18 October 2009 // 09:06 am // Comments Closed
Fong talks about GOP, borders at Minuteman gathering
Chinese communists swept to power in the last century without mentioning plans to nationalize businesses or institute forced abortions, Republican gubernatorial candidate Christian Fong told supporters of the Iowa Minuteman Civil Defense Corps on Saturday.
“They came in promising hope and change,” Fong said. “Sound familiar?”
Fong, a Cedar Rapids businessman who described himself Saturday as the son of a Nebraska farm girl and “a legal immigrant” from China, told a crowd of roughly 30 onlookers at a Minuteman rally that he should be “allowed to take this a little more personally as the son of someone who had to do it the right way.”
Fong, the first in more than two hours’ worth of speakers on the steps of the Iowa State Capitol, said he agreed with ralliers that existing immigration laws need to be enforced and public benefits should be restricted “as much as possible to people who are here illegally.”
But messages about tighter borders and the need to learn English must be tempered with open arms for those who use proper channels, he said.
Fong added in a later interview that it is good politics for Republicans to sound more welcoming for the growing number of “new Iowans.”
“It’s important for the Republican Party to not sound so angry,” Fong said. “Otherwise, we lose that whole bunch.”
The rally was the fourth such event sponsored by the Iowa Minuteman groups, affiliates of the citizens’ action organization best known for its citizen watch campaigns along the southern U.S. border. Robert Ussery, an Iowa chapter leader based in Des Moines, said the goal is to educate a public that only marginally pays attention.
“I think our country is about to betray us,” Ussery said. “They’re not enforcing the laws. ... (But) until it hits their pocketbook, until it affects them personally, most people are complacent.”
Tom Shaw, Laurens police chief and an independent candidate for Iowa House District 8, said politicians have failed to solve immigration difficulties “even though the majority of Americans want our borders secured. The two major political parties both benefit from it not being solved.”
Terry Marshall, a Pottawattamie County Minuteman member, said that group members sometimes struggle to be heard.
“Talking just don’t get it done,” said Marshall, who has been involved with Arizona border patrols. “You have to get up ... and get your feet on the ground and do something.”
Marshall watched many of the speakers from a stone bench beside fellow Minuteman Greg Casady, who clutched a U.S. flag.
Casady said he believes that he’s part of a “silent majority” and that most Americans agree with the group.
“We’re kind of ahead of the curve, so to speak,” Marshall said. “I can’t tell you why I do what I do other than it just needs to be done.”
