Immigration Reform, an Anathema for All except Mexican Americans

 

SANTA FE, NM (By Jon Garrido, The Jon Garrido Network) January 26,  2011 ― Immigration Reform was all but forgotten but for a scrap of tokenism tossed to Mexican Americans in last night's The State of the Union speech.

 

President Obama stated, "There are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation. It makes no sense."

 

"Now, I strongly believe we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. I know that debate will be difficult and take time. But tonight, let's agree to make that effort. And let's stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can enrich this nation."

 

Two very different approaches

 

To work with and to lead are clearly two very different approaches. A strong president leads. Members of congress follow but last night we were given a eyeful of who the real Barack Obama is and he is not a believer in the need for Immigration Reform. He would rather just sit on his hands and let someone else do the heavy lifting.

 

In his own words, "I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders......"

 

He should have said, "I will lead the fight to reform Immigration." He did not and this failure to lead reinforces our belief we were used in 2008. Mexican Americans will always remember it was our Hispanic votes that were instrumental in delivering four Hispanic states to Obama to elect Obama President of the Untied States. We voted for Obama because he promised to lead the fight on Immigration Reform.

 

Hispanic Americans as influential as we were in 2008, Hispanic Americans will have an even greater influence in 2012. In fact, if Obama does not carry New Mexico, Obama will fall short of the needed 270 electoral votes. New Mexico becomes crucial battleground state for electoral college votes in 2012.

 

In the two years that followed since November 2008, President Obama has refused to do the heavy lifting required of the President of the United States and for this alone, I will not support the re-election of President Obama.

 

The 2011 State of the Union re-cycled speech was déjà vu with the knowledge we had listened to the same Obama speech given by Obama one year ago on January 26, 2010.

 

In 2010, we trusted and we hoped Obama being the President of the United States would be the leader of Immigration Reform as he had promised but we were dumbfounded on hearing only 38 words or about 11 seconds on immigration reform of his 72-minute 2010 SOTU address.

 

Obama told us in his 2010 The State of the Union speech, "...we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system ― to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation."

That's not an introduction; it's all that was said on the topic. The same President who told Americans immigration reform would be one of his top priorities ― the first broken promise to America's Hispanics.

Obama only mentioned the broken immigration system in passing, framing it in the language of 'law and order.' Furthermore, he said nothing about getting the job done.

"Devoid of Big Ideas" nails the Obama speech

If you think of the 2011 State of the Union address as chapters in his next book — President Obama gave us Tuesday's night words stitched together and crafted to steer right down the middle of a divided country, a political exercise more than an inspirational one.

“This is our Sputnik moment,” he declared — though the big idea he has been searching for, and that the country is yearning for, did not materialize in this speech. Instead, his Sputnik moment had no mission to the moon or into deep space to mobilize Americans believing in the future.

Obama's Sputnik moment was a compendium of projects he deems suitably futuristic, like high-speed railways, which Republican governors have been axing because it costs too much.

The irony of Obama's attempt was to call this the Sputnik Moment, and to declare America does big things, when his speech was a bunch of almost worthless little things devoid of big Ideas.

This was a very business-friendly speech and there was plenty for Republicans to love. He pledged to bring corporate tax rates down. He endorsed medical-malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits, a familiar GOP refrain, and after celebrating the overturning of the ban on "don’t ask, don’t tell," he said college campuses should bring back ROTC, that it’s time to leave the old fights behind.

In the final minutes of his long oration, Obama saved what would otherwise have been a mostly flat and uninspiring evening with his reminder the American Dream is alive and well. Maybe alive for some but not al ― the undocumented will remain in the shadows until caught then deported leaving families behind without means of support.

The 2011 State Of The Union is Déjà Vu of the 2010 State Of The Union

On January 27, 2010, Prerna Lal wrote: Barack Obama was elected on a platform for change last year. More than a year after his Inauguration, things still look the same for most immigrant families in the United States. And we are tired of being "strung along" on the broken change bandwagon.

One year after his re-election, Obama has failed to deliver on his promise of reforming the broken immigration system with comprehensive solutions. Last night during the State of the Union address, Obama only mentioned the broken immigration system in passing, framing it in the language of "law and order." Furthermore, he said nothing about getting the job done this year.

The POTUS spent most of his speech talking about creating jobs and economic growth, while never addressing how immigration reform can be a stimulus for the economy. He ironically extols the values that enables us to exist as a nation of immigrants, but continues to break up immigrant families without batting an eyelash.

Secure communities programs continue to make our communities insecure. Under his watch, the Department of Homeland Security expanded 287(g) programs, giving local and state law enforcement officials the authority to act as enforcers of immigration law, thereby providing them legal means to conduct racial profiling. Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other copycat cowboys flaunt the law and continue to terrorize immigrants.

Extraordinary rendition of immigrants continues in our detention system. Time and again, the Obama Administration promised changes to our horrible detention system with alternatives to detention. The Assistant Secretary of DHS, John Morton recently made more promises to lay out some much-needed changes, but promises are like an empty cannon when people are dying in detention and families do not know where their loved ones are caged. In the meantime, private prisons are still churning out profits and looking at "significant growth" in the future.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not turned to the more dangerous silent raids on our homes persist and the large raids moved to our workplaces.

Comprehensive immigration reform seems to be off the agenda for now, regardless of what many "immigrant rights" groups tout in their rather hyped and happening press releases today. The thinking in Washington DC is while we are working on a bill behind closed doors, there should be little to no negativity surrounding the lack of support from the President on immigration reform. But since when has the oppressor willingly given freedom to the oppressed through backdoor deals?

Hispanics voted for change when they voted for President Obama. But we should also act like we are hungry for change, rather than sit on our laurels expecting things to fall into place.

For Obama, if this type of failure continues well into 2011, many disgruntled voters will just stay at home during the 2012 elections and Democrats will lose even more seats due to their unwillingness to pass legislation of great importance to immigrant communities, a growing part of their base.

There is one change we can all believe in. The state of our immigrant union is dismal.

Prerna Lal is a student at George Washington University Law School. She is a Co-Founder and Online Coordinator of DreamActivist, a vibrant activist immigrant youth community online that has mobilized thousands to action.

I live in New Mexico and Sen. Bingaman, the U.S. Senator from New Mexico, reacts to Obama’s speech

U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D- New Mexico) issued the following statement after President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday:

“I was glad the president focused the majority of his speech on the most important issue our country faces: the need to create the next generation of good paying jobs so that we can remain competitive in the global marketplace.  As the president pointed out, solving this problem will require both parties to work together. I stand ready to work with senators from both sides of the aisle to address this critical issue."

“I also liked the president’s emphasis on moving toward a “clean energy” economy.  Shifting our focus to homegrown, renewable energy — like wind and solar — will both stimulate job creation and reduce pollution.  As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to pass clean energy legislation.”

 

Bingaman heard only what he wanted to hear. In doing so, Bingaman has no empathy or clue of the plight of New Mexico's Hispanics.

 

Bingaman has no business being the United States Senator from New Mexico when New Mexico has a population of 50% Hispanics. Bingaman needs to be replaced with someone who will represent all of New Mexico's residents not just New Mexico residents interested in energy issues. Bingaman should not stand for re-election. He needs to go!