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Luis Valenzuela, left, Carla Castedo, center, and Ricardo Martinez, right, prepare for an evening of canvassing in heavily-Latino neighborhoods on Wednesday, Oct. 15. These workers will provide information to voters about their polling places and voting deadlines in an effort in increase voter turnout. Photo by Katie A. Kuntz/Rocky Mountain PBS I-News

Editors Note: Nearly 25 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, making them an increasingly courted voter bloc for both Democrats and Republicans. According to the Pew Research Center, Latinos could have an especially strong impact on races in Colorado. But even in the most contentious races there, candidates are largely staying silent on immigration reform, a motivating political issue to many Latinos, says Katie Kuntz of Rocky Mountain PBS I-News

Latinos account for about 20 percent of Colorados population and about 14 percent of its voters. The group presents a major player in the states most contentious elections.

But while Republicans and Democrats alike are working hard to attract these voters, 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, non-partisan 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.

Leo Murrieta, the national field director for Mi Familia Vota, visits the organizations Denver office on Oct. 15, 2014to help prepare and encourage those canvassing door-to-door. The non-partisan Mi Familia Vota is hoping to increase turnout among Latino voters this election. Photo by Katie A. Kuntz/Rocky Mountain PBS I-News

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Both parties duck immigration reform in attempts to attract Colorados Latino voters

On Oct. 3, President Obama reaffirmed his position to act unilaterally on the issue of immigration reform, announcing that he would issue executive orders over the next few months. As much as these orders may bother conservative Republicans, Obamas position makes significant investments in greater border security.

According to a March New York Times article, the administrations plan is to cover 900 miles or 45 percent of the border by 2016 with a dense array of agents. The other 55 percent will be covered with persistent surveillance, consisting of drones.

These exorbitant measures are not only unnecessary, but insulting. The concept of America rests upon immigration. Though that immigration did lead to the persecution and genocide of many indigenous peoples in North America, foundationally it is a North American ethos to accept immigrants. Therefore, the stringent restrictions that exist in the current immigration system create the environment the Puritans were trying to flee. They are inherently exclusive.

What is even more frightening is the opposition on the right. As someone who generally leans conservative, I find that their opposition seems like ideological hypocrisy. It is a fascinating paradigm that the staunchest defenders of freedom are the biggest critics of the immigration bill.

For instance, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-T.X., a whole-hearted critic and opponent of immigration reform, responded to Sen. John McCains, R-A.Z., description of him as a wacko bird by saying: If standing for liberty and standing for the Constitution make you a wacko bird, then you can count me a very proud wacko bird. Thus, Cruz self-identifies as standing for liberty. Is not the freedom of movement one of the purest forms of freedom?

To me, this is a clear example of the ideological hypocrisy that plagues the Republican Party. Many of its members, especially Cruz, are self-described defenders of freedom, yet on the issue of immigration, they do not believe in freedom at all. But how are any of the current immigrants different from our relatives who came to North America in pursuit of opportunity and freedom?

The answer is that they are not.

The Republican Partys defense of greater border security is based on the belief that people should enter the country through legal immigration means. The 2012 party platform states that in an age of terrorism, drug cartels, human trafficking and criminal gangs, the presence of millions of unidentified workers poses grave risks to the safety and sovereignty of the United States. This platform may sound reasonable, but it is not.

Underpinning the platforms viewpoint on immigration is the belief that undocumented immigrants are inherently involved in illegal and morally questionable decisions. This viewpoint is empirically false. According to ThinkProgress, a progressive media source, native-born Americans are more likely to commit crimes than immigrants. According to ThinkProgress, First-generation immigrants commit crime at a lower rate than second-generation and native-born, non-Hispanic whites.

Therefore, it is my belief that underpinning the Republicans viewpoint on immigration is a fallacious belief that Hispanic immigrants are more likely to be involved in criminal acts than their white, American peers. Therefore, the sentiment, raised time and time again, stems from xenophobia more than actual consistent policy.

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Rotenberg 17: Immigration reform not just a liberal issue

By Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

Oct. 29, 2014

LOS ANGELES They may not be able to vote, but undocumented Filipino workers believe the fate of long-awaited immigration reform may be decided at the polls.

If this Congress and the Senate are going to support President Obama, I think the amnesty that has been intended for us undocumented immigrants might be pushed through and it might be approved, said Benny, an undocumented worker.

Its important that the election would be done and over with, because we have the immigration reform, said Emily, another undocumented worker. And from that, maybe we could move forward and go on already with our lives.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives as well as 36 seats in the Senate are up for grabs next week.

Republicans hold a majority in the House. That majority, especially House Speaker John Boehner, had been blamed for blocking a vote on comprehensive immigration reform which was passed by the Senate in 2013.

John Boehner has maintained that the GOP wants to handle immigration reform in stages.

The elections are not entirely about Democrats versus Republicans. For immigration advocates, its about finding lawmakers who are willing to push for immigration reform.

President Obama cannot do anything if Congress will not approve any bills, said Lolit Andradelledo, of Pilipino Workers Center. We want both Senate and Congress that will be the members election should be pro immigrant.

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Midterm elections could affect status of millions of undocumented workers

Immigration is the definitive wedge issue in American politics, but it doesnt have to be. When the Senates Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act failed to pass the House this year, it was the third such failure of comprehensive reform in a decade. Heres a good rule: Three strikes, youre out. Its time for a different approach. Congress should forget comprehensive reform and try for pragmatic and incremental change instead.

Skeptics will thunder that theres no room for compromise, the other party is unreasonable, the issue boils down to either amnesty or deportation and theres nothing in between that anyone can agree on.

Want to bet?

The Hoover Institution has been surveying immigration experts a 40-member working group of scholars from across the political spectrum to test that hypothesis. We have asked them to consider policy innovations that purposefully look at all aspects of immigration, not just the hypersensitive topic of illegal immigration.

Most recently we challenged our panel to think about work visas. The United States issues 60 million visas annually, but only 3 million are for work. Indeed, work visas in the United States are an excessively complex mixture of quotas, rules and bureaucracy.

How could work visas be improved? How would reforms affect the economy? And could liberal, conservative and independent wonks agree on any of it?

The answer is yes. Almost everyone surveyed (86 percent) thought that the bureaucratic thicket regulating temporary work visas should be reduced. There was strong consensus (79 percent) for eliminating the cap on non-agricultural H-2 visas (which cover seasonal jobs such as food servers or landscape crew members), for making the E-Verify program mandatory so that only legal workers could be hired (73 percent) and for unlimited visas for high-skilled STEM workers (66 percent). Sixty-one percent favored using visa pricing (61 percent) requiring employers to pay a fee when they hire guest workers which would provide an incentive for hiring the native-born and is a better way to allocate visas than the centrally planned and administered quotas in place today.

We also asked the scholars to judge nine components for a better temporary work visa system. One idea known as portability had overwhelming support, with 97 percent in favor. So if Congress could do just one thing related to immigration, this is it: Allow visa portability, so that guest workers can change employers and thus avoid exploitation.

As it turned out, some of the least popular ideas were ones that had been embedded in the Senates latest failed comprehensive plan. Can you say poison pill?

Only 20 percent of experts supported the Senate bills requirement for employers to certify that no U.S. worker could be found before they could hire guest workers. Only 14 percent supported the requirement that employers guarantee non-displacement of its U.S. employees.

Continue reading here:
Commentary: Theres a better way to do immigration reform

Why Not Immigration Reform?

By: Sheila In Louisville

Continued here:
Why Not Immigration Reform? - Video