With Friends Like Democrats,
Latinos Don't Need Enemies
Kay Bárbaro

What's the saying? With friends like these, who needs enemies?

During the fall election season, remember all the sweet nothings that Democratic Party candidates were whispering in our Hispanic ears about helping immigrants with federal legislation that would provide us a living wage and protection from exploitation?

Remember how the party known for defending the rights of the underdog and the working stiff promised when addressing us to make it a top priority to rescue from uncaring GOP nativists millions of underclass Latinos who couldn’t prove their papers were in order?

Well, last week (Jan. 24) Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and his jolly band of upper chamber compassionate visionaries called the press to the Capitol to reveal the party's 10 priorities for the 109th Congress.

Guess what? Immigration reform wasn't even on their radar screen.

Instead, they wallowed around in left-over campaign rhetoric borrowed from the GOP promoting "core American values" such as “security.”

When a Hispanic Link News Service reporter raised the issue of immigration reform to Reid, he quickly shooed it away by saying Massachusetts' Edward Kennedy, a Democrat, and Arizona's John McCain, a Republican, might come up with a bipartisan bill they could support.

Oh, yes. And do you remember how Democratic standard-bearer John Kerry drew his biggest ovations at Latino-sponsored events when he vowed on his honor to introduce immigration reform legislation in his first hundred days as president? Fair legislation, he promised, important to the U.S. economy that would provide a path to legal residency for some 8 million otherwise lawful residents living in perilous limbo.

Well, arriving back at our newsroom, the reporter called Senator Kerry's office to ask whether the junior senator from Massachusetts, still a powerful voice on the Hill, was planning to introduce the kind of legislation he promised on the Hispanic campaign trail.

Silly question. Of course not. April Boyd, Kerry’s press secretary, said the senator had no such plans. But if the right bill came along, he might sign on as a co-sponsor.

Obviously, Kerry had already trashed what little he learned on the campaign trail about national and Hispanic community needs.

Ironically, our last hope for any immigration relief lies with the described “enemy,” the man who defeated Kerry by 3 million votes. Fending off serious opposition from many in his own party, President George W. Bush is still talking the talk about an immigration reform plan that just might lead to residency several years down the road for those undocumented immigrants who pick enough grapes and cotton.

He’s been talking the talk for several months. The question now is will he walk the walk? And will he find enough members of Congress to walk with him?

Republican congressional leaders came out with their 10 priority issues last week, too, and immigration reform wasn't on their list, either. In fact, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin is already introducing all kinds of nasty anti-immigrant stuff in the lower chamber that was deleted from last session's intelligence bill — things like completing an ugly, un-neighborly fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and banning all states from issuing driver's licenses to individuals who can't prove legal residency.

Not a good sign. But there’s another voice that may be of influence on the issue: that of the voting public. In past surveys, it has fairly consistently taken the position that undocumented immigrants should be sent back where they came from on the next means of transportation available.

But this attitude appears to be shifting.

Somewhat lost in reporting the results of a Jan. 12-16 ABC News-Washington Post poll of 1,007 adults was this question on immigration reform:

"Do you think illegal immigrants who are living and working in the United States now should be offered a chance to keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status, or do you think they should be deported back to their native country?"

The results were surprising: 61 percent said let 'em stay, while only 36 percent said kick 'em out.

On emotional issues such as immigration, elected officials in Washington check public polls regularly and usually vote for what doesn’t rile up too many constituents.

If members of the 109th Congress read this latest survey and stop being intimidated by noisy nativists, maybe a genuine immigration reform bill will have a chance to pass after all.

[The pseudonym Kay Bárbaro — a phonetic translation of the Spanish expression “¡Qué bárbaro!” meaning loosely “How outrageous!” — bylines a staff-written opinion and humor column in Hispanic Link Weekly Report. On this commentary, Kay was helped by editor Charlie Ericksen, who may be contacted by e-mail at Charlie@HispanicLink.org.]

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
02/06/05
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