“Broken Promise” on Immigration Reform May Affect Fall Elections

By • 8/17/10 • Categorized as Hispanic,Immigration News,Immigration Reform

Photo: Nate Hofer

(Photo: Nate Hofer/flickr)

Hispanics are getting fed up with Obama’s “broken promise,” on immigration reform, Univision’s Jorge Ramos told Politico.

“If he was able to get 60 votes for financial reform, if he can get 60 votes to extend unemployment benefits, how come he can’t get 60 votes for immigration reform?” Ramos asked. “So many Latinos feel there is a lack of leadership, and he is not fighting for immigration reform with the same intensity that he fought for health care reform.”

Ramos, an extremely influential figure in Spanish-language media, conducted an interview with Obama in 2008, in which the president promised to work on a reform bill during his first year in office. That broken promise has withered Obama’s approval rating among Hispanics, currently at 54%, according to the latest Gallup poll. That’s a drop of 28 points from its 82% high in May 2009.

But it’s unclear how this disappointment will actually affect Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.

“They know they are in trouble with the Hispanic community, and the problem in November is the Hispanic vote may be up for grabs again,” Ramos said. “My fear is they might not vote. They don’t feel protected or supported by either party.”

Despite Hispanic disenchantment with the Democratic party, a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) survey of voters in four states (California, Colorado, Florida and Texas) with large Hispanic populations shows that a majority (61%) will “definitely” vote in the November midterm elections. Immigration is the top issue for these voters.

Ramos told Politico he never expected much from the Republican party, but held Democrats in Congress to a different standard. Meanwhile Obama upset Hispanic voters yet again last week by signing a $600 bill to strengthen enforcement on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Apparently, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn’t worried. He recently told an audience of Hispanic voters, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK,” Reid said. “Do I need to say more?”

Reid is facing off against Tea Party-backed Sharron Angle in Nevada this fall, who opposes the DREAM Act and has questioned the 14th amendment providing birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants.

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    • David Nichols

      The Mass Exodus of “Good” non-criminal Immigrants away from the U.S. begining in Mid 2007 in advance of the up coming E-verify Law and the I.C.E. Programs which began in January 2008, is directly responsible for triggering America’s “Forclosure Crisis.

      All States that suffered this Massive vacating of their Hard Working Tax Base, are now in Total Economic Disaster!

      Besides triggering the Forclosure Crisis, these Immigrants now vacated dwellings have made States overbuilt, completely halting Construction, and growth, costing millions of Americans their jobs.

      Since the U.S. Census Bureau had counted these good Immigrants the same as all residents of the U.S. for nearly thirty years to base the size of our Total Government Services on, States now have Massive Excesses of both State and Federal Government, in relation to their smaller Population/Tax Base. These States also have matching State Budget Shortfalls.

      In shot the lack of Responsible and “Humane” Immigration Reform in 2007 has Crashed and Divided America.

      A very wise 1840′s French Historian said: “America is great because it is good, when it ceases to be good it ceases to be great.”

      Mr. Ramos I beleive that we Americans need to once again remember the old fashioned Values and Principle’s that built our Great Nation of Immigrants, which have come here legally and illegaly since our Nation began, and who’s hard labor is, and has always been the Foundation/Backbone of our Total Economy.

      This Hard Labor doesn’t take any American jobs, however I beleive it is quite clear that it Supports all other jobs!

      To: Good and Brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

    • http://chicanofuturet.wordpress.com/ Chicano future tense

      Sometimes it seems to me that Latinos are in a confused state of denial..worse yet suffering from some form of pathology I will call Battered Voters Syndrome..(BVS)…
      Event though I despise the Republicans and GW Bush,let us ask ourselves this question ..why is it that we are farther away today under a liberal democratic president Obama from achieving CIR than we were in 2007 under a pro CIR right-wing republican president GW Bush (who actually came pretty damn close to making it happen)..??
      I don’t like to mince words but I’m going to tell it like I see it..the handwritings on the wall for CIR..right now it is undergoing CPR and is slowly fading away.After the November elections CIR will be flat-lining and all that would be remaining are hammering the nails into the coffin lid.
      Further along,it seems to me that there are many people out there on both the left and the right with different vested interests who wish to chain Latinos to a “perpetual motion machine” of innefectiveness and inaction thereby condemning us to shuttle back and forth endlessly between the democrats and the republicans.
      We know eher the right wing republicans are coming from..they do not care hide their contempt and hatred of Latinos and immigrants..they are upfront …” what you see is wht you get”..
      But,so-called “left gatekeepers” who proclaim to be our friends and allies are trying like hell to keep Latinos isolated and insulated from new alernative viewpoints,by doing so they are objectively serving the interests of the white ruling class as ideological enforcers and junior partners in continued Latino oppression.
      The last thing they want to see happen is Latinos being more receptive in opening up their minds to new ideas and strategies in seeking self-determination,justice and opportunity.
      A generation from now we will still have the same old bunch and cast of characters on both sides saying the same old things over and over again….”VOTE for the DEMOCRATS..trust them..they are our friends”..
      I admit I have to agree with Sr Ramos take on this one.. he’s got it right when he opines about Obama and the Democrats..
      “If he was able to get 60 votes for financial reform, if he can get 60 votes to extend unemployment benefits, how come he can’t get 60 votes for immigration reform?” Ramos asked. “So many Latinos feel there is a lack of leadership, and he is not fighting for immigration reform with the same intensity that he fought for health care reform.”
      Sr Ramos goes on to say …“They know they are in trouble with the Hispanic community, and the problem in November is the Hispanic vote may be up for grabs again,” Ramos said. “My fear is they might not vote. They don’t feel protected or supported by either party.”

      I ask you Sr Ramos with all due respect..have you ever stopped to consider that maybe Latinos not voting in November,feeling unprotected and unsupported by either party might acually be a GOOD THING??
      It is an ageless axiom..”Wisdom and knowledge do not come easily or without a price to pay”..
      I think Latinos with this new realization wolud actually move up to a higher level of political consciousness and then commence to smash their dependency on the two-party system,smash the chains of Battered Voter Syndrome(BVS) and begin to shape and form,take control of their own self-determination..
      We are getting sick and tired of broken promises….of being strung along and getting played like fools..

    • John Rudolph

      The problem with not voting is that the message it sends is ambiguous. People don’t vote for lots of reasons- anger, apathy, indifference. Voting, on the other hand, sends a clear signal. Over the past few election cycles, Hispanic voters have shown that they can be pivotal in determining winners and losers. In the long run there is more to be gained by expressing your views at the ballot box – even if the choices aren’t great – than by staying home on election day. That’s why Feet in Two Worlds (and many others in the media) works to inform people about key races and candidates, so they can make intelligent choices when they vote.

    • Pingback: Latinos must cure themselves of Battered Voters Syndrome (BVS) | Chicano future tense

    • The american

      AGREED! Obama is NOT INTERESTED on immigration and it will be used to keep their jobs………but wait they are headed for a big surprise in the NOV and 12 elections..

    • Pingback: Small step for Immigration Reform, Giant Leap for Obama | Being Latino Online Magazine