President Barack Obama would prefer that we people who are interested in seeing legitimate im
migration reform approved this year pay attention to the speech he gave to Latino religious leaders on Friday.
But there are those of us who are going to pay more attention to the White House on Thursday. That is, assuming the president keeps his promise and holds a promised session with Latino leaders of Congress to talk about the issue.
THE REASON SOME of us are so sarcastic is because this session to discuss the issue is one that has been scheduled at least three times – most recently on Thursday of last week.
Now, Obama’s spokesman is saying that a meeting is scheduled tentatively for June 25. But he’s smart enough not to say anything too specific, because this session could easily get put off again.
It is creating the impression that Obama isn’t in any hurry to act upon the issue.
Now I understand, as I have written many times, that there are people who are committed to opposing anything that resembles real reform of the nation’s immigration laws.
THESE ARE THE people who will scream that they want reform – only their idea of reform is an increase in deportations and a militarization of the U.S./Mexico border.
They are the ones who will screech ever so loudly that it is wrong to call them on their racist rhetoric. But how else to explain the notion that many of these nativist critics take the view that certain places on Planet Earth should not have as easy access to the legitimate process of gaining a visa as others.
And it seems these people always view Latin American nations as the places from which our nation should most vehemently reject people.
These people are going to stir up partisan politics on this issue, and the fight that results in Congress will go into the U.S. history books for its rancor. Obama likely isn’t in any hurry to provoke this battle before he’s ready.
BUT THE PROBLEM is that Obama needs to realize that he will face an equally rancorous brawl from Latinos if he appears to be giving in to the people who want to view all of us (regardless of our citizenship status) as a problem.
We have the potential for a taste of that attitude this week. Some Latino activists are organizing themselves to picket outside the White House on Thursday – if the meeting between the president and congressional leaders actually takes place.
In their view, Obama will have to hear the Latino masses chanting and marching while he tries to discuss the issue with political officials.
Perhaps they think they will create an impression for the record books similar to those anti-war protesters who used to picket the White House some four decades ago chanting “Hey, Hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?”
I DON’T KNOW if it will have that effect.
It could very well stir up anger among the nativists similar to the trash-talk that gets spewed every year in recent years when Latinos take to the streets and march to show the strength of their support for immigration reform.
But it is important to realize when watching those picketers outside the White House that they do reflect the view of a fast-growing segment of the U.S. population. It is not a view that can easily be ignored.
And if Obama keeps postponing these sessions, he’s going to give off the perception that he’s ignoring us.
SO I’LL BE watching Washington on Thursday. Will Obama have a gathering with the members of Congress who have an interest in the immigration reform issue?
If anything, Obama would be better off just having this session. Get it over with. Because the more it gets put off, the bigger an issue it becomes among Latinos that Obama isn’t that supportive of our interests.
The president gained a lot of goodwill when he picked Sonia Sotomayor to be his nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Picking a Nuyorican (a.k.a., a Puerto Rican from New York) for such a prominent lifetime post was a bold step.
It would be a shame to see Obama trash all of those bonus points he gained by giving off the impression that he wishes this issue would “go away” without him having to do anything about it.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: This is the official position put forth by the White House as to where (http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration/) Barack Obama stands on the issue of reforming the nation’s immigration laws.
Will people wishing to see serious immigration reform in this country have to wait until the year (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/791868.html) 2011? Will Obama come up (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-immigration_bdjun21,0,1243361.story) with another excuse to postpone the beginning of talks about getting reform through Congress? And how vociferous will the rhetoric (http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/06/a_tide_of_anger_on_immigration.html) opposed to real reform become?
migration reform approved this year pay attention to the speech he gave to Latino religious leaders on Friday.But there are those of us who are going to pay more attention to the White House on Thursday. That is, assuming the president keeps his promise and holds a promised session with Latino leaders of Congress to talk about the issue.
THE REASON SOME of us are so sarcastic is because this session to discuss the issue is one that has been scheduled at least three times – most recently on Thursday of last week.
Now, Obama’s spokesman is saying that a meeting is scheduled tentatively for June 25. But he’s smart enough not to say anything too specific, because this session could easily get put off again.
It is creating the impression that Obama isn’t in any hurry to act upon the issue.
Now I understand, as I have written many times, that there are people who are committed to opposing anything that resembles real reform of the nation’s immigration laws.
THESE ARE THE people who will scream that they want reform – only their idea of reform is an increase in deportations and a militarization of the U.S./Mexico border.
They are the ones who will screech ever so loudly that it is wrong to call them on their racist rhetoric. But how else to explain the notion that many of these nativist critics take the view that certain places on Planet Earth should not have as easy access to the legitimate process of gaining a visa as others.
And it seems these people always view Latin American nations as the places from which our nation should most vehemently reject people.
These people are going to stir up partisan politics on this issue, and the fight that results in Congress will go into the U.S. history books for its rancor. Obama likely isn’t in any hurry to provoke this battle before he’s ready.
BUT THE PROBLEM is that Obama needs to realize that he will face an equally rancorous brawl from Latinos if he appears to be giving in to the people who want to view all of us (regardless of our citizenship status) as a problem.
We have the potential for a taste of that attitude this week. Some Latino activists are organizing themselves to picket outside the White House on Thursday – if the meeting between the president and congressional leaders actually takes place.
In their view, Obama will have to hear the Latino masses chanting and marching while he tries to discuss the issue with political officials.
Perhaps they think they will create an impression for the record books similar to those anti-war protesters who used to picket the White House some four decades ago chanting “Hey, Hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?”
I DON’T KNOW if it will have that effect.
It could very well stir up anger among the nativists similar to the trash-talk that gets spewed every year in recent years when Latinos take to the streets and march to show the strength of their support for immigration reform.
But it is important to realize when watching those picketers outside the White House that they do reflect the view of a fast-growing segment of the U.S. population. It is not a view that can easily be ignored.
And if Obama keeps postponing these sessions, he’s going to give off the perception that he’s ignoring us.
SO I’LL BE watching Washington on Thursday. Will Obama have a gathering with the members of Congress who have an interest in the immigration reform issue?
If anything, Obama would be better off just having this session. Get it over with. Because the more it gets put off, the bigger an issue it becomes among Latinos that Obama isn’t that supportive of our interests.
The president gained a lot of goodwill when he picked Sonia Sotomayor to be his nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Picking a Nuyorican (a.k.a., a Puerto Rican from New York) for such a prominent lifetime post was a bold step.
It would be a shame to see Obama trash all of those bonus points he gained by giving off the impression that he wishes this issue would “go away” without him having to do anything about it.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: This is the official position put forth by the White House as to where (http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration/) Barack Obama stands on the issue of reforming the nation’s immigration laws.
Will people wishing to see serious immigration reform in this country have to wait until the year (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/791868.html) 2011? Will Obama come up (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-immigration_bdjun21,0,1243361.story) with another excuse to postpone the beginning of talks about getting reform through Congress? And how vociferous will the rhetoric (http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/06/a_tide_of_anger_on_immigration.html) opposed to real reform become?
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1 comments:
"It could very well stir up anger among the nativists similar to the trash-talk that gets spewed every year in recent years when Latinos take to the streets and march to show the strength of their support for immigration reform."
The nativists have a perpetual anger on this issue. Their reaction should never be a reason for the pro-movement not to act.
Rather, the pro-movement needs to know how to react this time around.
The nativists sit back and wait for their instructions from Alipac and FAIR to begin mass e-mailings, phone calls, and faxes to their elected officials. It will happen.
The pro-movement has to respond in kind with a campaign of awareness that these hundreds of thousands of messages are coming from the same people a multitude of times.
When it comes time to vote in the regular election, the nativists only have one vote. We saw that last Novemeber.
Politicians do not have to run scared from the predicted reaction of the nativists.
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