State Representative Franklin Sands, D-Weston, issued the following statement regarding news reports concerning Delta Air Lines’ “no-Jew fly policy” under plans to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to its business partnerships:
“As has been widely reported, Delta Air Lines has announced that it will team up with Saudi Arabian Airlines, the first Middle Eastern airline to officially join Delta’s SkyTeam Alliance. SkyTeam is the world's second-largest airline alliance consisting of 14 members, including Delta Air Lines. This week, it became clear that Delta Air Lines’ membership in SkyTeam carries with it significant issues of corporate morality and racism.
“Saudi Arabian Airlines, which is scheduled to join the Alliance in 2012, apparently will not allow anyone who has visited Israel and whose passport is stamped accordingly to fly Saudi Airlines or enter Saudi Arabia. That includes both Jews and Christians. This now begs the question as to whether a United States citizen with an Israeli stamp on their passport will be allowed to board a Delta flight and fly to Saudi Arabia.
“As Americans, we preach and practice religious tolerance. The founding of our country was based on religious tolerance and freedom of religion. Therefore, I find it morally reprehensible that an otherwise outstanding American company would be a party by association to racism and religious intolerance just to make a buck.
“I call upon Delta’s senior management and Board of Directors to convene a meeting and revisit this giant corporate misstep.
“And while it may or may not necessarily be illegal, as a Delta frequent flyer and a state legislator, I am saddened, by both the actions and then the refusal by Delta Airlines, to own up to their complicity in this blatant form of racism. Delta’s corporate moral compass is obviously broken and in need of immediate repair.”
Representative Sands serves Florida House District 98 in Broward County. His district office number is 954-424-6800.
During the Sunday episode of “TO THE POINT with Kelley Dunn” on WPTV’s NewsChannel 5 NBC/West Palm Beach, Representative Steve Perman (D-Boca Raton) joined Representative Gayle Harrell for a discussion about the 2011 legislative session.
The conversation focused on several topics of statewide interest, including Representative Perman’s concerns about the Fiscal Year 2011-12 state budget, and legislation impacting teachers and Florida’s public schools.
The following is a NewsChannel5 link to the program:
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/political/elections_local/to-the-point%3A-Sunday-June-26-Gayle-Harrell-Steven-Perman
The link can also be found on the Florida House Democratic Caucus Facebook fan page: FLHOUSEDEMS
This is a country of immigrants
It is clear from the June 19 article Cases of detained citizens emerge that America is on the precipice of a huge decision: How do we move forward with sensible immigration reform?
Immigrants are what made this country great. It’s because of immigrants from all across the world coming to Florida that our state skyrocketed to being the fourth largest in the nation and reached new levels of economic growth.
The beginning of most of our American family stories start with immigration. I may have a unique insight on this issue because I came here from Cuba and have been a citizen for 50 years. This is why the focus of Congress must be to achieve sensible immigration reform that treats the issue with respect and dignity.
Enacting a hodge-podge of 50 different state immigration laws will only lead to national confusion, fear, racial profiling and bigotry. Solutions to the immigration questions should come from Washington, D.C., not Tallahassee, Atlanta or Phoenix. That’s why during the 2011 Florida legislative session I protested the Arizona-style law, proposed by the state’s majority party, by wearing my U.S. Passport around my neck. Thankfully, the law did not pass. Had it become law, I, a U.S. citizen, could be stopped, asked to present my papers and detained indefinitely if unable to produce the proper documentation.
A scary thought is the possibility of having areas with large ethnic populations besieged by officers charged with detaining those without proper documentation. Except, for each illegal found, a number of law-abiding, legal citizens will be poked, prodded and interrogated creating a second class of citizens whose only crime is being born elsewhere.
This issue isn’t new to our country. We saw some of the darkest days during the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. It’s incumbent upon our nation’s leaders to learn from our past in order to provide a better future for all Americans. Our country stands to lose the very foundation of democracy if U.S. citizens can lose their rights because of how they look and speak.
Luis R. Garcia, Jr., Florida state representative, District 107, Miami
Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/25/2283310/this-is-a-country-of-immigrants.html#ixzz1QUfP5hM5