Immigration Reform Shouldn't Be About Winning Elections
Comments (6)
Right now it seems as if politicians are using immigration reform to obtain votes. (Boss Tweed, Creative Commons)
Our immigration system is obviously broken. The process for those who wish to come into this country legally is cumbersome, expensive and often drags on for years. There are thousands of Dreamers – young people who were brought into the U.S. illegally at a very early age, never having known their home country – who face limited opportunities, an uncertain future and the very real possibility that they will be sent back to a nation they aren't familiar with. And these issues only scratch the surface of the problem, considering that there are an estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in this country, and that we have been unable to secure our border to ensure that we know who crosses it.
The need for immigration reform is evident, and in any other climate the GOP would have been praised for taking up an issue of such importance to so many Americans. The problem is that this isn’t any other climate. Many of the Republican leaders who are championing reform are only doing so in order to win future elections. How do we know this? Well, because they’ve told us so.
When Sean Hannity changed his tune on immigration reform, he didn’t speak of his compassion for millions of Dreamers who desperately need it. His rationale was: “we’ve got to get rid of the immigration issue altogether” in order for the GOP to continue to compete. Krauthammer’s call for amnesty was coupled with the acknowledgement that he’d always been of the “enforcement first” school, but that amnesty is what the Republican party needs to push in order to beat Democrats.
When Romney asserted that he lost the election because Obama offered gifts to blacks and Latinos, Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana (and probable 2016 hopeful), said: “we as a Republican Party have to campaign for every single vote. We don’t start winning majorities...by insulting our voters.” That’s not a condemnation of Romney for saying that minorities are lazy and want stuff. That’s a “shhh...we’re never going to win if they know we think that.”
No one is saying that all Republicans care only about immigration reform for the purpose of winning elections. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, two prominent Floridian politicians, have called for a change in GOP strategy on immigration throughout this election season. But the vast majority of the Republican party has not, and the comments of some of their most prominent commentators, thinkers and elected officials demonstrates that this change of heart is not wholly altruistic.
I’m happy that immigration reform is finally being brought to the forefront of the national debate. I’m ecstatic that we’re no longer talking about “electric fences” and making life so miserable for immigrants that people have to leave. I just wish the debate was actually about the people who are suffering the consequences of Washington’s failure to act, rather than about winning electoral majorities. I fear that reform based on political gamesmanship won’t yield the type of discussion (and ultimately legislation) that will really solve the immigration problem that confronts us.
Comments
Both sides come together on immigration reform which will mean amnesty to 11 million poor, uneducated, people in this country illegally, mostly from Latin America, that include violent criminals and members of gangs and drug cartels. In 2016 whomever wins that election by getting the Hispanic vote will then allow another amnesty for eleven million or more of the same until the United States looks like a poor Third World country full of poverty like a Mexican border town. Why do our so-called representatives get by with doing what is best for their reelections than what is best for our country. They spend every waking moment raising money for their next reelection campaigns. I wish they would use their home phones doing it not running up the phone bill on taxpayers. My own home and cell phone bill is so full of taxes I have to pay, mostly for helping the poor people here illegally have a cell phone for themselves and all their children. We might as well fire all our border security and just put a welcome sign up at all our border crossings. After all we need more barbered wire and more graffiti, more green and yellow buildings and more shopping carts cafe's selling cotton candy and drugs. Don't we have enough people here already to clean toilets and mop floors? What we need is 11 million more professors, 11 million more doctors, 11 million more scientist not 11 million more janitors, but they won't allow but a small portion of those 11 million to be counted and allowed a green card. It is all about what is good for your representative in Washington to build his or her lifetime job to enjoy a lifestyle most Americans will ever know and without spending a dime of their own income, they spend yours while they bank or invest theirs and tell you how they understand your concerns.
I still wonder how 11 million illegals can afford to buy so much Budweiser when they can't pay their rent?
What more can either political party lie about, then the insistence that they have made our border secure against the drug dealers, foreign terrorists and illegal immigration? Just plain old liars when the majority of Americans have trusted their word about securing the border. You can bet that whatever the Republicans or Liberal Progressives (Democrats) spill out their deceiving mouths is just another bunch of more deception. There has never been any intention in sealing the border between the other impoverished Americas and United States, otherwise entering would be a felony, or the fact that the children smuggled into America would never get automatic citizenship, leading to the Dream Act? Then again millions of U.S. citizens are still jobless, while millions of immigrants are employed. Personally I wouldn’t trust either party, as the rhetoric is all they seem to know. Very few believe in the “Rule of Law” led by U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. There oath of allegiance is like wax slipping between their greedy fingers. The only chance we had was the national TEA PARTY of moderate Conservatives and now with President Obama back in power, we are leaning towards a Socialist country, with Communist undertones. Under Obama Czars this country is full steam ahead for more entitlements, more free stuff, more spending.
One things for absolutely sure the more you hand out, the more they want? Another amnesty of any form will just draw more people into this country, wrecking the fabric of the once American Dream. Even STEM labor (Scientists, Technology, Engineers and Math) is very controversial, as the visas are abused, with hundreds of thousands of less skillful are allowed into this country. The estimate of mediocre immigrants is something over a million a year, whose entry is adroitly manipulated by attorneys and employers. If that isn’t enough competition for the U.S. job market the Democrats think we should accept the itinerant populace from other countries who cannot speak English and rely on public welfare to exist. If agriculture needs more workers there must be an acceptable requirement of a well-oiled, regulated orderly “Guest Worker” program with an emphasis on returning home after their contract runs out. If this sovereign nation must accept a new revised immigration reform, the frontier states, its citizens and the rest of the 50 states must be guaranteed a secure border, from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California with the double layer fence as enacted but played down, unfunded in 2006. Employers who dishonestly work the immigrant system, either legal or illegal must be prosecuted. That all tourists and other visa over-stays must be tracked, then detained and held accountable with prison time.
We now have a far leftist group which is pressing to take the “I” out of illegal aliens. They can strain their vocal chords until they struggle for their air, but as far as I am concerned, foreigners who came here and disrespected our law and under my watch they are, and will remain ILLEGAL ALIENS. Not undocumented immigrants, but Illegal aliens who cheated the thousands of people who came here in the correct manner. For Me and my family I have my pensions from years of good gainful work, but I refuse any more to pay for millions of illegal aliens coming here—having lots of babies—an expecting taxpayers as myself to pay for it all? My opinion is that during these previous elections, there was perhaps millions of non citizens committing voter fraud, because it was only in states with no need for possessing picture ID, that the voting was monstrously for Obama’s mob. You will never convince me of any solution until we have a none counterfeit able Social Security card, with a thumbprint or retinal scan?
The immigration system isn't "broken." Gawd, I hate it when these progressive menaces parrot that lie. The corrupt feds refuse to resort existing laws. That's the problem.
Illegal aliens are criminals and parasites, one and all. Practically everything they do on U.S. soil is illegal. They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, punished for their numerous crimes, then booted back to whence they snuck in from with such extreme prejudice that they will never, ever think of violating our sovereignty again. Build a wall and deport 'em all. Enough is enough.
The Border Patrol is larger than its ever been in our nations history (over 10,000 agents added since 2004)
There have never been more Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as there are in the Southwest
We've crated 100's of miles of new fencing and we use aerial surveillance to watch over the border
There have been a record number of deportations under the Obama administration
...but no one is enforcing the law
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/fixing-immigration-system-america-s-21s...
...and maybe you should stop calling other human beings parasites. Just a thought.
Where you been Ever known of any politician who cut spending in their district and got reelected in that district? Everybody is for responsible spending cuts just not theirs. You can use the same logic on any issue
No you can't. Most of the major pieces of legislation we've seen passed or debated have to do with people's genuine concern for good policy. Obama didn't just push healthcare reform to win votes, he thought it would expand people's access to insurance and lower the cost of healthcare. The Bush administration clearly thought their tax cuts would be good for economic growth and productivity. The House didn't pass a cap and trade bill during Obama's first two years just to make the environmental lobby happy, they did so because they thought climate change was a real problem. Obviously most bills have supporters who lawmakers think about when they pass legislation, but that is incredibly different from lawmakers pushing something they don't believe simply to win votes.