IS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION A DEFINING ISSUE IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE?
Written by Steven Roth
Will illegal immigration emerge as a defining issue in the GOP presidential race? Will the GOP's rhetoric on this issue cost Latino votes as its focus on sealing the border with Mexico does not sit well with Latino voters?
Well let's be real here shall we? When candidates spew rhetoric that denies a people access to human and civil rights, then hell yes!
Whether it be about firing gardeners because of their immigration status and how that would reflect upon their bid for the presidency or coming up with the horrid and inhumane solution of electrifying a fence that runs along the U.S. and Mexican borderline, the Republican party seems fraught with candidates that care little or nothing at all about the Hispanic/ Latino population in this country.
What I, and I'm sure many others, find both amusing and entertaining about the GOP debates is how all the candidates are lashing and knocking each other about in a feeble attempt to discredit one another when in reality they are being laughed at by the populous. If they had a collective intelligent idea amongst them they would realize how important theses issues are, not just to Latino's but to all Americans for a myriad of reasons.
When candidates like Governor Mitt Romney and Governor Rick Perry continue to talk over one another it's laughable. To listen to their banter and watch them attack one another is better than any reality housewife show on television. Romney wants a fence and on this Perry now agrees, although before the GOP debates, he found the idea to be "IDIOCY" Perry then thrusts forward by telling Romney "The idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is, on it's face, the height of hypocrisy" to which Romney fires back, that a law Perry signed offering in- state tuition regardless of citizenship status has made the state of Texas a magnet for illegal immigrants. He also noted that he fired the illegal workers he employed; after all he is running for the presidency.
Congresswoman Michelle Bachman talks about building not one but two fences along the entire Mexican border, all 1,951 miles of it!, to prevent foreign women from entering the United States to give birth to children she has labeled as "Anchor Babies" on which they base their claim to stay, she only solidifies how most of the nation views her. To further dig her own grave, she went on to affirm how she will build her fence and enforce English as the official language of the U.S. government.
To hear Herman Cain, who has never held political office, vow to build his fence and NOT apologize at all for wanting to protect American citizens and agents who patrol the border is ludicrous and hate filled. Recently while being interviewed on a syndicated talk show, he shared a story about going to a barber shop where all the barbers were black but were not permitted to cut another black persons hair or lest be fired. He went on to say that he was told to go past a local Sears and across the railroad tracks behind it to get his hair cut at all black barbershop. He did and since 1967 has been cutting his own hair. It seems to me that someone who has faced such prejudice within his own country would be more tolerant when it comes to issues that enforce segregation based on race and ethnicity rather than proposing an electrified fence that is topped by barbed wire to keep the unwanted at bay.
President Obama has stated that he remains committed to a comprehensive immigration bill that would improve border security as well as provide a pathway to earning a legal status in this country for illegal immigrants here. The only problem with this is that Republicans -who control the house and have filibuster power within the senate- have "moved away from support of comprehensive immigration reform" Many Republicans including the GOP candidates, say the proposed pathway to citizenship amounts to amnesty for lawbreakers.
The Obama administration reported that a record 396,906 illegal immigrants were removed in the last fiscal year.
So, as it has already been put before the GOP, as well as reminding the panel that not every Latino is in this country illegally, by a registered legal Latino Republican named Robert Zavala “What is the message from you guys to our Latino community?"
I and the rest of our nation await a true answer.
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