Subject: [big campaign] New Huff Post from Creamer-Gut Check Time for Republicans on Immigration Reform
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Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:45:47 EST
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Gut Check Time for GOP on  Immigration 

There is a quiet battle underway within the Republican Party that may  soon 
break out into the open – and it will heavily impact whether the GOP can  
continue as a national political party in the decades ahead. 
The conflict is over how the  Party will position itself with respect to 
the question of immigration reform –  and just as importantly – the 
fastest-growing demographic group in country:  Hispanic Americans.  
President Obama has  made it clear that he is intent on fixing the broken 
immigration system by  passing immigration reform.  He  would do it with a 
package that combines smart and effective border enforcement  with a crackdown 
on illegal hiring and unfair labor practices, and by  modernizing the legal 
immigration system and requiring those who are  undocumented to register 
with the government, pass background checks, study  English, pay taxes, and 
get in line to work towards citizenship.  
That would make  sure that those who are here, are in  the system legally; 
that all workers and employers are paying their fair  share of taxes; and 
that those immigrants who come in the future do so  legally.  
But, more than  with most any other issue, passing immigration reform 
requires bipartisan  support – both as a question of legislative math and 
politics.  
Senator Chuck Schumer  (D-NY) has been deputized by Senate Majority Leader 
Harry Reid (D-NV) – himself  a strong advocate of reform – to be point man 
on this issue for the Democratic  Majority.  Republican Senator  Lindsey 
Graham (R-SC) has worked with Schumer for months to hammer out the  specifics 
of a bi-partisan bill.  
Most of the  substantive issues appear to be close to resolution.  The 
major outstanding problem is  entirely political: will other Republicans be 
willing to join Graham and provide  support for a truly bi-partisan effort? 
That’s where the  cleavage within the GOP will become so important. 
For many Latino  voters, and their friends and families, immigration reform 
is more than a simple  matter of policy.  It’s an issue  that involves the 
future of their families and their communities. That is  particularly the 
case because enforcement actions continue every day.  Almost 400,000 
immigrants were deported  last year.  Those deportations touch  legal immigrant 
families – voters – throughout America, and  they increase the pressure building 
within the Latino community for action.  
On March  21st, a huge national march will take place on the Mall to 
express  the frustration of the immigrant community that even as deportations 
continue,  there has been little action on immigration reform. 
Immigration reform is a  politically realigning issue for Latinos the same 
way civil rights was for  African Americans.  
One segment of the  Republican Party completely understands that critical 
political fact.  They understand that to compete  successfully in the future 
-- on a national scale – they must be able to contest  for a sizeable 
segment of the Hispanic vote. Hispanics, after all, are by far  the fastest 
growing demographic group in America.  According to the Census Bureau, nearly one 
in six U.S. residents –  or 46.9 million people, are Hispanic – a 
percentage that continues to  grow. 
If Republicans can’t  compete for Hispanic votes, they will become 
politically irrelevant in much of  the U.S. over the next several decades.  Many 
Republicans leaders get it. 
But there is another  group of Republicans who want to use immigration as 
wedge issue to win  short-term political advantage among anxious voters who 
think of Latinos as  threats to their culture, their tax dollars, and their 
jobs. As a practical  matter, this group is willing to sacrifice long term 
political viability for  short term political gain.  And this  second group 
has not been deterred by the fact that in recent elections hard  core 
immigrant bashers have not fared well – even in the short  term. 
These two factions do  not fall neatly along traditional “conservative” 
and “moderate” lines.  Former President Bush – having seen  firsthand the 
importance of the Latino vote in Texas – strongly favored immigration  reform.  
Supporters run the gamut  from conservatives like Sam Brownback (R-KS) to 
moderates like Dick Lugar  (R-IN).  On the other side are  followers of 
former Congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, with a  tradition of 
anti-immigrant bashing that knows no bounds.       
Immigration is one of  the few issues that could garner truly bipartisan 
support in the current  Congress.  The social and economic  forces involved in 
this issue do not reflect the other battles that have defined  the last 
year and a half of partisan combat.  Business and organized labor are united  
in their desire to fix the broken immigration system.   
The President  met yesterday with a group of grassroots immigrant leaders, 
and reiterated that  he would use all means at his disposal to move the 
immigration agenda this  year.  Later on Thursday he  delivered the same message 
to Senators Graham and Schumer – both of whom  reiterated their commitment 
to move a bi-partisan bill.  
But Senator Graham  needs to be able to count on the support of other 
members of the Republican  caucus to make a truly bipartisan drive for passage. 
The question facing  Republicans in the next several weeks is simple: will 
the forces who favor  immigration reform have the political courage to stand 
up for the long-term  interests of their Party (and the country), or will 
they be cowed into silence  by the immigrant bashers? 
The bell on the  immigration debate is about to go off. The Republican 
Party faces a critical,  and potentially historic, decision.  As a progressive 
Democrat, I would like nothing better than to see the  Republican Party 
marginalized and unable to compete effectively for even one  Latino vote.  But 
the interests of  the country require that the immigrant-friendly forces in 
the Republican Party  stand up straight and join with Democrats to address 
this critical American  problem. 
Robert Creamer is a  long-time political organizer and strategist, and 
author of the recent  book:  Stand Up Straight: How  Progressives Can Win, 
available on _Amazon.com._ 
(http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Your-Mother-Straight-Progressives/dp/0979585295/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213241439&sr=8-1
) 

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