by Adrian Rochaand Ruth Gened
Despite the short shrift President Obama gave immigration reform in his State of the Union speech to Congress Jan. 27, the White House remains firmly committed to passage of comprehensive immigration reform this year, claim key advocates who follow the issue on a daily basis.
Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, the nation’s most prominent immigration reform advocacy group, and Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, briefed Hispanic Link News Service and a select group of other journalists Jan. 29 about their ongoing sessions with White House and congressional leaders in the seemingly never-ending reform negotiations.
Rejecting conventional wisdom, they have pieced together the essential scenario for gathering enough votes to move a bill through Congress before the mid-term November elections. “The White House is operating full steam ahead,” Sharry insisted. “The activity on the inside, which they are deliberately not making public, is with an intensity that shows they are getting ready for a legislative battle.” Capital Hill veteran Kelley contributed, “This remains a priority for the President. It is an issue where I have never seen so much being done by Cabinet secretaries, high-level White House people, senators and staff that nobody knows about.
“That’s not an accident. This is an initiative. We know that if you put a bill out there, it has a major target on its back and the [opponents] will go after it and go after it hard. So, it’s very deliberative,” she said.
Earlier that week, a high-ranking Administration official described to Hispanic Link the President’s assessment as “optimistic,” but conceded, “We all know that it is not going through without Congress’s support.”
Sharry and Kelley said Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (RSC) are close to completing work on bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation — a bill that unlike health care, will pick up some bipartisan support.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (DNev.), they added, remains fully committed to moving forward with a bill. He faces a difficult reelection battle in a state with a significant Hispanic population.
“They are working on it,” Sharry said. “Schumer and Graham want an additional Republican and Democrat to flank them when they roll it out. Clearly, Graham doesn’t want to be the only Republican out there. Who will it be? Well, there are lots of names being mentioned but no one has signed on, and we are not interested in putting targets on anyone’s back.”
The strongly pro-immigrant bill introduced last month by Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.) will dates can and must appeal to this swing group. “The politicians have finally figured out that the Latino immigrant vote is where\ the action is,” Sharry said.
Still, many — maybe even most — Hispanic advocates and leaders (the latter not for attribution) hold little hope for passage of an immigration bill this election year. Only one Latino in Congress, Democratic Rep. likely be pushed aside, but he is expected to remain a player in the process.
To gain a bit of bipartisan backing, Kelley said, “There’s a small window of Republicans who are possible, maybe six or seven.”
Sharry and Kelley asserted that immigration reform is no longer a divisive issue that congressional moderates need to shy away from. Referring to the 2006 and 2008 elections, Sharry said, “Illegal immigration didn’t work as a wedge issue. In fact, the demonization of Latino immigrants served to mobilize Latino voters who turned out in record numbers in the last two elections,” It is really why immigration reform has a chance in this Congress, he said.
Sharry said Republican Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts to fill the U.S. Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy would not stall immigration reform as it has health care.
He mentioned a poll (Politico/Insider Advantage, www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_128_1238.aspx, showing Brown won more than three-fourths of the Hispanic vote as evidence that GOP canddates can and must appeal to this swing group. “The politicians have finally figured out that the Latino immigrant vote is where the action is,” Sharry said.
Still, many — maybe even most — Hispanic advocates and leaders (the latter not for attribution) hold little hope for passage of an immigration bill this election year. Only one Latino in Congress, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuéllar of Texas, has dared to opine publically that it’s a dead issue.
Speaking to Adrian Campo-Flores of Newsweek, Rev. Samuel Rodríguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which has campaigned for a reform package, referred to Obama’s remarks as “the death knell of immigration reform in 2010.” If that happens, it’s a given that the Democratic Party, with Obama at the top of the list, will be the biggest immediate loser with the Hispanic electorate. Obama’s failure in his State of the Union address to utter the words “comprehensive immigration reform” or mention its essential elements infuriated thousands who trusted his oft-repeated campaign promise to address reform during his first year in office.
A “Viewer Guide” released to the press by the White House the day of Obama’s speech clearly stated his commitment to “a path for legalization” for the country’s estimated 12 million undocumented residents. These words were absent from his address to Congress.
