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Posts Tagged ‘immigration reform’

Obama Administration Ready to Talk Immigration

8:19 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Politics · 1 Comment

9 Apr 2009

One of the reasons that the Obama administration and its supporters have given for not working on immigration reform sooner is the economy, as if the lives of undocumented immigrants and indeed the lives of all of us have nothing to do with the millions who work in the U.S. without papers. However now, as we approach the worker’s day of May Day, a day that has also more recently been used to highlight the lives of the undocumented, the Obama administration is saying that this year it is going to address immigration

Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Quote of the Day: Obama on Immigration Reform

5:29 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Immigration · 20 Comments

19 Mar 2009

President Obama was in Costa Mesa, California, yesterday to hold a “town hall” meeting and he finally brought up the hot-button topic of immigration, and more specifically, immigration reform. The speech was vague and lacking content, as was to be expected, but here’s the most salient part:

“You’ve got to say to the undocumented workers… ‘Look, you’ve broken the law. You didn’t come here the way you were supposed to. So this is not going to be a free ride … What’s going to happen is you’re going to pay a significant fine.’

“‘You are going to learn english. You are going to… go to the back of the line so you don’t get ahead of somebody who was in Mexico City applying legally.’”

“‘But after you’ve done these things over a certain period of time, you can earn your citizenship. So that it’s not — it’s not something that is guaranteed or automatic. You’ve got to earn it.’ But over time, you get people an opportunity.”

How do you interpret this? How will this rhetoric translate into real policy?

Via / SGGP

Nancy Pelosi Proves that Dems Aren’t Immigrant Friendly Either

9:00 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration|Politics · 5 Comments

23 Oct 2008

Still think that electoral politics is going to solve the immigration issue? Or that being a Democrat means a magic answer to save Latinos once we, as a sleeping giant that everyone keeps talking about, vote? Gracias to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is keeping it real by stepping away from offering a path to citizenship to immigrants.

…Pelosi also said Congress would have to tackle the politically sticky job of overhauling immigration laws in the new Congress, after a bipartisan measure collapsed last year.

The estimated 12 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally “are part of the U.S. economy. We cannot send them all home, and we cannot send them all to jail, so we have to address it,” Pelosi said.

Any solution would have to be bipartisan, she said, so it may require sacrificing some of Democrats’ past priorities, such as giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

“Maybe there never is a path to citizenship if you came here illegally,” Pelosi said. “I would hope that there could be, but maybe there isn’t.”

McCain’s Flip – Flop on His Own Immigration Bill

8:53 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Politics|US Presidential Race 2008 · 1 Comment

7 Mar 2008

As much as it makes me shudder and as much as I struggle to wrap my brain around it, there are a large number of Latino Republicans. With John McCain pretty much crowned the Republican presidential nominee the focus is on that oh so important Latino vote.

The Spanish language media is all over McCain for his role in formulating immigration reform, including sponsoring a bill on immigration reform that now he wants nothing to do with. Republican Latinos take note.

Dems Not Letting Immigration Reform Rest in Peace

4:50 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Politics · Comments Off

18 Jul 2007

Call it a ploy to make sure they keep (get) the Latino vote, but Howard Dean, scream queen and President of the Democratic Party, is saying that just because the senate said immigration reform is dead doesn’t mean it really is. Instead Dean wants Latino voters to put their hopes on Dems being able to pass smaller bills like the DREAM Act and the AgJobs program (aka the new Braceros). Dean is sitting on the laurels of the 2006 election and how the famous Latino swing vote helped to change the congress (not enough to pass immigration reform though). In the Q&A Dean touts the Dem’s use of Spanish language radio ads (I only listen to public radio so I missed them) and other outreach efforts.

So do you buy what Howard Dean is selling? Read the entire Q&A here (in Spanish) and weigh in.

Do I even need to say how I feel?

Immigration Debate Up For Vote Today

11:55 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Washington DC · Comments Off

26 Jun 2007

In case you haven’t heard, today the U.S. Senate is set to vote on whether to revive the immigration reform debate. 60 votes are needed to resurrect the bill that Republican hardliners (or hardheads depending on your pov) are calling amnesty. As I’ve reported before, what’s been holding the bill back is a series of amendments presented from both sides of the aisle. One of the most controversial:

A bipartisan amendment by Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., that would change the bill’s new program for weeding out illegal employees from U.S. workplaces.
The amendment would free employers from a mandate to check the identities of all their employees and require them to verify only new workers and those the government has a reason to believe are illegal immigrants. It would allow employees to present any state-issued drivers license as proof of identity, rather than requiring the nationally standardized “REAL ID,” which some states have not adopted.

Via / Yahoo! News

Bush and Latinos Pray for Immigration Reform

12:14 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Events|Immigration|Politics|Religion|Washington DC · Comments Off

15 Jun 2007

This morning President Bush gathered with Latino religious and political leaders to do one of his favorite things, pray. At the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., Bush was especially praying to get immigration reform back on the Congressional agenda. He said:

Each day our nation fails to act, the problem only grows worse. I will continue to work closely with members of both parties, to get past our differences, and pass a bill I can sign this year.We must meet our moral obligation to treat newcomers with decency and show compassion to the vulnerable and exploited, because we’re called to answer both the demands of justice and the call for mercy. Most Americans agree on these principles,and now it’s time for our elected leaders in Congress to act.

Via / Boston Globe

Bush Looks to Blogs to Push Immigration Reform

1:50 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Politics · 1 Comment

13 Jun 2007

In an effort to revive his pretty much dead immigration reform plan, President Bush is looking to people like VL, bloggers that is, and others.

The White House has done outreach to liberal religious and Hispanic groups and, at the suggestion of chief political strategist Karl Rove, made more use of the blogosphere on immigration than it has on any issue since President Bush took office, aides said.

No one from Bush’s office has contacted us (gee I wonder why?)

Via / Politico.com

Told You So : Immigration Reform Dead

11:47 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|Politics · 1 Comment

8 Jun 2007

I predicted that nothing would come out of the current immigration reform numerous times (personally because I don’t think Congress really gives a damn) and Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, officially withdrew the so-called compromise bill from the Senate floor. Part of the reason for the failure (besides a lack of real will) was the debate over some 40 amendments including one Democratic proposal to limit a guest-worker program sought by business interests and backed by Republicans. The bill could come back up sometime this year (but I bet it won’t until we get closer to presidential election day).

Via / NYT

Immigration Reform Not Looking Likely

4:20 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|Immigration|Politics · Comments Off

7 Jun 2007

If a test vote taken today in the US Senate is any indication, the country is a long way from comprehensive immigration reform. The current bipartisan compromise failed a test vote today. By a vote of 33-63, the Senate fell far short of the 60 votes that would have been needed to limit debate on the immigration measure and put it on a path to passage. The 49-48 vote just after midnight on making the temporary worker program itself temporary came two weeks after the Senate rejected an earlier attempt to end the program after five years.

Via / Yahoo!

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