Posted on 02/28/2010 9:17:32 AM PST by AuntB
Frustrated by the lack of progress on immigration reform, area Latino Democrats are forming a new group to pressure the Obama Administration to take action on the issue.
Latino Democratic politicians and community activists who voted for President Barack Obama say he has failed to fulfill a campaign pledge to overhaul immigration laws.
"It's way overdue," said Gil Navarro, a member of the San Bernardino County board of education. "That was one of the promises the President gave us and we want to hold him accountable like any other public official."
Navarro is creating a Latino Democratic Caucus of the Inland Empire, a group chartered by the county Democratic Party that will focus on immigration and other issues of concern to Latinos. Navarro is in the process of filing paperwork to make the group official.
"A lot of our relatives that have come to this country illegally are looking to share in the American dream," he said. "Even though they're not here legally, they still pay taxes. If we don't want more people coming here illegally from other countries, we need to fix the problem."
Mel Albiso, a board member for the Colton Joint Unified School District, plans to join the group.
"There's no attention being paid to the topic of immigration. No discussion. No dialogue," Albiso said. "All the time that goes by people and families are suffering. It's up to us to bring the topic to the forefront and put the political pressure
where it needs to be placed."
There is some debate about how closely the views of Latino activist groups and Democratic lawmakers reflect the opinions of typical Latino voters.
Last week, the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank that supports reduced immigration levels, released a Zogby survey of about 1,500 Latino, black and Asian-American likely voters.
Most members of the three groups want the law enforced and illegal immigrants to return to their home countries. Overall, they also feel that the current level of immigration is too high, the survey found.
"The leadership of the Hispanic community is overwhelmingly in favor of an amnesty and increased legal immigration," said Steven Camarota, the center's director of research. "When you survey Hispanic voters, you get a more complicated picture. In general, they're much more pro-enforcement than is the leadership of organizations that claim to speak for Hispanics."
Obama received about two-thirds of the nearly 10 million votes cast by Latinos in the November 2008 election. During the campaign, he said he would act on immigration reform in his first year in office.
But immigration has been pushed to the sidelines as Obama has struggled to turn around the economy and overhaul the health care system.
Some Latino Democrats are willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt - for now.
"We have to give him time," said Lynda Gonzalez, a 48-year-old Mexican-American who lives in Bloomington. "There are multiple problems out there. People are losing their jobs and their homes. To me, that's more important."
Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, said immigration reform must take a backseat to more pressing problems.
"Of course, I would have liked to see Congress and the President make more serious legislative progress towards comprehensive immigration reform," Baca said in a statement. "But right now, creating jobs and fixing our broken health insurance system must be our top priorities."
Baca, who co-sponsored a bill that includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, said he remains "very confident" Obama will move forward on immigration reform once the health care issue is solved.
Carol Robb, chairwoman of the county Democratic Party, conceded that getting Republicans to agree to comprehensive immigration reform will be a challenge.
"Republicans will probably hold their breath and threaten to turn blue," Robb said. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but it's doable."
Jose Zapata Calderon, a professor of sociology and Chicano studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, said Obama has expanded the hard-line immigration policies of the Bush Administration.
Workplace raids and deportations of illegal immigrants have increased since Obama took office, Calderon said.
"Those of us who worked on the campaign are somewhat taken aback," Calderon said. "Unfortunately, what's happening is we're not seeing anything but enforcement. If that continues, we'll see a rapid erosion of support in the Latino community and other communities."
Area Latino Republicans are concerned about the cost of illegal immigration.
Joe Martinez, a board member for the Rialto Unified School District, considers himself a fiscally conservative Republican who believes the nation's immigration laws must be enforced.
"Those here illegally should take the call against illegal immigration as a warning bell," Martinez said. "Anyone who is serious about staying here should become a naturalized citizen to protect themselves and the future of their families. They need to take action before Washington and Sacramento ask themselves the hard question of how long we can continue to support those here illegally."
Robert Rego, chairman of the county Republican Party, said the GOP's position on immigration must be about more than enforcement.
"We must come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with the issue in a way that's beneficial to the country as a whole," Rego said.
Camarota, the director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, said Latino activists will make a lot of noise. But he doesn't think it will matter.
"Will Obama pay any political price for his failure to bring up immigration this year? No, because it's not a top priority for actual Hispanic voters," he said. "Democrats are feeling really vulnerable. They don't want to do anything to further alienate middle-of-the-road voters. Amnesties generally do that."
Most members of the three groups want the law enforced and illegal immigrants to return to their home countries. Overall, they also feel that the current level of immigration is too high, the survey found.
"The leadership of the Hispanic community is overwhelmingly in favor of an amnesty and increased legal immigration," said Steven Camarota, the center's director of research. "When you survey Hispanic voters, you get a more complicated picture. In general, they're much more pro-enforcement than is the leadership of organizations that claim to speak for Hispanics." "
The usual crap from the leftist agitating media.
Great...(thanks for posting, AuntB)...another anti-individual, anti-freedom, blood-sucking collective in The United States of America.
Disband/defund the collectives.
Any illegal wishing to remain in country must have a financial sponsor. A sponsor must have sufficient funds, or equity in hard assets, to guarantee the health and wellbeing of their charges and must be willing to sign over the funds and/or assets as collateral. Any medical, education, or other expenses not met by the illegal must be paid for by the responsible sponsor.
There we go. Comprehensive immigration reform.
“There we go. Comprehensive immigration reform. “
I like it!
“Immigrations laws” don’t need to be “reformed”. THEY NEED TO BE ENFORCED!
Yep, it would sure change things. If the ones who are clammoring for it now were asked to put up or shut up, you would be able to hear a pin drop.
Latinos are mostly Catholic. Obama is a Muslim. Deep down Obama does not trust Christians. He may throw the Latinos under the bus?Obama’s Islamic, Marxist, Chicago Mobster mentality always shows through.
Excellent - another racially-based, ethnic enclave supporting group that seeks benefits for themselves instead of considering the good of the country.
The destruction of America is proceeding to plan....
You are right on. The only way we can stop this nonsense is enforced the law.
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