Luis Gutierrez: Obama told me to tell you he supports immigration "reform"; amnesty supporters heartened

Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times offers "Immigration-overhaul supporters hope their hour has come/With Obama in office, a sympathetic Cabinet and more Democrats in Congress, supporters hope to revive a reform package next year. But the economic downturn sparks worry about protecting U.S. workers" (link). She quotes various "immigrant advocates" who think that the Obama win will mean that comprehensive immigration reform is more likely. In fact:

In a national teleconference Thursday, Rep. (Luis Gutierrez) (D-Ill.), said Obama had asked him to relay that he remains committed to a comprehensive solution to repair the nation's immigration system (aka amnesty). Advocates said Obama's Cabinet appointments were a promising sign that he was assembling a strong team to deliver on reform promises, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as secretary of Commerce, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of Homeland Security and, announced Thursday, Rep. (Hilda Solis) (D-El Monte) as secretary of Labor... In the Chicago area, Gutierrez said, Roman Catholic and evangelical churches have begun mobilizing thousands of citizens to support immigration reform by publicizing the hardship they face waiting for loved ones to receive entry visas...

Watanabe also quotes Jorge Mario Cabrera of CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles) and Frank Sharry of Americas Voice:

[Sharry] said that Democrats who favored a comprehensive reform approach beat Republicans advocating only border control and other enforcement measures in 20 of 22 congressional races in such battleground states as Colorado and New Mexico. Those results were in part driven by Latino voters, who doubled their turnout over 2000, supported President-elect Barack Obama over Republican nominee John McCain 67% to 31% and helped Democrats win, in addition to Colorado and New Mexico, other swing states such as Florida and Nevada, Sharry said.

Checking his math is left as an exercise; note also that Watanabe uses the phrase "illegal migrants". While I haven't noticed that before, apparently the LAT has used it since at least 2003.

Fri, 12/19/2008 - 12:44 · · Importance: 19