DREAM Act student activists (Jeff Topping/REUTERS)
Democratic members of Congress who are participating in a campaign led by Hispanic Democrats to stop deportations of students who grew up in the U.S. and would have been covered by the DREAM Act say that the White House is
actively resisting their efforts.
Several members of Congress who were scheduled to attend a March 31 news conference on the issue said administration officials contacted them to voice concern about their participation. Until U.S. immigration law is overhauled, the lawmakers say, Obama should use his executive power to protect families facing deportation or separation because at least one parent is an illegal immigrant.
“The staffers that are attached to us, the liaisons, they transmitted some concern,” said Representative Mike Honda of California, a former chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, referring to the White House legislative affairs office. “They would have loved us not to have gone to the press conference.”
Honda, a Japanese-American, attended with other officials, including Asian and black lawmakers, even after getting a call, because it’s “not only about Hispanics,” he said. “I want to broaden that so people don’t think just brown.”
At least three Democrats -- Representatives Honda, Judy Chu of California and Keith Ellison of Minnesota -- said they were contacted about the event. Representatives Yvette Clarke of New York and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who, like Ellison, are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, were scheduled to attend and didn’t, according to their offices. Neither Clarke nor Lee could be reached for comment....
The absences were noted by members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. “I heard some people got called,” said Arizona Representative Raul Grijalva, a former president of the caucus. “I didn’t.”
The lawmakers are asking the White House “to make some administrative remedies to lessen the pain,” Grijalva said. “They see that as politically not healthy for them.”
Offering relief to illegal immigrants through executive fiat, and not legislation, could anger voters worried about the estimated 11.2 million undocumented residents in the U.S. It may also undermine Obama’s argument that he favors a comprehensive immigration overhaul through Congress.
The White House, for its part, says it doesn't have the legal authority to suspend deportation by executive order and that comprehensive immigration reform will have to be the answer to keeping families together. In a televised town hall organized by Univsion last week, Obama said an executive order halting deportations "would not conform with my appropriate role as president." That's a frustrating message for proponents of a sane, humane immigration enforcement policy to hear, particularly given the record number of deportations carried out in this administration.
With 2012 looming, this position might deserve some rethinking.
The challenge for Democrats in 2012 will be to keep those voters energized, as polls show their support for the party has softened, said Matt Barreto, a pollster at the University of Washington in Seattle.
A February survey by Latino Decisions, a research center focusing on Hispanic voting patterns, showed that 52 percent of registered Latino voters thought Democrats were doing a “good job” of reaching out to Hispanics, compared with 18 percent for Republicans.
“The Democrats are certainly doing a better job than Republicans,” said Barreto, “but that’s only 52 percent for the Democrats. That’s the bad news.”
“If it’s perceived that the White House is trying to hush up people for standing up for immigrants, that could have a significant backlash in 2012,” he said. “Latinos are not going to vote Republican for sure, but they aren’t going to be enthusiastic for the Democrats.”