Why Immigration Reform Now Isn't Such a Bad Idea
The New York Times is reporting that the White House intends to jump-start a new debate on immigration reform this year, a move in line with promises made by the president during the campaign season. Not surprisingly, there is some trepidation among Democrats as to whether an issue as thorny as immigration might distract from this year's debate on health care, energy and education.
There are, to be sure, some serious risks in addressing immigration reform during an economic crisis. If the White House fails to persuade the public that immigration reform would have a positive impact on the economy, the president faces presenting Republicans with their first winning issue of 2009. The battle cry from the right will undoubtedly be that Democrats are bringing millions of new workers into an economy short on jobs.
Still, now might be the perfect time to debate the issue.
Perhaps the single most important voting bloc in the country is Hispanic voters, who represent the fastest growing minority population in the country. Even Karl Rove recognized how critical this group would be to building a stable, winning coalition, and he pushed for the GOP to target Hispanic voters. But, as with most smart political strategies suggested to the GOP in the last few years, no one who mattered paid any attention.
Instead, Republicans let their nativism run wild, making vicious anti-immigrant proclamations a center piece of their primary campaign. In doing so, they caused what might end up being the most significant realignment in American politics since the south abandoned Lyndon Johnson's Democratic Party. In 2004, John Kerry won the national Hispanic vote, 53-44. In 2008, Obama took it 67-31. In a state like New Mexico, that meant a Democrat winning by 15 points instead of losing by one. It also meant sizable electoral swings in other southwest states, including Colorado and Nevada, and played a significant role in Obama's victory in Florida.
Hispanic voters are the key to Obama's re-election. They are the key to his successor's election. What better time to solidify their support?
The political climate is ripe for it. Obama has admitted that, yes, immigration reform can be a minefield, but what better time to drag Republicans over a few mines? The GOP appears committed to their strategy of opposing the president as unanimously as possible; when they oppose immigration reform, when they once again begin their paranoid berating of immigrants, when they once again feed the panicked xenophobia of their ever diminishing base, they might well succeed in making Hispanics a reliable Democratic voting bloc for a generation.
Obama won't even have to sign immigration reform into law to succeed. He'll simply have to sound reasonable, reach out to the Hispanic community, and let the Republican Party do the rest.
Obama to Push Immigration Bill Despite the Risks - NYTimes.com
Obama to tackle immigration reform this year: report | Politics ...
Has Obama forgotten immigration? - Gebe Martinez - POLITICO.com
Obama faces pressure on immigration reform - The Boston Globe
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First and foremost Obama should be addressing the economy and the 3 million jobs he has promised. Cuba and immigration come in at a distant 3rd or 4th.
Say listen, even Hispanics that are citizens of the US need to have their jobs protected, so therefore I consider your suggestion a bad one. Rather than using the term immigration reform, let us use a more valuable term like illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is the issue and Hispanics are not going to go for it any more than anybody else. A job lost to an illegal alien is not a good thing. Making them legal which is what your referring to when you speak of immigration reform is just going to screw everybody this side of the border. Every job given to an illegal alien robs me of a chance to get a job. With the economy the way it is a snowball has more chance of survival in Hell than your proposition.
True, even Hispanics need jobs, but Hispanics (and other immigrant communities in general) also realize two things:
1) No one ever really loses a job to an illegal alien. If a job is unavailable, then you don't work, no matter what anyone else is doing, and whether anyone else has legal residency or not. You can argue that my legal immigrant buddy working as a synthetic chemist took away my chance to work as a synthetic chemist by your logic as well.
2) Family is EXTREMELY important to immigrant communities. Usually, what you have is a scenario where a father is a citizen, the mother is an illegal immigrant, the kids have green cards, and the new baby is a US citizen. Now, in that scenario, could you imagine the legal immigrant kids geing against their mother? Would you if you knew them personally?
It's easy to make these peripheral rantings about illegal aliens when you see brown faces in the parking lot of Home Depot. And you're right, Hispanics are just as American as anybody else. We just see things a little more nuanced than you.
I also agree that even with Obama's rhetorical skills, he won;t be able to sell this. If he does, he'll be the biggest gangsta in history. We'll see
1. Unskilled labor is a different market. Wage and worker supply forces have greater impact.
2. If family is so important, why can't they get their kids to stop killing each other?
3. Borders exist for good reasons. We have laws against entering our country illegally--from anywhere! The security of our country and our people comes first. There is no real reason that Mexico cannot be the equal or even the superior of the US economically, socially, culturally. They have all the tools. Let's stop arguing over how to turn an illegal act into something acceptable and begin discussing how to turn Mexico into a country people are not dying to leave.
Are you talking about immigration reform? Or how to deal with illegals?
I think our immigration policy is just fine. The problem is greed, selfishness, disrespect for our fellow man, etc. You see, there are some people who just do not want to take turns. They want to jump in line. They have NO respect for laws made in a democracy. Their enablers are just as bad.
We need to have jobs not jails. Our young folks in large urban cities are chronically unemployed. We need programs for them, not excuses that permit illegals to come and grab opportunities away from our own people.
The real question is why so called "progressives" don't see this. Don't understand the dynamics of what is actually happening.
Jobs not jails.
"I think our immigration policy is just fine. "
Tell that to the over 2000 people who have died in the desert.
Can't.... they're dead. Perhaps THEIR government should have taken better care of them.
No one forced them to leave their homes and break our laws by trying to sneak into the country. Maybe your complaints should be addressed to the Mexican government?
They are not immigrants, are they?
Whether this works or not at least we now have a government that TRIES to tackle problems that we have had for decades.
Is it a little bit evil of me to look forward to Republicans alienating non-whites FOREVER with the soon to come nativist whining?
Amnesty laws have been tried and passed in the past, they didn't stop the problem. This isn't an "Evil Republican" issue Republicans and Democrats alike have pushed for amnesty programs the reason they do so is because they have a vested interest in the issue, cheap labor on one side and minority votes on the other.
As in many things politicians on both sides of the aisle are more interested in preserving their careers than they are about upholding the things that make our country great.
It sounds a bit crazy to me. The big push by the Dems and Repubs who were in favor of comprehensive reform (i.e. permit those here illegally to obtain legal status) what that these immigrants "would do the jobs American won't do".
Does anybody still believe in this economy that there are still jobs Americans won't do when unemployment is rising for 600 to 800 thousand per month? Especially if the employors are forced to pay a legal watch.
In addition, won't such a push entice millions more to immigrat here illegally in order to latch on to this round of amnesty or just wait for the next one. Will inviting in all the worlds poor and uneducated really be good for the U.S.? Do we really have a shortage or poor and uneducated people in the U.S. now?
It's true that such a push for amnesty may be good for the Democratic party, however, sometimes you have to do what is right for the country, not the party.
I agree with you, the amnesty approach has been done in the past and didn't stop the inflow of illegal immigrants, in fact it has encouraged more illegal immigration as the numbers show.
States are now having to to step in where the federal government has failed to protect their people and what our society was built on. Both parties are equally responsible because they have vested interests in ignoring the laws.
What's happening today is not "Change" it's business as usual.
We have laws for a reason we need to stop selectively enforcing them.
Because "Border security" and "amnesty" are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE!!
They never did anything about controlling immigration after 1986. Amnesty for illegal immigrants had nothing to do with it! GAWD
Jobs Americans won't do FOR THE MONEY OFFERED!!! A lot of these jobs have artificially low wage scales because of the unlimited and unregulated illegal labor. Make these jobs pay real living wages and people will do them, no problem.
Oh dear...
I see the logic in wanting to address immigration now. Contrary to all the jingoistic illegal-alien scapegoating, this IS the best time to fix this problem.
1) More illegal immigrants are leaving because of the recession
2) less illegal immigrants are coming because of the recession
3) Obama has more political capital now than ever to address a legalization program that includes fines and no-chance-in-hell possibility of legalization for prior felons.
This is the issue that truly riles me up more than anything else. I'm the son of a legal immigrant father, an illegal immigrant mother who became legal. I won't go into any more details, but one things is for damn sure:
NO ONE CAN TELL THIS ANCHOR BABY THAT HE DOESN'T LOVE AMERICA, OR THAT HE HASN'T CONTRIBUTED TO AMERICA IN ANY WAY.
I'm worried that this issue will split immigrant-
I await your hate mail.
The same people who were spouted such hate at latin cultures are preoccupied in hating Gay people right now, so yes, I agree this would be a good time to enact reforms.
You mistake hate with a respect for the law and love of country and our way of life, this debate has nothing to do with "hate" it's about the law and respect for it.
You can learn a bit about it here http://www
Hi tony,
look at my comment...
i did not mention illegal immigrants.
i am referring the racial and cultural stereotypes that were made on places like talk radio and written on signs The kind of things that did not address legality at all, but were a kind scapegoating, a focus for hate. That focus seems to need a group to hate, and You can hear the hate coming from many of the same people, now directed at gays, because they want equality.
Actually, I am not in favor of anything illegal.
I think we should have an exchange program with Mexico wherein we will ship them one gay person for every illegal that crosses our border. They are such a macho culture illegal immigration would probably stop immediately if not sooner.
"They are such a macho culture illegal immigration would probably stop immediately if not sooner."
WOW, I never thought I'd see that argument too. What the bloody hell does sexism have to do with the issue at hand?
And who says lefties can't be bigots :) ?
Cylindar! Your comment proves my point.
The illegals here are overwhelmingly folks whose direct line of ancestors were inhabitants of the geographical US and Mexico for ten thousand years before the first white guy drew a property line in the sand and then reinforced it with gunpowder. Further, where most of these illegals come to live, the southwest, is territory stolen by force of arms from Mexico, because of what President James K. Polk called our 'manifest destiny', which in 19th century diplo-speak, means 'thievery of brown folks' land by intrinsically superior white folk or we'll shoot'.
So as usual, most folks alive today in the US would like to talk about all this as if the Native Americans of Mexico have no right to walk on land their ancestors walked on, or to cross borders that only exist because of land thievery, to work for wages that are also illegal, to produce goods that are impossibly cheap were it not for the illegal low wage, for which most people who purchase them are neither grateful nor even aware of the true cost of what they buy.
Who worked for less than mimimum wage all over the American suburbs to refurbish housing and yards during the big real estate bubble? Mexicans and Central Americans. Do you remember the groundswell of upset among the suburbanites when they learned they were paying too little to laborers whose immigration status was illegal? Me either.
The hypocrisy surrounding immigration makes my blood boil. To your point about the suburbanites, my aunt is constantly hiring illegals to do yard work, haul trash, pour a cement sidewalk while simultaneously forwarding hate-filled, anti-immigrant emails.
That's the kind of counterproductive attitude that helps ensure this will remain a wedge issue. What you're harping on is ridiculous. Your argument is based on a belief that the United States as a country and a culture shouldn't even exist. Even if you do believe that, it's ludicrous to think that argument will get you anywhere.
Actually the Mexicans are reclaiming their territory in a stealthy manner. They already have a huge presence in some border states and they are going to become the majority population in California. Actually I think it is only fair that they get their land back after it was stolen from them anyways. Viva Zapata!
jhNY:
You do know that Spain, and what then became Mexico originally stole it from the Native Americans right?
Think I'm talking out my ***, read about the Apache's War with Spain/Mexico during the 1600's - 1800's....
But all humans are related so your point is??? Its a fatuous argument. All land was/is taken by force at some point. Native tribes fought over land too. So which native tribe? But as I already pointed out, we humans are all from the same line of humans. There is only one human race.
The only fair immigration policy would be open borders across each and every country. Since nobody is asking for that we end up with compromises that will screw somebody. So far I only see the US worker being screwed in each and every compromise. I think we just need to give the US worker a decade long break.
The bankers just got $2 trillion..
Immigration needs to be addressed not as a point of political strategy, but for reasons of safety, decency and fairness. Obama should give a national address naming names of the businesses and politicians that rant against illegals publicly and yet do everything in their power to stop ID check programs in the workplace and fines for companies that hire illegals.
We wouldn't have 12 million illegals if our system hadn't been giving them a wink and nod as they crossed the border. Why is our main document of identity and work eligibility, our social security card, still printed on a flimsy piece of paper that anyone can falsify with a home computer?
Give businesses the opportunity to request work visas for their current illegal employees and legal status for their families. Enforce ID checks and fine the hell out of companies that don't comply. If there is still a need for workers, have a guest worker program that requires application from country of origin with a minimum education requirement.
Why not reform? The immigration laws are unenforceable. There is no border between the U.S. and Mexico, but politicos don't want to say it outloud. If U.S. were to attempt to deport all the illegals here there would be civil war. Sterling Greenwood/Aspen Free Press
The immigration laws are not unenforceable, past administrations chose to ignore them for cheap labor and cheap votes.
The government doesn't need to deport them, enforcing existing laws will remove the incentive to stay here illegally and make them go home which is how it should be.
I have no problem with people coming to the states but if they cannot respect our laws and procedures to get here then they have no business being here.
How do you teach your children to be a good citizen and respect the law when others are allowed to break it with impunity?
Why deport anyone? Just enforce the laws that require employers to only hire US workers. These are not rocket science problems..
Here's the president's campaign pledge on immigration reform:
http://www
I fail to see how the right can attack this.
It isn't about right or left it's about respect for our laws and way of life. You and I are held to the letter of the law, we don't get amnesty, we don't get overlooked when we break the law to get benefits we are not entitled to so please explain why an illegal immigrant should get special dispensation when people born and raised here cannot?
http://www
If you actually read the link you would discover that is says no such thing. "Back of the line" is not amnesty. Period. That said, you people who obsess over your principles are by far the biggest obstruction to solving this problem. In order to be 100% in line with your principles, we would have to round up and deport every single illegal immigrant. It isn't possible. Literally. It's not even possible to round up 1/10th of them. And to even try would mean MUCH larger government - something your kind is supposedly against. The fact is that the big picture of the immigration problem is almost universally a bipartisan issue. But you folks on the right have turned it into a wedge issue based on xenophobia in order to score political points. Thank you for that. Now it will never be solved.
You want to solve the immigration problem?
Fix Mexico!
Mexico must fix itself. And as long as the most desperate yet capable poor people keep coming here illegally, they will never have a leftist reform movement because the type of people most likely to trigger change no longer live there. It's a terrible situation. Calderon, a conservative, won the last election. The fact that they elected a president who hasn't made an entire campaign promising a higher minimum wage and pro-union policies is inexcusable. The country seems stuck in a peasant mentality that despises "hand outs" and pits workers against each other rather than their government and big business. Instituting a 30-hour maximum work week would do wonders for that place. Mexico is a classic example of right-wing ideology run a muck. The wealthy there are extremely wealthy, yet they refuse to finance basic New Deal type policies. And the Catholic church continues to amplify the root causes of this problem. I wish more Mexicans were able to visit "poor" European countries. They might then understand what the quality of life can be for a country even though they don't have much money. And the irony is that Mexico doesn't even have to settle for that. They have vast natural resources. But without infrastructure, basic social welfare, and a sensible tax policy to pay for it, they'll continue to get screwed.
As a fellow progressive, you;re on the right track, but I suggest you check your emotions at the door. They get in the way of reason.
Mexico had a center-left government for the previous 70 years prior to the PAN taking over. In fact, the left-wing irresponsibility of Luis Echeverria led to massive migration in the 70's and early 80's. This, of course, led to the Reagan amnesty of 1986.
Hmmm, i see you got the catholic bigotry in your message. Can't leave home without that.
Me and you are proving that this is a very emotional issue, even among normally agrreable people. Obama better be careful.
what about the other 60% of the problem? Why does this issue always involve Mexico?
Why should I fix Mexico. Tell them to go fix themselves in more ways than one.
It's the old adage of give a man a fish or teach him how to fish. And, let's not forget, that America has played a huge and ongoing role in supporting the ruling regimes in Mexico at the expense of the people there. NAFTA has created more problems than it has solved (if any). Wages have been depressed, farmers have lost land, and all that wealth, just as it is here with our economic crisis, has been redistributed upward to the elites. It is to our advantage as Americans to have a strong and successful Mexico as a neighbor. I'm not saying do it for them, that never works. I am saying help where we can and get the he// out of the way the rest of the time.
I, too, break company with the administration on this issue. In that there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of adherence to the current immigration/illegal immigration laws, either by government enforcement or by those entering our country illegally via our southern borders, I honestly can’t see how enacting more laws will ensure our citizens that compliance and accountability will automatically be part of the equation. First things first. Unless our borders are secured for all purposes, i.e., illegal immigration, terrorist access, drug trafficking, diseases, arms flow, to name a few, all of this rhetoric is moot. If we fail to effectively provide vigilantly enforced security for our borders, particularly in these days and times, the current invasion will continue and our safety and security will diminish exponentially.
The problem is... all you;re talking about in terms of "enforcing the law... securing the borders,..
What you have is a country north of Mexico with an economy that is 15x greater. Even if Mexico we're a rather successful country (which is IS, it has a massive middle class, just that you never hear about that), poor people are still gonna come.
In terms of securing the border... what exactly does that mean? Have you ever driven from San Diego to Brownsville Tx? No one EVER tells you what it takes to secure the border because no one really knows. We already have the second most millitarized border in the world behind that of the Korean Penninsula. That doesn't strike you as odd?
We are leftists, not right-wing narrowminded morons. Thus, we have to think logically here. You make valid points, but the argument should be instead about reassessing our interests and reframing the argument of overall relations between Mexico and the U.S.
Interrupters’ from the middle east have already earned their US citizenship, and they should be living here in the states as American citizens, not somewhere in Canada or wherever they have been relocated to, too just sit and wait . . . wait while millions and millions of illegal aliens who have illegally crossed our boarders are here working 16 hour days, while my friends are being laid off of work left and right, while our unemployment rate is now over 10% and climbing.
We as Americans need to help those who have already earned their U.S. citizenship. Evidentially those who have risked their very life helping our troops in the middle east do not have the same connections as the illegal’s who are employed here and renting off the wealthy and obviously politically connected business owners.
Refuge for those who have risked much…
http://www
This have humanity for the many, many children of illegal aliens because children can not be held responsible for their parent’s mistakes is ludicrous. In the real world part of everyday life is paying for the mistakes of legal everyday American parents’ everywhere. The very life of most children of all age’s, living in our foster care system; their every-day life is constantly “paying” for their parents mistakes.
The cost of illegal aliens is astronomical, very reproductive, and infinite. . . the illegal’s who are employed here and renting off the wealthy and obviously politically connected/protected business owners.
Sometimes spellcheck is not enough.
Nice use of the Rovian Strategy of "Divide and conquer." Middle East Assylum seekers and good, worthy LEGAL immigrants vs. Those DAMN ILLEGALS.
Not like your litany of assylum seekers and legal immigrant problems are part of the same larger issue as illegal immigrants or anything.
Immigration and Gun Control are issues that can give Congress back to the Republicans. Unemployment and environmental concerns are more important to average Americans then driving down labor costs for the affluent and big business.
Ironically, if you give illegal immigrants residency and pay them a living wage, average wages would rise immediately since they would be protected by federal and state labor laws. The supposed undercutting of the American worker would immediately end.
Facts are funny things, aren't they? :)
Add to that the bank bail out and I agree completely. The GOP is going to take back congress in the mid-terms. Obama has turned his back on his base.
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