A Liberal Citizen to President Obama: Push for Immigration Reform Now!

President Obama latest staged speech on immigration was interrupted by an attendee who yelled, "our families are separated," referring to the record deportations under the current president. Obama gave a b.s. answer that he has to follow the law, and that he still needs the immigrant communities behind him to change the status quo. He's obviously playing a political card in order to keep up the support these people have overwhelmingly given him and the Democrats.  But, it's his timid and ineffectual approach that hasn't changed the status quo.

Mr. president, he law is broken, the whole immigration legal framework is broken, plus any law that is applied without discretion is probably an unjust law. You have applied other laws with prudence and restraint, like when you decided that the feds wouldn't harass the citizens of states who have legalized marijuana--against federal law.

If there's no criminal conviction, the deportation of parents of US citizens (children born here to undocumented immigrants) is unconscionable, as the deportation of many others who have roots and are productive in their communities. It's a shame that we--most of the blame goes to the irascible Republicans in the House--haven't passed the DREAM act and legalize those children who were brought in the US without a visa but this is the only country they know. On this, the president issued an executive order to stop the deportation of these children or those who were brought into the country as children. So, why did he do that?...  [The Immigration Policy Center is definitely worth a look as it has a comprehensive, issue-by-issue, approach to immigration in the US]


So, Mr. President show some leadership and get comprehensive immigration reform passed. Stop repeating the same mistakes. In 2008, you ran on a universal/public option for health care. Once elected by a landslide you wasted over a year by delegating to Congress. Seriously? Not only you lost the momentum and wasted your political capital, but in the end we got a flawed system. Yes, it's better than the current one, but it could (yes, we could!) have been much better by extending Medicare to all. 

It's mind boggling that his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, was so clumsy implemented. He knew the opposition has been shredding the ACA from the moment it was proposed; there was no luxury for having this kind of problems today. He made it so  much harder for many Dems and progressives to support this flawed program. This doesn't help building momentum against the regressive Republicans, who had been battered from causing the government shutdown this Fall.

Last year, Mr. Obama won reelection handily. He had made immigration reform an important policy goal in his second term. What did he do then? He, again, delegated to Congress. Oh, yes, he threatened them that if they didn't do it, he would! Sure. Immigration reform, flawed and all, was passed in the Senate but died in the Republican House. 

At least there's good news for those who prefer to lead from the rear. A majority of Americans now not only favor immigration reform but also a path to citizenship for the undocumented. 

Need for Serious and Comprehensive Immigration Reform But it Won't be Possible Before 2013

President Obama gave a speech recently about the need to reform the immigration system, but I think it was mostly political theater. I'm sure he knows that the Republican-controlled House will not agree to give such a policy initiative to the president. Even when the Dems were in control, they couldn't pass any immigration reform despite former president Bush supporting it.

Senator Durbin re-introduced the DREAM Act but even this very sensible improvement of a tiny part of immigration law won't probably go through. The Republican Party today is much more conservative and is catering to the extremist elements within (Southern states) and in its proximity (Tea parties). As a salt lake shrinks, the water becomes more saline, so it's the same with the shrinking base of the Conservatives. Don't be fooled by the last election gains of the GOP. It had to do with other factors than rising popularity for the GOP, and, most importantly, its policy proposals.

See where the country is today and where it's moving. What was radical just a generation ago, it's mainstream today: DOMA, DADT, same-sex marriage, Immigration (yes, over 70% of Americans favor Obama's ideas on immigration reform), legalization of marijuana, etc, etc. Unfortunately, the second largest political party in the US is hostage to its conservative base and its extreme activists and won't move where the rest of the country is moving.

As for the political theater, it will go on. Obama has been criticized by the pro-reform groups for not doing enough, and support from the Hispanic community is eroding. He'll use the immigration rhetoric to bring attention to the fact that it's the Republicans who don't want reform, but not much else will happen before 2013, when the new Congress will be in place.

Mike Huckabee, Bucking the GOP dogma, Backs the DREAM Act and Sensible Immigration Reform Unlike Flopper J. McCain!

I don't agree with most of Mike Huckabee's but on this instance he's right. "When a kid comes to his country, and he’s four years old and he had no choice in it — his parents came illegally. He still, because he is in this state, it’s the state’s responsibility – in fact, it is the state’s legal mandate – to make sure that child is in school. So let’s say that kid goes to school. That kid is in our school from kindergarten through the 12th grade. He graduates as valedictorian because he’s a smart kid and he works his rear end off and he becomes the valedictorian of the school. The question is: Is he better off going to college and becoming a neurosurgeon or a banker or whatever he might become, and becoming a taxpayer, and in the process having to apply for and achieve citizenship, or should we make him pick tomatoes? I think it’s better if he goes to college and becomes a citizen"

What is the future US national makeup?

Unfortunately our country lacks leaders who will speak the truth on the immigration issue.Of course there's the short-term political calculation, especially by the GOP, that caters to xenophobia, racism, and ill-conceived notions of citizenship. Most go for the easy and visible action "enforcing the law and reinforcing the border, but we're spending a disproportionate amount of money and resources for a problem that can be addressed otherwise. Right now, the system is broken so any one-way while the US is addicted to cheap labor.

The immigration issue will return after the November elections and I'll devote plenty of space to it here. So, stay tuned. 

SHAMEFUL! And, the Democratic Leadership in Congress is to Blame!

The Dems are afraid to tackle the immigration issue before the Congressional election this November so they sacrifice decency and common sense to the even more ridiculous Republican demands. The House failed to pass a bill that would give health care benefits to the 9-11 responders. The bill received 255 votes for and 159 against. Shame to those 159 politicians who voted against giving benefits to people who rushed to the scene in NYC and later worked at the site for the rescue/recovery/clean up effort. The Bush EPA, told everyone that the air at the World Trade Center disaster zone was OK to breathe. The Giuliani City Hall, and the Pataki state government failed to give adequate protection and alert the workers & emergency responders.

But, wait a second. Isn't 255 a bigger number than 159? How come a bill that gets a majority like this fails to pass, you ask.  Well, because the Dems brought it under a rule that required a 2/3 super majority to pass! Why? Because the Dems did not want to confront the issue the Repubs were raising: We should not pay for health benefits for any undocumented worker (I wonder how many there could have been) who without proper papers rushed to the scene to help out, got injured or breathed in the cancer-causing polluted air. Those bastards, they should die for helping out without having the proper visa!

Yeah, this is the absurd and obscene reason the Repubs used to oppose this bill. Oh, and to shield big business from paying taxes in the US. The bill was to be funded by ..ending the tax loopholes the multinational pharmas use to avoid paying US taxes! 

What a shame, shame, shame!

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Immigration and the 14th Amendment

Have you heard about the 14th Amendment? It gives citizenship and all legal rights to anyone who is born in this country. When it was adopted, it meant to enfranchise people who had been born here but were discriminated by the political & legal system, on the federal and mostly state levels. Now some conservatives, including many state Republican parties, want to repeal this amendment because they say illegal immigrants shouldn't be rewarded by having babies here!

First, babies to illegal immigrants is not a problem but it's a distraction. It's a rallying point for the conservatives and the tea baggers. It may be beneficial to them short term but it'll help put this GOP on the sidelines in the future. The Hispanics especially favor the Dems by 65-70% at the ballot box. The immigration issue will further solidify this block behind the Dems in increasing numbers. Much like other immigrant groups that have favored the Dems for generations, because they found their way via the big city political machines controlled by the Dems. In addition, the Latinos are a growing block. In about a generation, the Caucasians (white Euros) will be a minority in the US.

The present day anti-immigrant stance isn't new. The Know Nothing Party and others had expressed the same views targeting the Irish and other "inferior European immigrants."  As one framer put it at the time, "we are entirely ready to accept" that under the proposed amendment, "children born here" of immigrant parents "shall be declared by the Constitution of the United States to be entitled to civil rights and to equal protection before the law with others." In two landmark decisions, the Supreme Court verified this "clear constitutional mandate" of birthright citizenship, ruling in 1982 that the "fourteenth amendment extends to anyone, citizen or stranger" regardless if "a person's initial entry into a State, or the United States, was unlawful." [source]

Just a few minutes ago, there was a piece on NPR where Young Americans For Freedom and that awful Ken Blackwell [we go back to Ohio, 2004] talking about the disillusionment with Obama's "hope message" and how younger people are giving up on the dream of change and whatever. Oh, and, yeah, Obama is a socialist, anti-freedom, anti-market system, and the best thing that happened to ..conservatives!  How do these people manage to convince anyone beyond their immediate cadre of interested parties is amazing. 


In the abstract, we can talk about conservatism, like we can talk about religion, and debate the philosophical points. Yet, I want you to keep in mind this: How do the vast majority of conservatives (and the faithful) understand and practice their ..faith?  The present-day Repubs stand for what public policy? And, when they had control of the Executive and Congress, what did they do? A year and a half ago, when Obama took office, the country was a short step from economic (and not only) depression. Since, the Repubs have done everything to oppose everything Obama and the Dems have proposed.


So, the conservatives want more religion--the kind that goes against self-determination--more transfer of wealth to the top 2%, more wars & huge military budgets, they're anti-immigrants (legal or illegal... because, after all, those people aren't the ideal Americans, right?),  want less safety, fewer programs designed to help the least fortunate or the sick, and they promote ignorance by attacking science and the scientific method.