Route 2014: Views on immigration reform in Chicago
There are two things candidates in Chicago could almost always count on in November cold weather and a strong democratic showing from the Latino community....
By: CCTV America
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Route 2014: Views on immigration reform in Chicago - Video
The Colorado Republican Committee sent a mailer attacking Sen. Mark Udalls immigration record to some registered voters this week.
In the final week of the campaign, the Colorado Republican party this week is sending some registered voters a mailer attacking Sen. Mark Udall and his fellow Democrats for failing to pass immigration reform.
What, you say?
The U.S. Senate, controlled by the majority Democrats, passed a bipartisan, far-reaching immigration reform bill last year, with Udalls and Democratic President Barack Obamas support. And it promptly landed in the U.S. House controlled by Republicans with a thud. Udalls opponent, U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, has not supported that bill, while saying he supports some alternative reform measures that would provide an undefined path to legal status for immigrants in the country illegally.
The mailer does point out that for part of the time Obama has been in office (2009-2010), Democrats had a majority in both chambers of Congress. And when they had full control, they refused to honor their campaign promise, the mailer says.
Fair point. The mailer then says its time to give a new generation of leadership a chance.
But the lack of context on the mailer for why Democrats have failed to pass immigration reform since then namely, fierce disagreement by the Republican House over the Senates comprehensive bill, including opposition to the bill by Gardner is striking. It suggests the state party is making an attempt to sow doubt in voters who might otherwise support Udall as Tuesdays election approaches.
Its unclear whom the GOP is targeting with the mailer. I received the images above and below from a Latina woman who lives in Denver and is registered as an unaffiliated voter. Will recipients vote for Gardner instead? Maybe. But more likely, if the mailer affects their vote, it will be to simply sit out the election.
Owen Loftus, spokesman for the Colorado GOP, would say only that We dont talk about the universes were targeting with our mailers and advertisements.
Heres the other side of the mailer, which seizes on a 2005 vote by Udall:
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Colorado GOP mailer hits Mark Udall on immigration reform, neglects GOP role
President Barack Obama is expected to make a move on immigration reform in the later months of this year, after he delayed plans to issue executive orders until after the Nov. 4 midterm elections. The president may extend deportation relief to potentially millions of undocumented immigrants. But some groups fear that relief may leave out the undocumented who are also lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
One of the most hotly anticipated, and politically polarizing, moves the Obama administration is considering involves expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was launched by executive order in 2012. Undocumented immigrants who arrived to the U.S. as children can get a reprieve from deportation under DACA. Several reports have speculated that Obama could extend that protection to family members of DACA-eligible immigrants, or even undocumented parents of U.S. citizens.
But the idea of a formal family relationship requirement for relief concerns some groups who say LGBT communities have a much harder time establishing formal family ties. LGBT people didnt have access to marriage equality for so long -- and in some cases, still dont have that, said Aaron Morris, legal director for Immigration Equality, an organization that provides legal assistance to LGBT immigrants. For families, it can be really complicated to have a formally recognized document that proves you are a childs mother or a spouse of an individual.
There are an estimated 267,000 LGBT undocumented immigrants in the United States. Immigration Equality, along with around a dozen other LGBT activist groups, sent a letter to the White House in August to prod the administration to expand any potential deportation relief beyond just those with formal family ties.
We urge you to expand affirmative relief through a second track for individuals who have strong, long-standing ties with their communities as demonstrated through long-term residency, the letter read. This flexibility recognizes that certain types of equities such as marriage and child-rearing are significantly harder for undocumented LGBTQ immigrants to have accumulated since their arrival in this country or during recent legal developments in the past few years.
The Supreme Courts 2013 ruling overturning a key section of the Defense of Marriage Act opened several new pathways for people in same-sex binational couples to bring spouses and children into the United States (provided one partner is a U.S. citizen). But many of those benefits are still limited to those living in states that recognize same-sex marriages.
Morris said another major concern was protections for immigrants who come from countries that persecute LGBT people. Staffing more asylum officers and increasing privacy for LGBT immigrants were both measures the Obama administration could take to increase those protections, he said. Right now, a lot of paperwork we send [to embassies in foreign countries] for married couples makes it obvious they are the same sex, he said. It has caused a lot of extreme nervousness among families because they dont want a homophobic country to know theyre same-sex. We want to ensure their privacy and safety.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department are reportedly sending in their final recommendations this week on actions the president should take on immigration reform. But the administration has largely stayed tight-lipped about when these actions would come about and what they might look like. Last week, White House spokesman Josh Earnest dismissed rumors that the administration was looking to potentially double its stock of green cards, and said Obama had not made any final decisions about the measures to take.
Immigration advocates, meanwhile, have been visibly angry at the administrations delays, saying that immigrant families would continue to face fear of deportation and separation the longer the president waits to act.
We need him to do it, whatever the package is, the day after the midterms, Morris said. Every day that goes by were hearing from LGBT people who are being deported.
Read more from the original source:
Immigration Reform 2014: Some Activists Worry Obama's Executive Action Will Exclude Undocumented LGBT Immigrants
Latinos account for about 20 percent of Colorados population and about 14 percent of its voters. The group represents a major factor in the states most contentious elections.
But while Republicans and Democrats alike are working hard to attract Hispanics, neither party is pushing the issue that is highly important to many of them, immigration reform.
Do you hear anyone talking about immigration reform anymore? asked Floyd Ciruli, Denver pollster and political analyst. They are targeting things talking directly to Hispanic voters but there is too much downside on both sides to bring it into the general conversation.
For Republicans, reaching out to Latino voters has become more prominent in Colorado than before. Unlike election years past, theres not a lot of railing for or against immigration reform, much less talk of stronger deportation policies.
I wouldnt say immigration is taking a back seat, but you cant paint the picture that its the only issue for the Hispanic community, said Ali Prado, the Hispanic press secretary for the Republican National Party. Its an important issue, but the number one issue is the economy, and then education.
But Latino voters and advocates question that stance.
I think there is maybe a disconnect because, yes, the economy and education are big issues, but immigration is something we talk to voters about every single day, said Carla Castedo, Colorado director of Mi Familia Vota, a national, nonpartisan get-out-the-vote organization. Most Latino voters are impacted personally by immigration, whether they personally are immigrants or its a family member or a friend.
In fact, 53 percent of Colorados eligible Latino voters are personally acquainted with an undocumented immigrant, according to a poll released Oct. 15 by Latino Decisions.
But even though immigration significantly impacts Colorado voters, the outreach approach for Democrats is much the same as Republicans and it doesnt seem to be working very well.
The same Latino Decisions poll showed that 47 percent of Colorado Hispanic voters believe that Democrats are either taking their vote for granted or dont care about Hispanic voters. The poll also showed that 60 percent of Hispanic voters believed Republicans dont care about their vote and 17 percent said that Republicans are being outright hostile to Colorados Latinos.
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Immigration issue shrinks in Colo.
The Open Mind: Free Speech and Due Process, Part 1
In this edition of The Open Mind, Burt Neuborne speaks about how the first Amendment is sugar-coated and his perspective on it. (Taped 1-16-97) In May 1956, Richard D. Heffner, American...
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The Open Mind: Free Speech and Due Process, Part 1 - Video