Tony Sutton and Baja Sol: Is there an elephant in your taco?

Last week, the MNGOP endorsed Tom Emmer for governor. Emmer thinks enacting racist laws like AZ's 1070 in Minnesota is “a wonderful first step.”

Why is Tony Sutton--the chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota who's making a fortune selling “Mexican” food at Baja Sol--leading a party that promotes unjust policies toward workers? What's in it for him?

Fast food taconomics: Taco baron Tony Sutton depends on low-wage labor on farms, food processing plants and restaurants to jack up his profits.

Real reform economics: Economists say with comprehensive immigration reform, the “wage floor” rises for all workers. Everybody wins!

Cashing in on culture: The Chicago Tribune called Baja Sol, “Mexican food for non-Mexicans.”

Sutton's wife, president of Baja Sol, told Twin Cities Business Journal that the company was making a lot of lettuce:

Baja Sol anticipates revenue of more than $25 million in 2009, roughly quadruple the company’s revenue from three years ago. Same-store sales were up 8.5 percent in the first half of 2009, following gains of 11 percent in 2008 and 9.2 percent in 2007.

“We’re staying very aggressive,” said Baja Sol President Bridget Sutton, who owns the company along with her husband, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Tony Sutton, and TCF Financial Corp. CEO Bill Cooper

Franchise Times wrote about the restaurant chain in Midwest Mex:

Minnesota. Home of 10,000 lakes and, if NPR radio–host Garrison Keillor is to be believed, prairie land populated by the descendents of pensive Lutheran Scandinavians.

But immigration begets expanding tastes and now Minnesota is also home to a Mexican restaurant chain poised to take on Chipotle, Qdoba and other national brands.

At least that’s Baja Sol Restaurants Group CEO Tony Sutton’s gameplan. The chain, with 10 restaurants in the Twin Cities area, recently signed a nine-unit development agreement in the central Ohio area. The first restaurant in Columbus is expected to open in June.

Demonizing those who invented Mexican food: While Sutton sells Mexican food to non-Mexicans at his growing restaurant chain, he leads a party that wants to boot immigrants out.

The growth of the Mexican and Latino food market is fueled by immigration. At the end of 2008 the market for Mexican and Latin food reached $16 billion, the Franchise Time article noted. This is hypocrisy at its worse—and it hurts business and real families!

MNGOP hypocrisy would cost us: A U of M study sponsored by business groups found that deporting undocumented workers would cost MN 24,000 permanent jobs and $1.2 billion in personal income.

Immigrants revive neighborhoods an small towns, contribute more than they take out of the state's economy and public treasury, and are less likely to commit crimes than native-born people, the researchers found.

Common decency and our own self-interest say fix a broken system. Don't settle for the politics of hate on your plate. Demand real reform and policies of prosperity!

Tweet Tony Sutton: It stops in Arizona!