The Politics of Immigration Reform

Next Up: Colorado Caucus

Next Up: Colorado Caucus


Despite the fact that immigration is not a big issue for most Colorado Republicans, as in years past, the issue will have clear salience in November as Latino voters size up the candidates and their positions on the issues that matter.

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Comprehensive immigration reform is not only smart policy, it’s also smart politics. In fact, the majority of American people want reform because they know that the current system, which is comprised mainly of broken policies and wedge politics, is just not working. Here, you will find resources to navigate the lively politics of immigration reform.

This backgrounder on constitutional citizenship reveals that recent attempts to deny citizenship to babies is unconstitutional and wrong, leading to millions of dollars lost in litigation, and viewed by the fastest growing voting demographic -- Latinos -- as an attack on their community. Moreover, revoking the 14th amendment is not a solution for fixing our broken immigration system.

Leaders of the Subcommittee, Reps. Lamar Smith, Elton Gallegly, and Steve King, are professing profound concern for people of color and American workers. But their voting records tell an entirely different story, and America’s Voice Education Fund (AVEF) is exposing the rank hypocrisy behind their strategy.

The Republican-backed Hispanic Leadership Network is hosting a conference in Florida to “provide a unique opportunity for center-right leaders to speak with—and more importantly listen to—the Hispanic community,” according to conference co-chair Jeb Bush. But the question on the minds of many political observers is: will the GOP finally hear what Latino voters have to say?

In November 2010, Latino Decisions conducted an election-eve poll of Latino voters in eight states, including Florida. The poll shows that Florida Latinos want action on Immigration Reform, like the DREAM Act, and that immigration reform is a key issue for them.

Latino voters delivered in 2010. In 2010, Latinos kept the Senate in Democratic hands and were a key factor in Democratic gubernatorial wins in California, Colorado, and Illinois, as well as a number of House races. In fact, were it not for the “Latino firewall” in the West, Democratic losses would have been much worse. In past wave elections, when one chamber of Congress changes parties, both chambers changed parties.

This new series of polls detail how Latino citizens voted in eight states (AZ, CA, CO, FL IL, NM, NV, and TX) that are crucial to determining the balance of power in Congress. The polls, which utilize a new model to approximate turnout for the mid-term elections, reveal who Latinos voted for in key races for House, Senate, and Governor, and more importantly, what motivated their vote.

The 2010 mid-term campaign season is shaping up to be the most vicious, vitriolic election cycle in recent memory. Here’s a dozen of the most outrageous candidate claims thus far, plus a couple honorable mentions. Consider this the Immigration Politics 2010 Wall of Shame.

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