September 13, 2006

House Democrats agenda excludes immigration "reform"

The House Democrats have created a 25-page agenda document called "A New Direction for America" that represents a consensus of their thinking. However, it excludes any mention of immigration or the "reform" thereof. Presumably that's because they're afraid to come right out and admit that almost every Democratic leader fully supports illegal immigration.

Needless to say, this has the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in an uproar.

Those angered include Rep. Luis Gutierrez. As discussed at that link, he has connections with an offical from a Mexican political party.

And, Rep. Loretta Sanchez: "I think immigration is a big issue... It's a big issue to the Hispanic community. They deserve some sort of answer on where the Democrats are on immigration... [Rep. Jose] Serrano believes the book reflects a plan for the Democrats of the future... [he] wanted a plan about immigration in there, [or] maybe just a note that immigrants are important to the country..."

Then, we get the "racial solidarity with illegal aliens" part:

Serrano said that while many of the immigrants who would benefit from reform cannot vote, Hispanic citizens who do vote perceive attacks on immigrants as attacks on their heritage. Serrano said it is important that Democrats show they care about immigrants.

"We have to let people like me who are citizens know that we're not ignoring the others," he said, adding that any token of recognition would be important.

As with blacks, do the Democrats really have much to lose from giving extremist Hispanics such as Gutierrez the cold shoulder? It's not like the GOP is going to pick up too many far-left votes. Those would instead go to the Greens or the Peace & Freedom parties. They might lose some GOTV workers, but that's about it. And, they'd pick up votes from mainstream, patriotic Americans who don't support illegal immigration or appreciate ethnic nationalism.

On the other hand, perhaps the Democrats should be strongly encouraged to "reach out" to the "immigrant" community. Time for Biff to do his magic.

Sidenote: the 2004 GOP platform mentioned Bush's plan over American objections.

Posted to Immigration at September 13, 2006 08:46 PM

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