Sunday, December 4, 2011

Obama and the GOP on Immigration

So I get this email from Adrian Saenz, Obama's National Latino Vote Director regarding Immigration.
2012
Omar --

I wonder sometimes if the Republican presidential candidates realize there's a cost to what they say.

Even more than usual, they've been falling all over themselves lately to get Tea Party support by scapegoating immigrants.

If he wins the nomination, Mitt Romney will have managed to position himself farther to the right on immigration than any presidential nominee in recent memory by saying he'd make all undocumented immigrants in the United States leave.

On Tuesday, Rick Perry was proud to announce the endorsement of Arizona anti-immigration crusader Sheriff Joe Arpaio, saying that if he becomes president he'll "detain and deport every illegal alien who is apprehended." And a day before, Newt Gingrich came out in favor of a new South Carolina law that allows police to demand the immigration status of anyone they pull over.

With the Iowa caucuses less than a month away, the GOP candidates are desperate for their party's right-wing support -- and it's becoming clearer every day that they're willing to demonize millions of people to get it.

Had enough?

Join me in sending a message to the GOP that their words have a price for the immigrant community and the rest of the nation, and we're not going to stand by and let them divide us.

Among the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants the GOP candidates are quick to cast off, there are grandparents, mothers, and fathers who have been here for decades and who have contributed to our communities, paid taxes, and even put their lives on the line to defend our country in the armed forces.

"Rounding up" and deporting them all without any consideration for who they are or how they've become a part of our country would undo threads that tie our communities together.

That's not the America you and I believe in. We believe that instead of dividing or excluding folks, we're strongest when we're in it together.

That's why President Obama wants comprehensive immigration reform that will help us abide by our laws while respecting our heritage as a nation of immigrants.

He supports the DREAM Act so that children of immigrants won't be punished for the actions of their parents, and he's directed the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize the deportation of criminals, rather than DREAMers and family members of veterans or active duty members.

There's going to be a clear choice in this election, and it's up to us to let the GOP know that we won't stand by as they attack our communities in their desperate race for Tea Party votes.

Fight back against the GOP candidates using Hispanic families to try to score political points:

http://my.barackobama.com/Stop-Scapegoating-Immigrants

Thanks,

Adrian

Adrian Saenz
National Latino Vote Director

It is full of half-truths, however he is right about some of the things the GOP is saying. Nevertheless, what he neglects to mention in his praise of Obama is the fact that Obama should be recognized as the Deporter-In-Chief in addition to Where-Have-All-The-Jobs-Gone-Chief. The Obama Administration has deported more than 1 million immigrants during his term -- more than any other POTUS during the same amount of time.And the height of the hypocrisy is in his closing sentence of "Fight back against the GOP candidates using Hispanic families to try to score political points." Obama is the one trying to score political points by hoping Hispanic families do not realize that his actions are much louder than his rhetoric.

The GOP is not off the hook either. Except for Gingrich, Johnson and Huntsman; the remaining Presidential candidates have been pandering to the extreme wing of the GOP. Rick Perry while governor of Texas was pro-immigrant, but has done an about face for some reason and is now talking about the unrealistic deportation of the approximate 11 million illegal immigrants. Seeking and accepting the endorsement of Sheriff Joe Arpaio is alienating Perry and the GOP further from Latino immigrants. There is a fringe element of the GOP that appreciates the tough talk on illegal immigrants. These are the same folks who believe our government is spending too much money and believe in domestic security. I too believe in these things, however I do not think illegal immigrants are the cause of runaway spending. As for national security, I believe in secure borders but not just to our south with Mexico, but to our north as well with Canada. I know the drug cartels from Mexico get all the headlines, but terrorists can easily slip into our country from the north and through our ports as well.

I belong to an organization Cafe Con Leche Republicans who has sensible solutions to the illegal immigrant problem that most people if they researched and truly understood the issue from an unbiased perspective would agree there are solutions that are fair and equitable. Check us out at http://cafeconlecherepublicans.com/