constantly say they want legal immigration, yet do absolutely nothing to support legal immigrants here or those wanting to become legal residents. They don’t provide any services or resources either of these groups, nor do they offer any support for legislation to make the visa process more efficient. (Lots of applicants have had to wait over 10 years already) – not even for highly-educated and professional foreigners who would be a huge asset to this country, nor even for the many Iraqi refugees that are trying to become American residents.
The self-styled leader of Fox Valley Citizens for Legal Immigration, Bob Sperlazzo, is an utter joke. He was caught at a public Carpentersville Village meeting falsely framing illegal immigrants for a hit-and-run auto accident on his family, and refuses to even dialog with the town’s large Hispanic community.
If the Illinois Minuteman wants to have a real dialogue with the public, they should start dealing with these far more important issues and not distance people by charging $50 a head like they did at MCC. (By contrast, the McHenry County Peace Group’s own speaker on the immigration issue was free, plus they served drinks and cookies.)
