06/10/13 Once again, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) is leading the charge to undermine immigration reform. As our Executive Director here at America’s Voice Frank Sharry has noted, Cornyn has played that role before, the last time immigration reform legislation was debated in 2006-2007. This time, Cornyn is planning to introduce a “poison pill” amendment that would undermine [...]
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05/31/13 This week, longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly issued a call for the Republican Party to abandon immigration reform and Hispanic outreach in favor of a strategy focused on white voters.  Talking Points Memo reports: “Phyllis Schlafly of the ‘pro-family’ group Eagle Forum called the GOP’s need to reach out to Hispanic voters a ‘great myth’ during a conservative radio program [...]
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05/30/13 Shortly after introduction of the Gang of 8 immigration reform bill this year, Senator John McCain said this about the GOP and the importance of passing immigration reform in order to attract Latino voters: “I think we can compete,” McCain said. “But if we don’t do this, we can’t begin the conversation with our Hispanic voters, and [...]
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04/22/13 Today, at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on immigration reform, the Ranking Minority member, Chuck Grassley, invited Kris Kobach, the former General Counsel of FAIR, the author of Arizona’s SB 1070, the architect of self-deportation and the immigration advisor to Mitt Romney, to testify. Senator Dick Durbin asked Kobach a series of questions about the [...]
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04/17/13 Some people never learn. After the 2012 elections, in which Republicans lost Hispanic voters by more than a 3-1 margin, many Republicans started coming around on immigration reform and accepting the need to move forward on legislation.  The Republican National Committee admitted the party needed to rebrand itself with Latinos and released a whole “autopsy” [...]
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03/21/13 Cross-posted at Latino Decisions Recently there have been a series of high profile endorsements for comprehensive immigration reform from the Republican Party. Immediately after the November 2012 election Bobby Jindal made a plea for more civility and and less stupidity on the immigration issue. Before too long, it was the Gang of 8 in the U.S. Senate which included four [...]
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03/18/13 You can’t make this stuff up. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has been living in his anti-immigrant bubble for so long, he has no idea how much the world has changed. Further proof was provided today. On the very day that the Republican National Committee tried to distance itself from its anti-immigrant record, Senator Jefferson Beauregard [...]
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03/13/13 Since the 2012 election, a key political topic has been the Latino vote and how the GOP’s inability to court it could doom them in future elections.  Texas is a crucial factor in this calculation, as a longtime red state that saw a 38% growth in eligible Latino voters between 2000-2010 and whose electorate is [...]
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03/11/13 Editor’s note: Maribel Hasting’s analysis of the key players in the immigration debate was originally published in Spanish at Univision. Below is an excerpt. Washington, DC – As Congress gets ready to debate immigration reform bills, the players that are part of the discussion are as diverse as their interests. In past debates this diversity [...]
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03/10/13 The past seven days have been quite a ride for Jeb Bush. He began the week by recanting his earlier support for immigration reform with  a path to citizenship.  That’s because Jeb wrote a book last year when it didn’t seem like a path to citizenship would be the mainstream Republican position. But, the 2012 [...]
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03/07/13 This week, Mitt Romney returned to national attention with an interview on “Fox News Sunday”—his first public appearance since the 2012 election, and instantly made it clear that with him, nothing has changed. The man who promised to veto the DREAM Act, advocated for self-deportation, brought immigration advisors like Kris Kobach onboard, lost the Latino [...]
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03/06/13 Editor’s note: This column by Maribel Hastings was originally published in Spanish at La Opinion and Huffington Post Voces. The Spanish language version can be viewed here. WASHINGTON, DC – In an interview on NBC’s Today Show Monday, former Florida governor Jeb Bush said it’s premature to declare whether he’ll aspire to the Republican presidential nomination [...]
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02/22/13 This afternoon the Washington Post published an article “Immigrants, advocates grow impatient with Obama on pace of changes to laws“, which explores the frustration immigration advocates have for the Administration’s record-breaking deportations.  From the article: The anger at President Obama’s deportation polices among some of his otherwise most ardent allies could pose a surprising complication [...]
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02/14/13 Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on immigration reform. We’ve noted many times that the momentum is on our side. The 2012 elections changed the game on this issue. Our press release from earlier today title,d On Immigration Reform, The Tide Has Turned, makes four key points: The Pro-Reform Side is Strong, Growing, and [...]
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02/13/13 Today was another milestone in the fight for immigration reform with a clear path to citizenship. The U.S. Senate held its first hearing. And, the pro-reform side showed its political muscle with a massive petition drive whose names were inserted into the record at the hearing. Nearly 300,000 Americans made their voices heard, calling on [...]
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02/12/13 The big event tonight is President Obama’s State of the Union — and the rebuttal from Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), as well as the Tea Party rebuttal from Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). But for immigration advocates, the real action begins in the Senate tomorrow morning when the Senate Judiciary Committee holds its first immigration hearing. The momentum is [...]
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01/31/13 With immigration reform moving to center stage, the political implications and motivations behind the debate are also moving into the limelight. According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice: While some observers remain stuck in the old conventional wisdom regarding the politics of immigration, most leaders and strategists in both Parties recognize the new [...]
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01/31/13 The Daily Show last night with Jon Stewart and correspondents Al Madrigal and Jessica Williams covered the hot immigration news of this week with their own take on why Republicans are suddenly so willing to come to the table on reform.  As Al Madrigal said: To see Republicans in a last-ditch attempt to ensure the [...]
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01/27/13 This morning, Senators John McCain and Robert Menendez appeared on ABC’s “This Week.” Both are part of the so-called “Gang of Six” working on immigration legislation, so what they say really matters as the debate unfolds. McCain and Menendez both emphasized that path to citizenship for the 11 million is a key part of their [...]
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01/24/13 With immigration reform moving forward in the coming weeks, one decision Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) make could have monumental consequences for them and their Party down the line.  Both Cornyn and Cruz are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be the starting gate for consideration of immigration reform this year.  [...]
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01/23/13 Immigration reform has become a win-win-win issue—smart politics for both Republicans and Democrats, and smart policy for the nation.  Gary Segura, a Principal at Latino Decisions, and Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of America’s Voice, gathered on a press call and webinar today to review new Latino Decisions analysis outlining what Republicans lost by following an anti-immigration strategy in the [...]
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01/23/13 Cross-posted at Daily Kos: Happy anniversary! One year ago today, January 23, at a GOP presidential debate in Florida, Mitt Romney first announced his support for self-deportation and set the stage for his loss in November.  To jog your memory, here’s how Romney responded to a question from co-moderator Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times about how a President [...]
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01/23/13 A range of new polls offer fresh evidence that Americans want immigration reform with citizenship, while providing another reminder of the momentum behind immigration reform in 2013: Bipartisan Poll from Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies – Overwhelming Support for Citizenship and Likely Legislative Framework: As Eliseo Medina of SEIU writes in Huffington Post of the bipartisan polling, “A [...]
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01/18/13 As Congress and the President begin considering immigration legislation this year, it’s important for Republicans to remember why they need to support this effort.  President Obama beat Mitt Romney by more than a 3-1 margin among Latino voters in 2012, which spells demographic disaster for Republicans unless they reconsider their hardline stances on immigration and other [...]
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01/14/13 At Crooks and Liars, Dave Neiwert has an excellent post titled “The Coming Fight on Immigration Reform: What Progressives Want.”  He lays out a very clear agenda, setting the stage for the upcoming immigration debate from a position of strength. Given the results of the 2012 election, the fact that the American people want reform, Democrats [...]
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01/03/13 The Huffington Post reports that President Obama is planning to move “full steam ahead” on immigration reform this January, with the White House planning “to push forward quickly.”  Meanwhile, both movement conservatives and Republican leaders are calling for Republicans to engage in a new way on immigration.  As a new America’s Voice report makes clear, this political breakthrough could lead to a [...]
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12/28/12 As 2012 comes to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what a remarkable year it has been for immigration reform.  While 2012 started out with a vow to veto the DREAM Act and talk of self-deportation, it ended with a triumphant election season that underscored the power of the [...]
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