The election results told us that while the American people are unhappy with our broken immigration system, they are looking for leaders willing to step up and solve the problem, rather than simply offering empty rhetoric and scapegoating. In each election, the GOP’s strategy has been to inflame people’s concerns about immigration, scapegoat immigrants themselves, while failing to offer a plan to fix it. In each election, Democrats advocated pragmatic solutions to a tough national problem and were rewarded on election day.
Illegal immigration is a complex issue. Someone please alert the opponents of Senators Clinton and Obama. They seem to be clueless about its complexity.
Point one: Clinton is not going to criticize a sitting Democratic governor
no matter how much the Lou Dobb and wingnut contingents want her to. Saying she
understands what governors like Spitzer are trying to do may tie her opponents
up in knots, but it hardly fazes what the campaign is doing. Clinton intends to
stay in the “we need comprehensive immigration reform” mode, especially since few Democratic primary voters will cast their vote on this issue. Besides, she’s correct, we do.
Point two: Advocating drivers licenses for illegal immigrants will play havoc
with Democrats in the general election. Clinton knows this, though it’s hardly her only motivation.
Point three: Clinton, who is the frontrunner and poised to be the general election
candidate, is caught between points one and two, but she also knows that making illegal immigrants the target isn’t moral and doesn’t solve the problem either, which can only be done through comprehensive immigration reform, something Clinton supports.
Looking ahead to next year, all of the Democratic candidates for President are united around a plan, called Comprehensive Immigration Reform, for fixing the broken immigration system. Comprehensive Immigration Reform has been one of the most bi-partisan legislative initiatives of recent years, as it has been enthusiastically supported by the Catholic Church, the Chamber of Commerce, many labor unions and immigrant rights groups, and political leaders as diverse as John McCain, George Bush, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. In its original form it passed the Republican controlled Senate in 2006, and in 2007 even virulent anti-immigration Senators like John Kyl accepted the need to create a path to citizenship for the undocumented immigrants already here.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform takes a three-part strategy to fixing our broken immigration system. It would 1) toughen up on the border and in the workplace 2) deal with the future flow of immigrants more intelligently to reduce future illegal immigrants from coming into the country 3) legalize the work status and create an earned path to citizenship for those 11-12 million already here, working, paying taxes and raising their families.
Point four: It’s my guess that Clinton will not support drivers licenses for
illegal immigrants in the general, though she will continue to “understand” that in lieu of comprehensive immigration reform governors have to do something. This is a guess based
on the fact that any Democrat openly advocating this will get creamed by wingnut radio and the Lou Dobb dog whistle group. The cumulative outcome will be too much negative press for anyone to withstand. Another way to go is through employer identification systems, which Heath Shuler is trying to push in the House right now. This is where I think
the debate should focus. Targeting employers, which I’ve been advocating for
months and months.
No doubt Clinton’s illegal immigration stance will not make some happy. If
it bothers you then you’ll have to cast your vote accordingly. She’s willing
to take that bet, because in the primary Democratic voters are not going to
be pushed one way or another because of her stance on illegal immigration. That
said, some voters most assuredly will be moved by the fact she won’t play the
yes or no game. She’s willing to take that bet as well. If you need a yes or
no answer on complex issues Clinton is not your candidate and never will be.
Whether people like it or not, Clinton and Obama both understand that most of
the issues a president faces won’t get solved that way. Politics in the larger
sense is predicated on a lot of gray areas. It’s frustrating for voters, I understand.
But remember you have a choice if you want your politics dumbed down to a yes
or no. If you do, neither Clinton or Obama are your candidates, even if they’d
run better in the general election, no matter the propaganda coming out of every
other camp.
The Republicans want the Democratic primary candidates to make a declarative
statement that they all support illegal immigrants getting drivers licenses,
while our candidates also come out against several governors who have already
tackled the issue because of the lack of a federal policy on illegal immigrants.
It’s a trap that Clinton isn’t going to fall into. She will not get caught saying
outright that she supports giving illegal immigrants drivers licenses. Frankly,
I don’t think she does support that and never have. She supports comprehensive
immigration reform, but again, understands that governors have to act because
the feds have not. It’s beyond me why some people don’t understand this position.
The bottom line is that if you don’t like the answer Clinton is giving, which is nuanced for sure and for obvious reasons in order to position herself for the general as well as the fact that illegal immigration is not a yes or no topic, you need to vote for someone else in the primary.
It’s just that simple. That Clinton knows Democratic primary voters won’t cast
their vote on illegal immigration is just part of the campaign’s strategy, because
her team also knows that if Clinton is the nominee, which is a good bet right now
though things can always change, she’ll have to combat what will be the dog
whistle issue for Lou Dobbs and the wingnut contingents who don’t understand
that in the absence of a strong federal policy, governors are hung out to dry and simply have to act.
The line for Democrats is simple: comprehensive immigration reform, which also targets employers, with the funds included to actually investigate and give the law teeth. It’s the place to start, along with border agents and the latest technology to aid them, but not some silly fence.
What Democrats have to also understand is that just like the abortion and gay marrriage issues, wingnuts don’t want to solve a problem; what they want is an issue on which they can run. Clinton has no intention of giving them that on illegal immigration. If you don’t like what she’s saying then vote accordingly. She’s got the general election voter in her mind at this point and she has no intention of giving Republicans this issue, because the more they scream the worse they sound. Besides, most people understand that illegal immigration is a tough problem that will take a lot of work to solve. Let the Lou Dobb crazies rant and the wingnuts wail, because whether our candidate is Clinton or Obama, which right now is the choice, both these people know that illegal immigration takes more than a quick yes or no sound bit to solve.
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