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Republican presidential debate in Cleveland on Aug. 6, 2015.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

The biggest story going into Thursday nights Republican presidential debate was: What would Donald Trump do? Would the billionaire businessmanplay nice? Act "presidential"? Trump has risen like summer fireworks until now, defying expectations that he would never get into the race, and that if he did, he would never rise very high. But there he was at center stage in Cleveland, thanks to poll numbers double those of his closest rivals.

In his first big test in front of the party faithful, Trump stood out, and not in a good way. Right from the get-go, he showed how little allegiance he has to the GOP by refusing to rule out a third-party run if he fails to win the nomination, even if that mightsplit the party and help a Democrat.

Under sharpquestioning from the Fox News moderators, it didn't get a whole lot better for Trump after that.Asked whetherhe regretted calling women fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals, TrumpcriticizedmoderatorMegyn Kelly for the way you havetreatedme, mocked the idea that he should be politically correct and implied that Kelly and the rest of her gender should lighten up.

He wasnt done. He defended using the bankruptcy laws to stiff creditors, using campaign contributions to buy political access, and flip-flopping on abortion and a variety of other issues.He said the leaders of America were stupid and easily duped by the far cleverer headsof countries such as Iran, China and Mexico. Our country is in serious trouble we cant do anything right, he declared in his closing summation.

For some of his fans, Trump undoubtedly channeled their angerand delivered thebrashness they've come to expect.Othersmight well have been turned off by his lack of substance and pessimistic views about America.Forthose not on the Trump bandwagon, hisfirst debate performance should reinforcedoubts about whetherheissomeone who should be leading the nation.

A strange way to court the Hispanic vote

After Mitt Romney lost to Barack Obama in 2012, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus commissioned an autopsy to determine how to do better next time. Among other things, the report concluded that alienating Hispanic-American voters with talk of self deportation badly damaged the partys presidential candidate.

You cant call someone ugly and expect them to go to the prom with you, the report noted, pleading with the GOP to stop offending Hispanics and embrace comprehensive immigration reform. If we do not, the report said, our partys appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only.

Priebus has been getting his answer to this advice from the 2016 GOP candidates, and its not the one he wanted. Only one of the 17 Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has consistently supported a path to citizenship, according to a recent Politifact.com analysis. Others have never supported what they like to call amnesty for undocumentedimmigrants, and those who used to support the possibility of citizenship have backtracked or waffled or simply changed their views. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday night he changed his position after I listened to the American people. Thats code for saying he didn't think he couldget the GOP nomination if he continued to hold a position thats toxic among most of the Republicans who vote in the partys presidential primaries.

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Trump, immigration reform and Fiorina: Our view

Its been more than a year since Abdul, a 35-year-old Syrian native, last heard from U.S. officials holding on to his request for asylum, the last sliver of hope for his future in the United States. Its been almost three since he last saw his wife and young son, who have no choice but to remain on the other side of the globe until his application gets resolved.

I have tried every trick in the book to speed up my process, said Abdul, who asked not to use his full name for fear of jeopardizing his case. But constant office visits, phone calls and letters to members of Congress have done him little good in the years since he first filed his asylum request. Meanwhile, his son is growing up without him.

This experience is increasingly common for the thousands of asylum seekers who escape persecution and violence in their home countries every year, searching for refuge in the United States. The migrant influxthatoverwhelmed the southern U.S. border last summer also has flooded asylum offices and immigration court dockets, leaving lawyers, judges and asylum officers with mushrooming caseloads while immigrants spend months and years mired in uncertainty. The federal government isn't providing nearly enough resources to stem the soaring backlog, either, critics said.

The number of pending asylum petitionshas increased by more than 800 percent over the last four years, stretching out the period of uncertainty in some casesfrom six months to two years, or from two years to four.The wait isparticularly grueling for those like Abdul, who remainseparated from their families with no clear answers on their status or time frame for a resolution.

Abdul considershimself one of the lucky ones, having had the resources to make it to the U.S. in the first place. As an asylum seeker, he was able to get a U.S. work permit, which has allowedhim to make enough money to support himself and his family in Kuwait. But the financial and emotional toll of the long separation has mounted over the years.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is responsible for hiring and managing asylum officers. Reuters/Keith Bedford

Originally, he expected to be separated from his family for just a month or two. They were well-off and educated Syrians living in Damascus, where he ran a small importing business. But by 2012, the chaos of Syrias civil war spread to the capital, and abductions of people in Syrias business class began to spread. Abdul sent his wife, Rachel, and son, Moe, to Kuwait, where Rachel had family members. It would be a vacation of sortswhile they waited for things to settle down in Damascus.

However, they never did, and in February 2013, Abdul discovered that the Syrian regime was hunting for a customer of hisand targeting anyone connected to himin order to get to him. Abdul was one of those connections, even though he had onlya business relationship with the man they were searching for. He fled the country the next day with a pre-existing business visa to the United States.

I left the country with a backpack and thats all. There was no time to do anything. I know for sure if you are detained or captured by the regime, you will be tortured and killed, he recalled.

Rachel and Moe are livingin Kuwait as unauthorized residents, unable to go back to Syria. And although they pay regular penalties to the Kuwaiti government for overstaying their visas, they have few options there. Rachel is not allowed to work, even though she has advanced degrees in English and business. Moe isbanned from attending school, and private and international schools have refused to accept him. Hospitals willnot treat them, either.

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Immigration Reform 2015: US Asylum Backlogs Soaring ...

Donald Trump's racist remark reminds us that the hatred towards immigrants is alive and well in a country that practices integration and acceptance of all. Very few Americans understand the current Hispanic changing demographic trends, its implications, political importance, and their electoral votes. The 2016 Presidential election has slowly but surely developed into a debate on the politics of immigration reform and the courting of Hispanic electoral votes. Whether we admit or not, the Hispanic vote not only became a political weapon in 2012, but in 2016, the Hispanic vote will dictate who will become the future leader of the free world.

The immigration debate has left the United States of America divided along racial, ethnic and political lines, never seen before in our great country. Not only has the debate gone beyond the boundaries of our socio-economic spectrum. The 2013 Immigration Reform bill becomes a stumbling domestic policy for the potential presidential candidates. Very few candidates have addressed immigration reform with any constructive dialogue or solutions, and even those who have addressed immigration have doomed themselves to failure in the eyes of many Hispanics electorates, including presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

Immigration has always been the basic DNA of America and it has taken away the best of who we are and what we can become as a nation. Immigration reform has more implications for America's future than many of us can foresee; not only socially, culturally and economically, but Hispanic political presence, is already shaping and defining a new American political landscape. Whether we admit it or not, many of our immigration laws and the politics behind them have been historically woven with racial prejudice against recent immigrants. Very few Americans remember the historical racism that Mexican immigrants encountered in the early 1900's. The 1929 stock market crash which led to the greatest depression in American history, a time when one out four Americans was unemployed, our economy shattered and confidence in American idealism was tested. As Americans suffered from the economic depression, Mexican immigrants became the scapegoat for America's economic, social, and political problems. As a result, Mexican immigrants were denied jobs, subjected to raids, illegally arrested and detained without due process. As a result of this fear of immigrants, the American government between 1929 to 1939 deported some one to two million Mexican American citizens and legal residents of Mexican descent; this mass deportation was known as the Mexican Repatriation policy with the aim of cleansing America's ill. Fast forward to the 21st century, and the political debacle of the current immigration debate has left the United States of America divided along racial, ethnic and political lines, never seen before in our great country.

The growth of the Hispanic electorate will be an important factor in an increasing number of congressional and presidential races across the country in the 2016 elections and beyond. More numbers mean more votes; the Hispanic electorate now represents swing votes in some 14 states and can increase to 16 states by the presidential election of 2016. This increased population growth along with immigration reform will bring more votes to the table, and how to attract those voters becomes a political chess game for both Democrats and Republicans in future elections. Moreover, how both parties handle the issue of comprehensive immigration reform will have a serious impact on Hispanic political voting behavior in 2016 presidential and future elections.

History reminds us that the mobilization of the Hispanic votes and their response to anti-immigrant polices can be detrimental for a political party. Both political parties must be cautious and reflect on California's Proposition 187, an anti-immigrant policy which outlawed affirmative action and bilingual programs in the early 1990s and its long term effect on the Republican Party that sponsored the legislation. California's political landscape was never the same and became heavily democratic as a result of Proposition 187 anti-immigrant policy directed towards Hispanics. Not only did it mobilize the Hispanic vote in California, it destroyed their relationship with the Republican Party and alienated the party from an important voting bloc for future elections.

Whatever the debates might be, neither political party can afford to ignore or play with the Hispanic vote. Immigration reform is a key tool to courting America's greatest political asset and the future of the American presidency. How and when both political parties address immigration reform remains a struggle; a common-sense ideology on immigration reform by both the Democratic and Republican parties on a sensible solution to the civil rights issue of the 21st century---immigration reform. Failure to do so and to court the Hispanic vote can lead to catastrophic alienation of both political parties and their future in American politics.

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Immigrants, Immigration Reform and the 2016 American ...

Say Yes to a New Immigration System!

In 2011, Floridians stood up to say We are Florida! and we dont want anti-immigrant laws in the sunshine state.

This year, we stand up to Say Yes to a new immigration system that keeps our families together and provides a real and inclusive path to citizenship.

We need Federal Immigration Reform that:

1. Provides a Roadmap to Citizenship:we wanta new immigration system that gives New Americans a long awaited roadmap to citizenship in the nation they spent their lives building.

2.Keeps Families Together: We dont want ourtaxpayer dollars be used for unjustlydetain, deport and separate millionsof New Americans from their American families. Our immigration system should commit toreunifying familiesthat have been wrongfully torn apart.

3. Protects theRights for All Workers,Business Owners and Consumers: We want a new immigration system to builda stronger economy that doesnt rely on overcharging, underpaying and poorly treating any worker, small business owner or consumer

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Join the Florida Caravan Making the Road to Citizenship, March 1-10

Send a message to your Members of Congress

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Immigration Reform | Florida Immigrant Coalition

Comprehensive immigration reform legislation would give a majority of Americas 11 million undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship and work authorization. But with immigration reform stalled in the House, President Obama announced that he plans to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress. The President is reportedly considering deferring the deportations of up to 5 million immigrants, starting with those with families. While most columnists have supported the Presidents authority to take action, a minority have accused President Obama of rewriting the law and called him a domestic Caesar.

Topics: Florida Immigration News, Florida Immigration Reform, Florida Hispanic community, Obama administration

Time is running out to pass immigration reform before the approach of the mid-term elections effectively precludes congressional action, President Barack Obama said Tuesday during a meeting with leaders of law enforcement.

Topics: Florida Immigration News, immigration reform, immigration, immigration news

A majority of Americans would vote for each of six different policy changes that Congress is considering as part of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Topics: undocumented immigrants, Florida Immigration News, Latino population, immigration reform

Groundbreaking poll of Latino undocumented immigrants shows 85% have U.S. citizen family members; and 87% would plan to apply for citizenship if immigration reform passes

Topics: undocumented immigrants, Florida Immigration News, Latino population, immigration reform

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a Republican who is on a talking tour to publicize his proposals for an immigration overhaul, said on Thursday that tighter enforcement at the borders and in workplaces would be central to his plan, which would also offer legal status to millions of illegal immigrants.

Topics: Florida Immigration News, Florida Immigration Reform, Florida, inmigracin

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Florida Immigration Reform | Florida Immigration News