NDN Backgrounder: Immigration Reform

As President Barack Obama and Administration officials prepare to meet with congressional leadership about the issue next Wednesday, June 17, NDN offers key commentary, demographic and electoral analysis and polling data on why Congress can and should pass comprehensive immigration reform this year with wide, bipartisan public support.

A Brief Overview of Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Current Political Landscape

• Making the Case: 7 Reasons Congress Should Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform this Year, Huffington Post, 4/30/09 - Rosenberg argues that the answer to whether Congress can pass reform this year is "yes."

• Making the Case for Passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform This Year, (PDF) by Simon Rosenberg, 2/19/09 - Rosenberg lays out the basic foundation for why Congress must pass comprehensive immigration reform. This summary is a good introduction for those wanting to learn the fundamentals of this issue.

• The GOP's Impossible Dream: Republicans Can't Win Without Latino Support in Millennial Era, Mike Hais, 6/10/09 - Hais writes that on his fivethirtyeight.com Web site, Nate Silver recently raised the possibility that the Republican Party could more effectively compete in the 2012 and 2016 elections by turning its back on Hispanics and attempting to maximize the support of white voters in enough 2008 Midwestern and Southern blue states to flip them red. The Republican Party rode similar exclusionary strategies to dominance of U.S. politics during most of the past four decades. But America has entered a new era.

• NDN Backgrounder on Judge Sotomayor and Our Changing Demography, Melissa Merz, 5/26/09 - In response to President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court, Merz compiles key NDN commentary and analysis on the great demographic changes taking place in America today.

• NDN Backgrounder: 21st Century Demographics, the GOP on Race and the Long Road Back, Melissa Merz, 5/20/09 - NDN has been writing and talking about the state of the conservative movement and the deterioration of the Republican Party for many years. Merz compiles this backgrounder that includes commentary and analysis on the end of the conservative ascendancy and the Southern Strategy, a Republican Party adrift, the long road back for the GOP and more.

• Latinos Vote in 2008: Analysis of U.S. Presidential Exit Polls (PDF), Andres Ramirez, 1/18/09 - Ramirez provides an overview of the Hispanic electorate in key states from the 2008 presidential election. The analysis concludes that Hispanics participated in record numbers in this election cycle, increasing their turnout from the 2004 election;  Hispanics significantly shifted towards the Democratic nominee in 2008, reversing trends from the 2000 and 2004 presidential election cycles; Hispanics played a key role in Obama’s victory in Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico; Hispanics are poised to make other states competitive in future elections; and if these trends continue, the national map will continue to get harder for Republicans.

Polling on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Shows Consistent Support for Reform

• Recent Polling on Immigration Reform, Benenson Strategy Group, 6/2/09 - Since a previous America's Voice poll in November, Pete Brodnitz of the Benenson Stratagey Group finds that support for comprehensive reform has been stable (and high), but increasing numbers of voters see the economic benefit of passing comprehensive immigration reform.

• Results of Spring 2009 Focus Groups on Immigration, Lake Research Partners, 6/1/09 - Focus groups conducted by Lake Research Partners show a public that is ready for comprehensive immigration reform. Though immigration is a lower priority than the economy, voters strongly agree that the system is broken and needs to be fixed.

• National Survey of Hispanic Voters on Immigration Policy, Bendixen & Associates, 5/18/09 - Bendixen & Associates conducted a poll for America's Voice that comprehensively documents Hispanic voters' view on immigration policy.

• NDN Polls on Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Battleground States, 9/10/08 - NDN conducts polling in key presidential battleground states, that show overwhelming support for comprehensive immigration reform.

Other Resources

• The 50-Year Strategy (PDF), Simon Rosenberg and Peter Leyden, Mother Jones, November 2007 - Rosenberg and Leyden lay out a grand strategy for how today's Democrats can build a lasting electoral majority and today's progressives could seize the new media, build off new constituencies like Hispanics and the Millennial Generation, and solve the urgent governing challenges of our times.