27 April 2010 NYT: Immigration Poses Complex Test For Democrats And Republicans

The NYT recently published a great article on immigration reform! Check it out at the NYT website or read our summary below!

The Arizona immigration bill has caused quite a stir on Capitol Hill and in the home states of the Favorite Sons who compose Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats have strategic political motivations for supporting or eschewing the bill. Elections pending throughout 2010 have successfully pressured many Republican incumbents into supporting this legislation in order to score political points against opponents within their own party. For example, Senator John McCain shocked many by voting for the bill because of his longstanding moderate stance on immigration. However, his opponent in the primaries this summer is far more conservative than he is, and McCain needs the votes of right wing Arizona constituents, many of whom are worried about border violence and immigrants draining social service coffers. In a 27 April 2010 NYT article, Mark McKinnon, a senior advisor to both George W Bush and Senator McCain cautions, “This is an issue on which Republicans salivate over short-term gains without much thought to the longer-term damage it will do the party.” As Hispanics become a more mobilized part of the electorate, the Republicans’ hard-line stance on immigration could play badly with this key demographic in the future.
Aboard Air Force One Wednesday night, President Barack Obama revealed to reporters that immigration reform has been dropped from his agenda of priorities for the year. But in light of the recent events in Arizona, is this really a wise move? With a reported 10.8 million illegal aliens in the United States as of Jan., 2009, it’s obvious that the current system needs serious change; but Obama’s plan is to push back the entire concept until he seeks re-election in 2012.

We at the H.I.I. believe that immigration reform is in desperate need of new legislation at the federal level. If the government is not swift in introducing an acceptable bill, then other states with high concentrations of Latinos will start to follow the example of Arizona, passing similarly strict, right-wing bills that carry the potential to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens-and the frightening part is, 60% of Arizonans are completely satisfied with this bill, and would hate to see it go; we can only speculate how other state populations may react to similar legislation.

It is also most unfortunate that this postponement carries the power to keep Democratic-leaning Latino voters home in the next presidential election; at this point, we can only hope that President Obama will reconsider.

Immigration Reform: Who's Who?

Immigration reform has been a hot topic for decades, with many different politicians leading the push for a new bill on both the state and federal levels. On the federal front: This year, the Obama administration gave the issue a fresh infusion of interest by calling some Republican senators to gauge their interest in the subject. Last week, Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi excited politicos by announcing their plans to push an immigration reform bill through Congress by the year's end. According to the Washington Post's Tamar Jacoby, supporters of the bill fall into two camps: traditional immigration reform leaders and Democrats attempting to gain Latino votes in the hopes that Republicans will reject a liberal bill, thereby alienating the community and losing votes. On the state front: The state currently most active in the immigration debate is Arizona, the undisputed central gateway into the US from Mexico. Governor Jan Brewer recently signed an immigration bill into law which allows Arizona police officers to ask for identification if they "suspect" someone of being an illegal immigrant. The chief sponsor of the bill, Senator Russell Pearce, has ties with white supremacist groups (including neo-Nazis) and is very active in the NRA. John McCain shocked many by supporting the bill, considering the moderate stance he has taken on immigration in the past. However, it is important to note that both McCain and Brewer are up for re-election soon and are running against candidates who are more conservative than they are. This bill is very popular with constituents, and could be a boom come election day.

Senators Schrumer and Graham have teamed to work on a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill for 2010 and it is currently being considered by Congress. This reform is working towards creating a tough yet completely fair road for immigrants to walk down for legalization. They also are interested in a new, high-tech social security card original to its owner that’s completely fraud proof. For years, many Americans and others have been fighting for a right to immigrate. It takes 279 signatures to pass an Immigration reform and currently, one reform is making its way through the senate. Some fighters are floored, however, by President Obama's lack of effort towards making this Immigration reform more plausible. During his campaign, he's taped to have signed on a bill that said Immigration would be passed after Health Care has played through. However, the new Health Care Reform has hit the newsstands yet no mention about the immigration reform has been made from the democratic party currently situated in the White House. However, we know that Obama is supportive of said reform, now we just need 218 votes in the Senate and a signature from the president himself for all fighter's hard work to be pulled off.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/22/AR2010042204209.html

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/04/brewer_mccain_i.php

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/19/schumer-and-graham-on-immigration-reform-why-not-do-it-without-the-biometric-national-id/

http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/blog/