05/17/13 Cross-posted at Latino Decisions, Latino Vote Matters, and Daily Kos: It’s no secret that the Republican Party has a serious problem with immigration.  But in this instance I’m talking about their problem with Latinos migrating out of their own party. Republicans are trading in the elephant for the donkey, or at the very least just [...]
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05/09/13 Cross-posted at Latino Decisions, Latino Vote Matters, and Daily Kos: New data from the November 2012 U.S. Census Current Population Survey (CPS) reveals a major shift in the U.S. voting population, with the number of White, non-Hispanic voters declining by more than 2 million from 2008 to 2012.  In contrast, the number of Latino, African American and [...]
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05/03/13 Cross-posted at Latino Decisions, Latino Vote Matters, and Daily Kos: Recent elections demonstrate that immigration is a mobilizing issue for Latino voters. We can be sure that Congressional action, or inaction, on the current comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) bill will factor in to Latino voting decisions in 2014 and beyond. Our recent polling finds a majority of Latino voters, 58%, cite [...]
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05/02/13 Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appeared at an immigration reform rally in Las Vegas. He has for years been an outspoken advocate for immigration reform – and made that clear again yesterday: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised Wednesday to use the power of his office to get immigration overhaul legislation through Congress. “I pledge [...]
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05/01/13 Yesterday, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) stated that the best arguments to convince his Republican colleagues to support immigration reform were political in nature: “if we don’t do this, we can’t begin the conversation with our Hispanic voters, and all you have to do is the math.  Do the math on the growth of the Hispanic [...]
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04/30/13 Yesterday, speaking with New Orleans radio talk show host Garland Robinette, Mark Krikorian, head of the anti-immigrant think tank Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) and the intellectual author of the “self-deportation” strategy, offered a fresh reminder why Latino voters have rejected candidates and parties who listen to him. According to a transcript and recording of [...]
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04/29/13 The immigration world is still waiting to see what House Republicans will do with an immigration bill on their side of the Hill, and Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has already indicated that he wants to move House legislation in pieces.  Greg Sargent writes in the Washington Post today about the motives behind [...]
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04/26/13 Cross-posted at Burnt Orange Report If there’s such a thing as a GOP demographic doomsday clock, it’s ticking down to the day when Latino voters turn Texas blue and the Republicans cease winning national elections.  A new post at The Hill from columnist Brent Budowksy argues that that day will come much, much sooner if [...]
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04/18/13 The first installment of the poll showed that 85% of respondents have a U.S. citizen family member, including 62% who have U.S. born children. Overall, 77% of respondents came to the U.S. for better economic opportunity, or to create a better life for their family, and 87% aspire to become citizens if a comprehensive immigration reform bill becomes law. More than two-thirds of respondents have lived in the U.S. for a decade or more (including 21% who have been here for at least twenty years).
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04/16/13 As the Senate Gang of 8 prepares to roll out an immigration bill, CBS News today had this post on the immigration and the Latino vote–that is, why there is so much support for immigration reform in the first place (because it matters electorally). In 2012, Mitt Romney engaged in an immigration-bashing strategy, supporting “self-deportation” [...]
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04/15/13 Cross-posted at Latino Decisions: Groundbreaking poll of Latino undocumented immigrants shows 85% have U.S. citizen family members; and 87% would plan to apply for citizenship if immigration reform passes A new poll of Latino undocumented immigrants finds they have deep roots in America, with strong family and social connections to U.S. citizens, painting a portrait of a [...]
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04/11/13 Colorado DREAMer Fabian Dominguez wrote a great op-ed in the Denver Post about what the Colorado ASSET bill means to him: Last month, when I sat in the gallery of the state Capitol to see the Colorado ASSET bill finally pass after 10 years of trying, it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. [...]
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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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03/14/13 As the Associated Press reported yesterday, “President Barack Obama told House Republicans Wednesday that they would benefit politically more than Democrats would from supporting a comprehensive immigration overhaul, lawmakers present said … The assertion prompted some ‘light chuckles’ from certain Republican members, while others reacted more like Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who said, ‘There’s something to it.’” As  Lynn Tramonte, [...]
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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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03/06/13 Guest-posted at Latino Decisions. A new Latino Decisions poll finds that Latino voters are paying very close attention to the immigration debate in Congress and that a candidate’s stance on immigration policy will directly effect how many Latino votes they win or lose.  The new poll of 800 Latino registered voters nationwide was conducted in [...]
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03/05/13 The 2012 election was a game changer for immigration reform, and thanks to unprecedented Latino turnout and a recognition by both political parties of their growing political power, the prospects for enacting bipartisan immigration reform have never been stronger. On a press call and webinar today, Latino Decisions along with national immigration, Latino and labor [...]
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02/06/13 During the House Judiciary Committee immigration hearing yesterday, Republicans’ attempted to define a policy that offers undocumented immigrants “legal residency but not a path to citizenship” as the “middle-ground option in the debate over immigration” according to the New York Times.  Judiciary Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) asked, “Are there options we should consider between the extremes of [...]
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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 You’ve heard it from us over and over: there’s a new politics of immigration reform, shaped by the 2012 elections. That new politics means immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for the 11 million, is under serious consideration in Congress. The Democrats promised it. And the Republicans need it. E.J. Dionne, one of the [...]
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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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