Not to play the pessimist here, but none of us should hold our breath for immigration reform this year.
Why should it be so hard to reform our standing immigration laws and offer the hope for fulfillment of the American dream to all those who live outside our borders? Why, when all standing economic predictions claim that it would be better for our country, can we not fix a clearly broken system and give the gift of opportunity to the tired, poor, huddled masses who seek a safe haven where they can achieve according to their own merits free from oppression? Why would we cling to such clearly immoral and dated laws...especially when the influx of minds and talents from countries near and far has proven time and time again in the past to be good for the United States?
Simple: it's bad for the Republican party. Bear with me on this one, because it would be a blatantly partisan and downright cruel thing to say if it weren't so obviously true.
It's long been politically expedient for the party out of power to make the case for their election by accusing the party in power of being ineffectual, incompetent, and corrupt. A little obstruction is implied, and both Democrats and Republicans quite shamelessly play this part, depending on who is in the Oval Office. However, in the past five years, the Republicans have learned an even more potent lesson: it is easier to blame someone for a bad situation that already exists than it is to take credit for a good situation that you only helped to create.
There are plenty of examples of good situations that they had an equal (or greater) hand in creating. The ACA is, at heart, a Republican fix for one of the most complicated problems the Unites States has ever faced. (The "free market has failed the medical and health insurance industry and good care can only be provided to the affluent or mildly affluent" problem) Rather than take credit for the recent successes that the law has brought, Republicans are now forced to cling to the party rhetoric and reiterate talking points so dirty they need to be washed every night.
Our rapidly falling deficits are another example of a good situation Republicans have helped create. While there will always be arguments between Keynesians, austerians, supply-siders, and the rest, we have record low deficits...that the President is now getting credit for.
Republican strategists know what happens if immigration is reformed: it turns into one more item on Barack Obama's résumé, just after falling deficits, health care reform, and the recovery act. There is no glory for the party that "finally relented and did the right thing" when national pressure was strong enough. No one recognized the courage it took for Speaker Boehner to bring the vote for a clean debt ceiling hike earlier this year. No one patted any Congressmen on the back when they finally voted to open the government in full after the shutdown last October.
Even if there was recognition to be had on the national level for a unified push toward immigration reform, that would leave Republican congressmen to return to their home districts at the midterms and ask their constituencies to send them back to Washington. Border state residents and other southerners - often frustrated by the increasing amount of Spanish they hear spoken day to day - are disinclined to vote someone back in office who can be primaried on the grounds that they are "pro-amnesty" or "soft on illegals." Even if it were good for the party to look pro-immigration (and it would be) it would be effectively a death sentence to congressmen in more xenophobic districts.
Quite the opposite, the Republican party stands to gain a lot from our broken immigration system. It costs them nothing politically to claim they "want reform, but not this way," or "are willing to compromise, but have little faith in the President to enforce the law." Talking points like these allow Republicans to look tough on amnesty while still looking reasonable to the casual observer...meanwhile, progressive groups across the nation continue to hammer the President for enforcing the existing law...with inhumane (and historic) mass deportations. It's the best of both worlds...for the Republicans, anyway.
This does create a situation where what is good for the Republican party is directly at odds with what is good for the United States and her citizenry. Considering how strongly the conservative media sites and congressman rail against such an obviously good idea as immigration reform, it's worth asking ourselves how many other issues in US politics today would be so clear-cut if not for a deluge of blatantly false propaganda.
So...sorry. Sorry, all you tired poor and huddled masses. Sorry, all you who dream of overcoming the circumstances of your birth to rise to the greatness you know is within you. Sorry, all those who hope to partake in a meritocracy where the country of their birth is not considered more important than their drive to succeed. Sorry, everyone who would like to come into our country legally and lawfully. Maybe once the Republicans get one of their own in the Oval Office, they won't have to have their arms twisted in order to do the right thing.
I'd have to disagree where you say it costs Republicans nothing politically...up to a point. It costs them nothing politically in the short term. In the long term, I'd argue it's costing them the party and they'll become the next Whig or American party. I also think the Republicans in leadership are aware (if not in denial) about this. That mostly stems from one big issue (which I'd be surprised if the politicians realized it.): The way politicians are currently elected. The country is so gerrymandered that every election they have to pander a little more to their base. (I'm slightly surprised the Democrats haven't had this issue as much, but I think it has to do with how the Republicans gerrymandered in 2010 inadvertently not affecting the Democrats as much, but I'm not sure. I'd be curious to see the progression of how the states where divided in the past 100 years.)
ReplyDeleteI'd say another thing thats hurting them, ironically, is money becoming more prevalent in the political system. Let's take for example the Koch Bros as they're the big names on the Republican side right now (that and I just finished listening to the audiobook "Sons of Wichita" which is all about them). They're main political drive is to minimize government as much as possible. Economically, I think they're closer to Anarcho-Capitalism than anything else. So they fund groups that want the government to take as little as possible from their pockets. However, a lot of people who think along these lines, also tend to come with certain other dispositions, like anti-immigration. (To be fair to the Koch Bros for a moment. As sociopathic as they may be on the economic side, they are socially liberal, being pro-gay rights and pro-immigration reform. It's just that to them, the economic side trumps the other). So, that forces the discussion in a certain direction for the Republicans.
Anyways, these are my two cents.
Where was that profile photo taken? love, your mother
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