In the eyes of Hispanic voters, promise and progress are not adding up.
Since Obama’s pledge in 2008 to implement immigration reform, the Dream Act failed to pass in the Senate at a time when Democrats had a strong foothold in both parts of Congress. Meanwhile, field and factory arrests have been substituted for “silent raids,” in which employers are forced to pick illegal immigrants off the payroll. Now, with thwarted deportations at less than 2 percent, and the number of immigrants expulsed at 400,000 per year of Obama’s term, the message is clear: promises are not enough.
“If the President genuinely wanted to fix the broken immigration system, he would respond to the growing chorus of voices calling for the suspension of the Secure Communities program and move to legalize instead of further criminalize our immigrant communities,” Pablo Alvarado, an executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said.
Despite all the frustration, Obama still has the lead over Romney.
“The evidence strongly suggests that President Obama is on track to receive roughly the same supermajority of the Hispanic vote that he did in 2008,” said William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Nevertheless, Obama has not taken this news as a means for complacency: on Monday, a $4 million Spanish-language ad campaign was launched to target Hispanic voters. The president also renewed his committment to immigration reform, assuring Americans of his passion for the issue.
“So what we need is a change either of Congress or we need Republicans to change their mind, and I think this has to be an important debate during — throughout the country,” Obama insisted.
Is this change we can believe in? Give us your input, collegietes–your votes and your opinions count!