More Backlash Against Gillibrand

From Rick Karlin of the Albany Times-Union:

There’s no honeymoon period for Gov. David Paterson’s US Senate choice among immigration advocates. Chung-Wa Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition is questioning the appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand to the Senate for her “deeply troubling” stances on immigration issues.

Hong noted that Gillibrand in Congress supported a move to have local police perform immigration enforcement duties and she supported tougher border enforcement but appeared to oppose a citizenship pathway for undocumented aliens.

“Now that she will be representing a far broader and more diverse constituency, Senator-Designee Gillibrand must reconsider her positions on immigration,” said Hong.

Also weighing in, and quite a bit more harshly, is Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Peter Rivera who charges that here stances “border on xenophobia.”

“I find no compelling reason for the Governor to select a conservative Democrat to carry on the progressive work of now Secretary of State Clinton,” said Rivera, whose office has in the past been critical of the Paterson administration.

bh