Immigration

Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney flip-flops on immigration

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Romneyvsromney_PhelanMEbenhack_reuters After avoiding directly answering any questions from the media about his position on immigration policy since last Friday when President Obama announced his "DREAM Act-Lite" policy, Willard "Mittens" Romney today finally stated his position at the annual conference of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).

Romney spent months attacking his Republican primary rivals for being soft on illegal immigration. Today he called for loosening some immigration restrictions and reiterated a proposal for a path to legal status for some in the United States illegally who have served in the military. Romney calls for loosening immigration restrictions:

Romney said he wants to open the country to more legal foreign workers. But he said he did not plan on keeping in place the new order by President Obama halting deportations of hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants brought to the country when they were children.

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“Some people have asked if I will let stand the president’s executive order,” Romney added. “The answer is that I will put in place my own long-term solution that will replace and supersede the president’s temporary measure.”

Riiight. Mr. "Self Deport" who said he would veto any DREAM Act if it came to him as president is suddenly going to propose a "long-term solution" to immigration that would allow more foreign workers into the country? Romney's anti-immigrant policy advisor Kris Kobach, the author of SB 1070, must have had a stroke when he heard that.

These Latino legislators are not stupid, Mittens, they know you are willing to say anything in a pathetic attempt to pander to them.

Utah’s conservative GOP Attorney General supports Obama’s immigration policy

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It is Arizona that is extremist and an outlier on immigration reform. States like Utah have been leading the way with sane and humane immigration reform proposals, like the "Utah Compact." Official text of Utah Compact declaration on immigration reform. It is time for Arizonans to stop listening to politicians who dehumanize, demonize and scapegoat undocumented immigrants with their hateful demagoguery.

Sen. John McCain said in 2008, before he became an embittered sore loser, "So let’s from time to time remember that these are God’s children. They must come to our country legally, but they have enriched our culture and our nation as every generation of immigrants before them." And as President Obama said yesterday, "We're a better nation than one that expels innocent young kids."

Greg Sargent interviewed Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s conservative Republican Attorney General for this post. Utah’s GOP attorney general: Obama immigration move totally within his power:

A number of Republican officials and conservatives have responded to Obama’s immigration announcement by attacking it on process grounds, arguing that the decision to circumvent Congress was an abuse of power, an affront to democracy, and even unconstitutional — and could encourage further lawbreaking.

But in an interview with me just now, Mark Shurtleff, Utah’s conservative Republican attorney general, dismissed those objections, arguing the move was perfectly within Obama’s powers, good law enforcement policy, and even a “conservative” solution.

“This is clearly within the president’s power,” Shurtleff said. “I was pleased when the president announced it.”

Obama’s DREAM of discretion

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By Michael Bryan From the over-heated rhetoric coming from the Right, you might think that Obama had executed a coup using illegal aliens as storm troopers in announcing new prosecutorial priorities in removal procedures (PDF link) in lieu of Congressional action on the DREAM Act. Here's what some GOP pols here in Arizona are saying about … Read more

Governor Brewer throws a temper tantrum, gets it wrong on Obama immigration policy

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Brewer_hateThe woman who got elected governor by wrapping her arms around SB 1070 and fostering hatred for brown people, Jan Brewer, clearly gets her news from The Drudge Report and FAUX News fraudcasting where they just make shit up.

This sad, pathetic woman seems to be under the delusion that President Obama granted "amnesty" to the brown people she hates. He did not.

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Brewer decries Obama “backdoor amnesty” policy:

Gov. Jan Brewer decried President Barack Obama’s new DREAM Act-style immigration policy as “backdoor amnesty” intended to undermine SB1070 and bolster his political support for his re-election bid.

Speaking to reporters during a rare press conference in the Executive Tower, Brewer, one of Obama’s most nationally prominent critics on immigration and border security policy, said the president’s announcement set a dangerous distraction from the need to secure the border.

“Most importantly, this unilateral act was a preemptive strike against the United States Supreme Court and its decision on Senate Bill 1070, which may come as early as this Monday,” she said. “It doesn’t take a cynic to recognize this action for what it is: blatant political pandering by a president desperate to shore up his political base.”

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“The crux of Senate Bill 1070, of course, is documentation. And what he has done by his announcement today is that he’s going to give documentation to nearly one million people who have arrived into our country illegally and not by the rule of law,” she said.

Obama’s announcement comes just three days after Brewer issued an executive order reiterating her 2010 call for law enforcement to be properly trained in the enforcement of SB1070. Once the Supreme Court rules on the law, Brewer said the state will “have to really drill down and look at exactly what they are about to embark upon.”

“We’ve got a lot of work on our plate,” she said.

President Obama acts, fulfils a DREAM

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Steve Benen reports today that Obama moves on immigration, fulfils a DREAM:

President Obama will announce today one of the biggest moves of his presidency on immigration policy, and in the process, will offer needed relief to hundreds of thousands of families.

The Obama administration will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives. The election-year initiative addresses a top priority of an influential Latino electorate that has been vocal in its opposition to administration deportation policies.

The policy change, described to The Associated Press by two senior administration officials, will affect as many as 800,000 immigrants who have lived in fear of deportation. It also bypasses Congress and partially achieves the goals of the so-called DREAM Act, a long-sought but never enacted plan to establish a path toward citizenship for young people who came to the United States illegally but who have attended college or served in the military.

For all the talk about Obama's reluctance to take bold moves on key progressive policies, this is a major breakthrough. The president is going to face fierce condemnations from the right, but to his credit, it appears Obama is going to do it anyway.

Every year, tens of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants graduate from American high schools, but quickly find themselves stuck. They can't qualify for college aid, and they can't work legally. America is the only home they've ever known — in most cases, they were, at a very young age, brought into the country illegally by their parents — but at 18, they have few options. Many face deportation.

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How does this relate to Obama's new move? The president, no longer willing to wait for a dysfunctional and far-right Congress, will effectively implement the DREAM Act's goals on his own — which is arguably the boldest thing he's done since the 2010 midterms.

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Anti-immigrant Republicans will no doubt be apoplectic, but they live in a perpetual state of outrage anyway, and Obama wasn't getting anywhere waiting for them to strike a broader compromise.

The GOP pander to Hispanic voters continues to fail with blunders like this: the RNC Latino site features photos of Asian children. RNC Latino Site Features Stock Photo of Asian Children.

GOP-Ad

When you are living in a lily-white country club gated community, I guess people of color all look alike to them.

UPDATE: Greg Sargent writes Obama leapfrogs GOP DREAM Act:

This could have far-reaching implications for the presidential race, and could complicate GOP efforts to make inroads among Latinos, a crucial constituency in key states Obama needs[.]