President Obama met with Humanitarian, Democratic and Hispanic Leaders on Tuesday to discuss Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). Latinos and Democrats praised President Obama for his attempts to try and jump-start passing a CIR bill. The bill would:1. Secure the Border
2. Punish Exploitive Employers
3. Provide a Pathway of Citizenship for the 11M here that are Crime Free and contributing to Society
These leaders acknowledge the President's uphill battle against the Republicans/TeaPartiers who are opposed to the bill. Many remain skeptical that it will go anywhere before the presidential election next year.
They asked the President to use his authorities, which he already has under current immigration law, to defer deportations of students who are eligible for legal status under the Dream Act.
“We know that immigration reform is doable, but it is just rather difficult given the makeup of Congress,” said Representative Charlie Gonzalez, Democrat of Texas, who is chairman of the Hispanic Caucus in the House. “We are asking the President if he could provide some sort of relief to innocent people who are the most impacted by the inequities of the immigration system.”
Religious and civil rights groups have also asked Mr. Obama to expand waivers that would make it easier for undocumented immigrants who are immediate relatives of American citizens to fix their legal status without having to leave the United States.
Additionally, Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and 11 other lawmakers sent a letter asking the Obama administration to postpone deportations of immigrants in same-sex marriages with American citizens. The administration recently decided that it would no longer defend in the courts a law barring the federal government from recognizing those marriages.
Some Hispanic lawmakers, in the most ambitious requests, have said the President should halt deportations of illegal immigrants whose children are American citizens. An estimated four million young citizens have at least one parent who is an illegal immigrant.
Some Latino leaders point to the fact that under the Obama administration, immigration authorities have carried out record numbers of deportations, with nearly 400,000 immigrants removed in each of the last two years, which is higher than under the Bush Administration. The deportations are drawing increasingly irate protests from Latino communities.
But Republicans in Congress SAY the administration has not done enough to remove illegal immigrants, and they oppose ANY action by President Obama that would offer what REPUBLICANS call a “stealth amnesty.” President Obama “should not selectively enforce the law,” said Elton Gallegly, Republican of California, who is chairman of the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee. “Amnesty — whether universal or selective — only encourages illegal immigration.”
As far as CIR is concerned, President Obama is at a crossroads right now. He has, within his powers, the ability to enact waivers to legalize students who were brought here as children, provide them waivers to complete their education and allow them to get in line and apply for citizenship. THIS IS NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK!
PLEASE MR. PRESIDENT! LISTEN TO "WE THE PEOPLE." ALLOW THESE VERY TALENTED STUDENTS WHO WERE BROUGHT HERE AS CHILDREN TO BE PROVIDED A WAIVER TO COMPLETE THEIR EDUCATION; AND ALLOW THEM TO GET IN LINE TO APPLY FOR CITIZENSHIP AND TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY IN THE MILITARY IF THEY CHOOSE. MR. PRESIDENT, THIS IS NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK OF YOU!
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Professor Greg Weeks of Political Science and Director of Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the editor of the academic journal The Latin Americanist. His blog is excellent and very high quality. That is why I visit the Professor's blog every day, very informative, rational, moderate, judicious and non-partisan.
Two Weeks Notice
A Latin American Politics Blog
State law and guest workers
By Greg Weeks
Friday, April 22, 2011
http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2011/04/state-law-and-guest-workers.html
State law and guest workers
Fascinating stuff. Republican members of the House are criticizing the Utah immigration bill because it contains a guest worker provision. As I've noted, the Georgia bill that seems likely to be signed into law also contains such a provision. For these reasons, we need to be careful about lumping all such laws together as the same as SB 1070 (something I have to admit I have tended to do). Here is an interesting quote from that article:
In this link:
Utah Gov. Fires Back at Congressional Critics of State Immigration Law
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/04/21/house-gop-leaders-blast-utahs-immigration-law-utah-gov-tells-fix-immigration
But Utah legislators said the state needed a bill that covered enforcement as well as the state’s need for immigrant labor.
"Being reasonable and being conservative are not mutually exclusive,” Herbert said in a statement to a local Utah television station. “Part of being conservative is being practical.”
Again, very interesting. Conventional wisdom is that Republicans must play to an enforcement-minded base. Is there room in there for "practical" and "reasonable"?
I have not bothered to go into the hypocrisy of criticizing state laws while also refusing to pass federal law. It is like shooting fish in a barrel.
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Obama would not have been elected without having the hispanic vote. He needs to remember that.
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