Raids to become the focus of immigration policy push
By Jared Allen
Posted: 01/13/09
The Hill
Hispanic Democrats are changing their strategy to get a sweeping rewrite of immigration laws passed, focusing attention on controversial workplace raids that have increased in the absence of a legislative fix.
A handful of House and Senate leaders are set to meet this week to lay out a new course, which participants said will be centered around a grassroots campaign designed to elicit a greater level of awareness over the ramifications of a “raids-first” immigration policy.
Participating in the strategy session will be the highest-ranking Hispanic in Congress, House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.), as well as Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), CHC Immigration Task Force Chairman Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who after Sen. Ken Salazar’s (D-Colo.) imminent retirement will be the only remaining Hispanic Democrat in the Senate.
The group’s renewed effort will complement its ongoing push for so-called “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” which failed to pass in both the 109th and 110th Congresses. A number of Republicans and some Democrats object to a provision in that proposal that would put more than 12 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States on a path to citizenship.
The lawmakers will need to convince President-elect Obama to risk backing the controversial measure that attracts attention from conservative talk radio hosts and blogs. Immigration was not at the top of Obama’s priority list on the campaign trail, and while the president-elect continues to reiterate his promise to address the issue, many insiders say he is unlikely to push for it until his second term.
Even with an expanded majority in both houses of Congress and a Democrat in the White House, Hispanics in Congress believe passing legislation will be impossible without getting out their message on the humanitarian toll of the raids.
To that end, Hispanics are targeting three main groups they believe are most in need of a re-education on the workplace raids issue: the general public, Republicans and President-elect Obama.
“I don’t believe that the president-elect … grasps and understands the magnitude of the damage that is currently being caused [by the raids],” Gutierrez said. “I don’t believe he does.
“He understands the need for comprehensive immigration reform,” Gutierrez continued. “What I don’t think we’ve been able to bring to his attention in an effective manner is the plight of the millions of undocumented workers.”
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/raids-to-become-the-focus-of-immigration-policy-push-2009-01-13.html
