Today John McCain will deliver a speech where he will say that:
...he has earned the trust of Hispanic voters by championing an immigration reform bill that nearly killed his presidential bid. [...]
"I took my lumps for it without complaint. My campaign was written off as a lost cause. I did so not just because I believed it was the right thing to do for Hispanic Americans. It was the right thing to do for all Americans."
But McCain is ignoring one little detail; he thought that it was the right thing to do until he realized that the issue was killing him among conservatives, so he lurched to the right and flip-flopped on his own bill.
The New York Times editorial page, which IMHO has been the most consistently insightful source of opinion on fixing our broken immigration system, has another superb editorial today.
Despite the National Guard and millions spent on border guards, technology, and the fence, we are still a magnate for immigrants, especially from Mexico, who, given that legal immigration channels are non-existent or hopelessly backlogged, are being smuggled or otherwise getting in. Maybe fixing the immigration system to make immigration safe, legal, and orderly is more complicated than just beefing up our Southern border.
(Please note and fix blogrolls and links: The Field has moved across another border to a new home: www.narconews.com/thefield.)
Today marks the opening round in a very “outcome determinative” contest among the US presidential candidates to either frame a clear position on immigration reform or be framed by it.
If you follow the issue of immigrants' rights at all, then you probably read this front-page New York Times article on the subject of state efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants a couple of days ago. The upshot of the story is pretty familiar: sick of the Feds' failure to solve the problem of illegal immigrants, state and local officials take matters into their own hands with get-tough enforcement measures that disrupt immigrant communities and send them packing back to where they came from.
You know: good riddance and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Sadly, this article is only the most recent example of a national media narrative that reports ad nauseam on anti-immigrant policies but fails to take into account the budding progressive movement to implement more inclusive and economically sensible initiatives.
En route to researching an article I came across this piece by Geraldo Riviera absolutely toasting Michael Chertoff about the massive ICE immigration raids we have seen recently.
Driven by the most savage talk radio and cable news anti-immigrant propaganda campaign in our nation's history, the Department of Homeland Security has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on undocumented workers. In an effort not seen since the panic unleashed by the Great Depression, federal law enforcement has been targeting technically illegal workers who have been long tolerated in industries like meat packing, poultry processing and agriculture.In the terror created, fruit trees are being cut down and fields lie fallow, for want of traditional workers.
When John McCain’s presidential campaign faltered badly last summer, there were a variety of problems, but near the top of the list was McCain’s work on a comprehensive immigration reform measure, which most Republican activists hated with a vengeance. McCain ultimately decided to abandon his own legislation, and announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t even vote for his own bill.
Now that he’s locked down the Republican nomination, McCain has decided to reverse course again, re-embracing the position he abandoned in order to gain GOP support.
In yet another sign of his pivoting toward the general election, Senator John McCain said at a roundtable with business leaders here today that comprehensive immigration reform should be a top priority for the next president.
Mr. McCain’s willingness to address the issue was striking given how the topic became something of a third-rail for Republican presidential candidates during the primary. [...]
Mr. McCain largely stopped talking about the issue and repeatedly invoked a mantra that he had gotten the message from voters that the borders needed to be secured first, before any solution for the illegal immigrants already here is addressed.
There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.
McCain contradicts himself once again on immigration reform:
After announcing the new Spanish-language page of his website during a press conference in Arizona this morning, John McCain once again tried to have it both ways on the immigration reform debate, demonstrating yet again that he's not able to lead his own Party, much less the country. McCain said he would pursue comprehensive immigration reform as soon as he takes office. But in the same news conference, McCain also took the opposite position: saying that the borders have to be secured first. McCain touted a virtual fence today and said we could have secured the border if it wasn't for all the earmarks and pork spending in Washington. But as recently as March, McCain called the virtual fence a "failed effort" and a "disgrace."
Though May Day is celebrated as International Workers Day in many countries around the world, here in the US Labor Day is the designated holiday to honor workers, because May Day has connections to the left, socialist and communist groups world wide.
Today in the US, many May Day rallies will be focusing on immigration reform.
Immigration advocates in cities across the U.S. are hoping to use May 1st to again stress the need for comprehensive immigration reform in the United States.
Once again, the Bush Administration is attempting to strip away the few protections afforded to workers who harvest our nation’s crops.
This week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced what it calls the "most significant overhaul of the nation’s agricultural guest worker program in two decades." That sounds good, but look a little closer and you will discover that instead of fixing the problem, this so-called reform is nothing more than a gutting of existing protections for both domestic and foreign workers.
Clinton has been luke warm on immigration throughout the election cycle. We don't need uninspired political calculations right now. We need passion and political skill to bring the changes we need on immigration.
Now that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is playing David to Mitt Romney’s Goliath in Iowa with his recent surge in the polls, I thought this is a good time to look at his stances on immigration policy.
(For DMI’s take on what smart progressive immigration policy that benefits the American middle class looks like, click here.)
Turns out Huckabee, a Baptist minister, personal testament to weight loss, and other favorite son of Hope, Arkansas after Bill Clinton, is a mixed bag. And I don’t mean a bag of donuts.
I watched the community event today in Iowa and I figured I would watch an event where the candidates will tell the crowd what they wanted to hear and to no surprise was not disappointed. This event reminded me why Democrats lose general elections. More on that in my next diary.
Amidst all the furor in the past two monthsover extending (more secure and verified) driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, thank goodness for this week’s study outlining how important immigrants are to the New York State economy, and how their fiscal contributions actually outweigh their numbers.
The quote is from Cesar Chavez. Solidarity is the key to overcoming poverty and wealth disparity, the two greatest ills our country faces. That is why those who enjoy being on the rich side of the disparity equation are using the tactic of Divide and Conquer---and one of their goals is to take down our nation’s labor unions.
Here in New York, we have seen what happens when you make an attempt to change a flawed policy. Governor Eliot Spitzer proposed a change to the driver's license policy in New York which would've eliminated the current policy of allowing people to receive a letter (or form) of ineligibility for a Social Security number to take to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and get a license. Instead, people would have to provide other documentation, like a valid foreign passport, a work visa or other valid documentation.
Immigration is important. If the Democratic Party wants to win in 2008, it must have several issues in their back pockets: Iraq, the economy, health care and immigration (just to name a few).
Ever since the last Debate I've been trying to find out where John Edwards stands on Gov. Spitzer's plan to give Undocumented Immigrants Drivers Lisences.
It has been repeatedly pointed out that that is not the point. Well. Of course, one is free to disagree. Built into the logic that one must give clear "Yes" or "No" answers is the Paramount Importance of knowing where a Candidate Stands on the Issue.
So. Speaking only for myself, I do think it's important to know where John Edwards stands on the issues, not only the Issue of Clinton's Answer, but on the Issue Itself.
Where does John Edwards Stand on Gov. Spitzer's Plan to give Illegal Immigrants Drivers Lisences?
The questions to Obama were asked by Jennifer Chacón, Bill Hing, and Kevin Johnson, who have served as members of an Immigration Policy Group for the Obama campaign. In spite of the fact that the are connected to the campaign, they did ask tough questions and the answers were very enlightening.
"We need comprehensive immigration reform that creates a system that is fair, consistent, compassionate, and emphasizes both maintaining the rule of law and the security of our borders while working to keep families together and putting the undocumented on an earned path to citizenship. "
