Immigration and Election Year Politics

As the students in my comparative immigration politics class have hopefully learned this semester, immigration politics can play an important role during presidential elections.  I have already posted about the positions taken by the Republican primary candidates, and now Devin Dwyer of ABC news has written about the Obama administration's actions taken to "soften" their immigration policy: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/obama-softens-immigration-policy-with-mixed-results/

As Dwyer notes, the Obama administration has said that it will refocus it's deportation efforts on criminal aliens.  However, a Syracuse University report shows that deportations have dropped, but it doesn't appear to be "better targeted toward serious criminals" (see http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/274/) This type of report will make it hard for the administration to make a case that the policy change is having the impact it was expected to have.  It is also difficult to know if the decline in deportations will play well with Hispanic voters.  In swing states like Ohio and Colorado, the Hispanic vote may play an important role.  However, as noted by Charles Garcia in a CNN editorial (http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/opinion/garcia-hispanic-voters/index.html) Obama's inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and the DREAM act may ultimately hurt him in the 2012 presidential election and the decline in deportations may not make up for this. Time will tell.

Utah case a demonstration of immigration divides

From the Salt Lake Tribune, a story which illustrates Federal concerns about state actions on immigration:  http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53540176-78/immigration-utah-state-mcentee.html.csp

More on the Utah case from the Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/17/utah-immigration-law-ruling_n_1285702.html

Meanwhile, some illegal immigrants are returning to Alabama:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-21/alabama-immigration-hispanic/53180746/1

Protests in Alabama and other state (and world) news

Hundreds protests immigration law at Alabama state capitol: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkPY6dqhjFX-wVRDFhHLI2twpn7w?docId=027e1e33c19d48dcb4c5154e6125b8dc

A new study indicates that Alabama could lose billions due to the impact of the new law: http://www.businessweek.com/top-news/alabamas-immigration-law-could-cost-billions-annually-02142012.html

Meanwhile, in Kansas...http://cjonline.com/news/2012-02-14/kobach-blasts-immigrant-worker-bill

and in Europe -- A Dutch anti-immigration website gets the attention of the European Commission:
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=136597
Another version of the story from the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/9082289/Brussels-slams-intolerant-Dutch-website-on-migrants-taking-jobs.html

and finally -- a Huffington Post take on the importance of the Latino vote in Colorado:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maribel-hastings/in-colorados-close-races-_b_1266713.html

Immigration and Race at CPAC, State news

Speakers at the  Conservative Political Action Conference take a hard line on immigration:
From NPR:   http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/02/09/146650681/at-cpac-hard-lines-on-race-and-immigration-could-be-awkward

Anti-immigration speaker sparks controversy, from CBS news:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57374439-503544/immigration-speaker-sparks-controversy-at-cpac/?tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea

In the meantime, a report commissioned by Maryland lawmakers finds that immigration has been positive for the state:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigrant-impact-commission-report-finds-positive-overall-impact-in-maryland/2012/02/09/gIQAs1aq1Q_story.html

Alabama legislature continues to work on changes to its immigration law:  http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20120211/APN/1202111044

An update in Indiana's immigration law from UT's Christopher Rangel: http://www.newstaco.com/2012/02/09/indianas-immigration-law-tests-constitution-foreign-agreements/

Alabama's anti-illegal immigration law and Florida Primary Issues

This American Life on NPR had a story on the unintended consequence of Alabama's immigration law targeting illegal immigrants and where Mitt Romney got his ideas about "self-deportation":  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/456/reap-what-you-sow?act=1

More on potential changes to Alabama's Law:  http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20120128/NEWS/120129783?Title=State-immigration-law-to-get-rewrite-not-repeal

Immigration is a hot topic in Florida, but it is a difficult issue to navigate for the Republican candidates - from the FT:  http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1f8bef26-4a8a-11e1-8110-00144feabdc0.html

From the left-leaning UK Guardian:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/28/senior-republicans-latino-voters-immigration?newsfeed=true

Article on South Carolina's Immigration Law

Written by UT student Christopher Rangel:

http://www.newstaco.com/2012/01/19/south-carolinas-immigration-law-challenges-the-constitution/

Obama, the Dream Act, and skilled migration

President Obama once again called for comprehensive immigration reform in his State of the Union Speech.  He also called on Congress to pass the DREAM act, and made a clear link between it and other high skilled immigrants in the U.S.  Giving visas and green cards to immigrants, both undocumented and documented, is a bipartisan issue, many congressman on both sides of the aisle have said that we should be stapling green cards to the diplomas of immigrant students, particularly those in math, science and engineering.  It's unlikely that we will see progress on any of these fronts during the current presidential campaign, but many actors will be putting themselves in place to take action in early 2013, so expect immigration, particularly skilled immigration, to remain on the agenda for 2012.  It is interesting to note that both Gingrich and Romney would be willing to give visas to illegal immigrant who join the military but not to students.  Romney's "self-deportation" quote has also been bandied about the blogosphere as noted by the Miami Herald:  http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/01/mitt-romneys-self-deportation-comment-got-twitter-hoppin.html

New think tanks focus on immigration reform

As I have noted in previous blog posts, particularly after the Tribune Festival in September, most of the business and political leaders in Texas who spoke at the event feel that there should be some type of comprehensive immigration reform. Several new think tanks/advocacy organizations have now come on the scene to push for immigration reform, particularly in the area of skilled migration, including the Parternership for New American Economy and the National Foundation for American Policy. It is clear from their websites that part of the goal of these organizations is to help change the discourses around immigration, and shift the focus to the positive impacts of immigration on the economy. Key targets include Republican voters and policy makers. Mitt Romney's take on immigration (see previous blog posts) seems to fit in with these approaches, particularly since he focuses on skilled migration. There also seems to be a renewed awareness of the negative impact of the current rhetoric on immigration with potential voters.