Bucking a stereotype for Romney
CHICAGO — Native American author Sherman Alexie, “The Toughest Indian in the World,” once dropped this bit of wisdom: “Don’t live up to your stereotypes.”
No one would accuse Manuel Guerra Casas of that. For years he has fought against anti-immigrant legislation such as Arizona’s “papers please” law, and for the passing of the federal DREAM Act. Casas is, as the popular slogan goes, “undocumented and unafraid.” But more than anything else, he’s unsupportive of President Obama—in fact, he’s a vocal and active Mitt Romney fan.
“Some people call me crazy and, yes, it’s hard to understand being undocumented and being for the candidate of self-deportation and no amnesty for immigrants—he’s pretty much against my dream,” said Casas, a 28-year-old landscaper from Port St. Lucie, Fla. “But, yes, I am supporting Mitt Romney to become the next president of the United States even though he pretty much doesn’t want me to contribute and serve this country.”
Casas says that despite his immigration status, he shows up at Romney campaign rallies and community forums to advocate for the former Massachusetts governor.
“I see all my friends campaigning for Barack Obama, asking others to pledge their vote and I do the same—I talk to my co-workers, I tell them about Obama,” says Casas, who has been living in the United States for 12 years. “At first they don’t agree but after I talk to them about the mass deportations, the Secure Communities program, about how he didn’t even file an immigration bill in Congress, people start listening.”
Lest you think I put out a call for the weirdest election season outlier, or responded to a pitch from an overzealous Romney campaign operative, I swear I simply had a jaw-dropping moment when I saw this tweet from Casas dance across my timeline last week: “Why do I get the feeling that @andersoncooper #CNN @jorgeramosnews @MariaESalinas want #Obama to win.I Don’t. I am #Undocumented #Romney.”
Casas says he spends a lot of time explaining to people that he doesn’t hate immigrants or himself, that he’s not “a traitor to his people” and hasn’t sold his soul to the devil.
“It’s pretty simple,” he says, “The immigration issue is a personal interest. And even though it is very important to me, so is my faith. You have to look at the bigger picture—there are other important things that are at risk in this election, other challenges other than immigration. There is freedom of religion and the values, principles and morals that created the foundation of this country.”
A staunch pro-lifer, Casas has much in common with evangelical Protestant Hispanics who account for just 16 percent of Latino registered voters, according to a recent Pew Hispanic Center survey. Only 39 nine percent of such voters support Romney.
“I have a lot of people from around the country send me messages that they do support Gov. Romney, and I know they don’t want to post it on my Facebook or say it out loud because they’re undocumented and they don’t want to speak out because they’ll get punched in the face right away,” Casas said.
“But other undocumented Romney supporters are like me, they saw the DREAM Act fail because not enough Democrats voted for it and know it’s all a political game—some Democrats don’t want immigration so they can use it against Republicans in each election. We think Romney talks about self-deportation to satisfy his conservative base, but if there’s someone who can do something for immigrants, it’s going to be Gov. Romney. That’s what I put my hope and my faith in.”
This is not a popular opinion, nor do I believe it is a pervasive one. In fact it’s probably the exception that proves the rule, but it is oh-so-American. And only in America’s crazy quilt of old and new pilgrims would you find a member of a marginalized group happy to endure public humiliation and personal threats to participate in a political process that so many who are actually entitled to simply tune out.
Esther Cepeda is a columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group. Her email address is estherjcepeda@washpost.com.
Nov 2, 2012 at 4:09 p.m.
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NO THANK YOU!
I don’t want Romney’s version of change including:
A severely conservative Supreme Court.
Tax and jobs plan that doesn’t make mathematical sense as most experts say.
1% percent control of the nation
Leader who says “corporations are people”, and puts the needs of corporations before the people.
Higher taxes for middle class and lower taxes for the rich.
Medicare taken bankrupt in 2016, as reports indicate
Overturn of Roe vs Wade and return women’s right to the 1950s
Leader who condemns 47 percent of Americans
Leader with hot and controlling temper who is eager to start war against Iran.
I’m very pleased to stay with reliable, proven Obama-Biden who are taking America FORWARD!
Nov 1, 2012 at 6:33 p.m.
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Maynard, there is truth to what you have stated, but I believe the bigger issue is that most would sooner have an opportunity to earn their own money rather than have it given to them through charity. It seems that Romney, for example, had opportunities to treat people differently through his Bain affiliations than he did. He could have "taken" less and "offered" more to the employees of the businesses that Bain shuttered. He then could have given less to charity and would still be as comfortable as he is today. That's not the government distributing his wealth, that's a compassionate person caring about the most important asset a business has - the employees. That would have preserved the employees' dignity and would have made Romney a much more revered person. Did he have to do that? No, but he could have if he was truly as caring as some would like to believe. Just another way of looking at things.
Nov 1, 2012 at 4:42 p.m.
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Agree with Super Dave. Also, let me redistribute my money --- not the government. I will give to the charity of my choice. Romney gets slammed for paying a 14% capital gains tax. Never in the same article or in very few articles do you see that he also donated 30% of his income last year to charity. That is 44% not counting any state taxes he may have paid. He also does not have a government pension coming because he did not take a salary as governor. Obama gets around 180K per year plus thousands more in benefits AS SOON as he is no longer president. If these rich people say they support raising the capital gains tax or paying more taxes, FINE ... let them donate to charity or write out a check to the IRS to reduce the deficit. It is perfectly legal for any citizen to do that if they really care. Let them put their money where their mouth is instead of waiting for the government to force them to pay more. Sick of this class warfare the Dems and Obama are playing
Nov 1, 2012 at 4:23 p.m.
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I wonder how long good ol' Oreo Esther had to look to find this guy? LOLOL!!!
Nov 1, 2012 at 11 a.m.
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Romney is definitely your man.
Just keep him away from anyone with a different point of view and you will do fine.
Maybe let him ride alone on the roof of the car just to be safe.
Nov 1, 2012 at 7:52 a.m.
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It was difficult to read this article, hard to get past the errors in wording. Such as, "anti-immigrant legislation"...No, the Arizona law is not "anti-immigrant", it's anti-illegal. I truly don't understand why this distinction is so hard for some to grasp. You can say that those of us who want the laws enforced are "anti-immigrant" over and over, but that does not make it true. Casas states "he’s pretty much against my dream". Based on what exactly? Those of us who want the laws enforced are not against anyone's "dream", we simply want the laws enforced. Enter the country legally, and chase your dreams! Go for it, and we will encourage and support you! Just please do it legally. Illegal is not the same as immigrant. It is tiring to have to make that same point over and over.
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