Gov. Patrick Meets Ethnic Media; Addresses In-state Tuition, Driver's Licenses, Immigration Reform

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick met with ethnic media at the State House on Friday, April 24, 2009, where he defended the creation of partnerships with immigrant communities, answered questions on topics such as bilingual education and driver’s licenses, and commented on race relations during an Obama presidency.The New England Ethnic Newswire (EthnicNEWz.org) and the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at University of Massachusetts Boston organized the meeting.The audience of about 50 journalists – more than 35 from immigrant communities – came from African-American, Brazilian, Chinese, Haitian, Japanese, Korean, Latino, Polish, Portuguese and other print, broadcast and Web media.  (See links below to ethnic media's coverage of the event.  Names of ethnic-media professionals at the meeting are listed below as well.)

The governor made brief remarks at the opening of the press conference, saying democracy thrives when it maintains an unfiltered press.  He then opened the floor to the journalists’ questions on topics from “anywhere in your agenda you want,” he said.

At least one topic formed a common thread for many of the journalists: access to driver's licenses for undocumented workers, of whom many contribute to the state economy and pay taxes.An EthnicNEWz.org reporter told the governor that five police chiefs in Massachusetts say that giving driver’s licenses to such workers would increase public safety on the roads.

“The issue is that the Real ID Act [the federal law that calls for the creation of a common driver’s license for the entire country] doesn’t permit a unilateral [state] approach without consequences,” Gov. Patrick replied.  “This is a small piece of a broader picture called immigration reform. And when people talk about the difference between lawful and unlawful immigrants, I get that.  But we need immigration laws that are consistent with our values.”The topic was revisited at least five times during the press conference.  

Marcony Almeida, editor of Brazilian Journal magazine, inquired whether the governor would seek a state solution if the Real ID Act ended, as Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano has proposed.“The costs of the Real ID Act are profound.  Most states don’t have the money to implement it. If that obstacle is not there, we can look at it,” the governor replied.

Talia Whyte of the Bay State Banner asked about change in the US regarding race relations, with Barack Obama as the president. Gov. Patrick, the second African-American governor in US history, acknowledged, “America did not change because of Obama’s election – or mine.”  But he did opine that young black Americans already think differently about themselves as a result of such elections.Relaxed and at ease, Gov. Patrick made the rounds in the conference room of answering the journalists’ questions.

Still, he was firm in answering one question, from a Rumbo newspaper reporter, when asked what he would do about alleged misconduct of police in Lawrence.

“I have enough to do at the Commonwealth without having to think of the city of Lawrence,” the governor replied.At the conference’s end, Gov. Patrick, who will run for reelection in 2010, suggested meeting again, perhaps quarterly, with ethnic media.  

He also welcomed a suggestion of Polish White Eagle co-publisher Marcin Bolec that his office have an ethnic-media liaison to communicate on issues particular to the journalists’ communities.

When Bolec added that the liaison would work on a volunteer basis, Gov. Patrick laughed with delight. Faced with a dismal economy and revenue setbacks for the state, he joked, "I appreciate that part!"

Following are edited excerpts of Gov. Patrick’s responses to questions at the press conference:IMMIGRATIONPatrick said that immigration reform, which would help Massachusetts, must include a path to citizenship for those who have been in the US “for generations.”  Taking people “out of the shadows” of being undocumented would help the local economy and would provide a new stream of tax revenue.BILINGUAL EDUCATION“Of the countries I have visited, America is the only one where speaking only one language is considered a good thing.”  For Patrick, Question 2 (a 2002 ballot initiative that rescinded the method of bilingual education in Massachusetts) points to the wrong direction.  But he did say that he admires immigrant students who grasp the language and succeed in this country.IN-STATE-TUITIONDeclaring himself a “great believer” of in-state-tuition for undocumented students, Patrick said his administration looked hard at ways to allow this benefit without having to go through the legislative process, such as by passing an executive order.  But “we could not do it without the Legislature running afoul.”  The Governor said the Legislature has its hand full with other projects, including CORI reform, but the issue would be put forward the end of June.SALES TAX“Our approach is to raise revenue for specific needs, not to fund the status quo.”  Patrick said he is against increasing the state’s sales tax, and highlighted that his administration must be disciplined about how to use the public’s money.ECONOMY AND SMALL BUSINESSThe governor explained that President Obama’s economic stimulus package brings little money to small business, most of it going to the clean technology sector. But he asked for support in divulging a new project that will create 10,000 summer jobs for youth and young adults that can become permanent positions. 

 

WHAT PATRICK HAS LEARNED ABOUT THE LATINO COMMUNITY“The Latino community is probably the most entrepreneurial in the entire country. Massachusetts’ population is more entrepreneurial than in most parts of the county.”  The governor said Latinos should have more access to capital and coaching – many of them have become successful entrepreneurs in business niches.  In addition, he said he has noticed a huge sensitivity amongst Latinos on immigration issues, even amongst those who are US citizens. “I know they feel sad because of the lack of alignment of our laws with our values,” Patrick concluded.

Source:  EthnicNEWz.org 

Copyright 2009 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNEWz.org.  All rights reserved.  This material may not be republished, rewritten, broadcast or distributed without the permission of the source.  E-mail NEWz at EthnicNews (at) yahoo (dot) com for information.

OTHER PRINT/WEB COVERAGE OF GOV. PATRICK'S MEETING WITH ETHNIC MEDIA:

O Globo (Brazil): "Governador de Massachusetts é sabatinado por imigrantes"

Boston Orange blog (Chinese): 麻州長晤少數族裔媒體 強調要當全民州長

Brazilian Times (Portuguese): "Entrevista com o governador de Massachusetts, Deval Patrick" (27 April 2009)

El Mundo (Spanish):  "Gobernador Se Reúne Con Medios de Comunicación Etnicos" (30 April 2009)

O Jornal:  "Gov. Patrick addresses immigrants' concerns" (1 May 1 2009)                (Portuguese) "Gov. Patrick aborda questões da imigração"

Boston Korea:  "주지사 한국어 운전안내책자 긍정적"  (4 May 2009)

PARTIAL LIST OF ETHNIC-MEDIA PROFESSIONALS IN ATTENDANCE:

Ivan Ardhaldjian, Armenian Weekly

Talia Whyte and Daniela Caride, Bay State Banner

Myong Sool Chang and Sunhee Choi, Boston Korea

Mike Kim, Boston Korean American Press

Marcony Almeida, Brazilian Journal

Te Chen, Epoch Times (Chinese)

Charlot Lucien, Haitian broadcast journalist

Mark Connors and Kara Becker, India New England

Yasuhito Yamamoto, J Magazine (Japanese) 

Reynaldo Almonte, Latino Public Radio of Rhode Island

Heloisa Galvao, Metropolitan News (Brazilian)

Alberto Vasallo and Giselle Sterling, El Mundo

Luis Filipe Dias, O Jornal

Manuel A. Ferreira and Michael Calado, Portuguese Times

Natalia Munoz, La Prensa

Alberto Suris, Rumbo News

Chutze Chou, Sing Tao

Manuel Frau-Ramos, El Sol Latino

Mauricio Filho, SUATV

Marcin Bolec, White Eagle (Polish)

Carrie Tang, World Journal (Chinese)

Alex von Lichtenberg and Maria Gonzalez, Univision WUNI-TV

Frank Herron, Eduardo de Oliveira, M. Thang, New England Ethnic Newswire

 

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