Republicans have demonized Latino immigrants and their families as thieves, parasites, drug dealers, undesirables, exploiters of the taxpayer, pollutants of "White America", etc ..... :
"Today's announcement will continue to highlight the sharp distinctions between the Obama administration's immigration policy and that of Mitt "self deportation" Romney." -
POLITICO.COM
"The Arena" Forum
Can Obama solidify the Latino vote?
Jun. 15, 2012
Can Obama solidify the Latino vote?
Some excerpts :
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Erika Lovley, Moderator :
The Obama administration will announce today that the government will stop deporting younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and will begin instead granting them work permits, the New York Times reports.
The move comes at an important time in the presidential race. Experts predict the Latino vote could be critical in key swing states.
Will this move help Obama solidify the Latino vote?
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Daniella Gibbs Leger, Center for American Progress VP; former Obama administration official :
Today's announcement will continue to highlight the sharp distinctions between the Obama administration's immigration policy and that of Mitt "self deportation" Romney.
It may have been politically expedient and beneficial for Republicans to spend their entire primary demonizing Latino immigrants and their families, but it should cost them in November.
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Jim Manley, Senior Director, QGA Public Affairs; former spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid :
If this is a campaign about contrasting visions for this country, the difference between President Obama's announcement today and Gov. Romney's proposal for self-deportation could not be more clear.
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Carlos Sierra, President of Sierra Public Affairs; Former Campaign Manager Buddy Roemer for President :
The Hispanic vote was already solidified for Obama when Republicans failed to give Hispanics a better option. Both parties have done absolutely nothing for Hispanics except pander and promise. It is my hope that Hispanics do not buy into the election-year politics, which Obama is an expert at. Both parties do not deserve our votes.
With that said, Hispanics will be asking themselves the following prior to voting: Do I support a party whose nominee has made an executive decision to stop deportations potentially helping my family, or do I support someone who belongs to the party that gave us SB1070, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Russell Pearce, and Jan Brewer? Easy answer.
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Darrell M. West, Vice President, Governance Studies, Brookings :
This action will help Obama win the Latino vote.
With that voting bloc strategically placed in battleground states such as Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Florida, this is a strong move for the president. The administration’s policy on deportation has been a major aggravation to the Latino community and led to doubts about what he has done to follow up on his immigration reform rhetoric. This policy change could help as many as 800,000 immigrants avoid deportation, which will be positive news to those interested in improving our immigration policy.
It will be controversial for Obama to do this through administrative actions as opposed to legislation but the deadlocked Congress has forced him to go this route.
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Celinda Lake Democratic strategist :
He is already doing very well with Obama. Now Romney disagrees even with Evangelical Christians on this issue. Obama's actions will also help increase turnout.
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Stefan Hankin Founder and President of Lincoln Park Strategies :
The Latino vote could be critical? That is like saying scoring more runs than the Cubs could be helpful for the Red Sox this afternoon. The Latino vote WILL be critical.
In 2008 President Obama won 67 percent of the Latino vote and he is polling at the same level today. Couple this with the 90 percent (or higher) support that the president (actually all Democrats generally) will get from African American voters and the Republican Party is painting themselves into a corner that will be difficult to get out of. Mitt Romney is on record for opposing the Dream Act and even went further right than any of his primary opponents. His ability to move back to the center is just about zero. He also has the added problem of not being trusted by his base. If he moves left on immigration his foundation could start cracking.
Republicans will predictably attack the president’s decision and Romney will have to make a statement which will likely be continuing to pander to the far right of his party. This make it hard to see how he makes up for the demographic reality in states like Colorado, and Nevada. Additionally while Romney is currently in reasonable shape in Florida this will raise the bar for him even more. Republicans seem oblivious to the simple math of demographics and it could be the downfall of the GOP on a national level.
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Dewey Clayton Professor of Political Science, University of Louisville :
I think this policy will help President Obama with the Latino vote.
Many Latinos were angered that Obama did not pass the DREAM Act, though he campaigned on that issue. I know that many Republicans will accuse the Obama administration of playing politics, however, sometimes good politics makes for good policy. Latinos in this country have not been happy with President Obama because of his deportation rules of young people brought to this country as children. Obama had campaigned for president in 2008 on a platform of giving young Latinos a path to citizenship that required obtaining a two-year college degree or completion of two-years of military service. This stops short of the path to citizenship, but it takes away the fear of deportation for many Latinos, and grants them the ability to work legally.
It signals a clear sign of the importance of the Latino vote in presidential politics this year. Latinos have outpaced African Americans as the largest minority in this country. Latinos already comprise key political constituencies in many states and they now wield considerable significance in national elections.
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