Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Third District Republican Congressional candidate Pat Bertroche tried one more time Wednesday to explain his comment from earlier this week where he advocated “microchipping” immigrants in the country illegally, this time during an interview with The Des Moines Register.
According to Register political columnist Kathie Obradovich, Bertroche said he was trying to poke fun at some of the ideas out there.
“I ended my statement earlier than I should have.”
It mirrors a statement he released to The Iowa Independent Tuesday where he said his comment was a “critical social commentary on how inane and radical the discussion has become regarding the immigration issue.”
Immigrants rights advocates responded with outrage, calling the comments “appalling” and saying Bertroche was trying to dehumanize immigrants by suggesting they should be microchipped like dogs.
After being contacted directly by someone who was upset with his statement, Bertroche attempted to blame the entire ordeal on the media, saying in an e-mail turned over to The Iowa Independent that it is an “indictment on our media that someone has to say something this radical in order to bring attention to a reasoned and thoughtful idea.”
In response to another upset e-mailer, Bertroche said he has tried to be reasonable throughout his campaign but “it never received any attention. I said what I said to draw attention to the dual problems of immigration and the radicalized solutions. I can say it worked. People are now talking. I’m willing to take the heat to move the issue forward.”
For the record, Bertroche insists he is not actually in favor of microchipping immigrants.
Jennifer Horner, director of the Southwest Iowa Latino Resource Center in Red Oak, called Bertroche’s remarks “disgusting” and said they should be publicized so people can understand just how shameful they really are.
Ruth Schultz, a Latino community organizer with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, said Bertroche’s comments so far have been “irresponsible and ridiculous.”
“Requiring microchips for undocumented immigrants, or any population of people for that matter, sounds like an idea from the lunatic fringe, and it will only create more opportunities for blatant discrimination and abuse of power,” she said. “We need comprehensive immigration reform that respects human dignity and fixes our broken system by creating a pathway to citizenship and keeping families together.”
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