Hispanic / Latino

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories from your Border Bulletin are as follows:

States Introduce Fewer Immigration Bills The number of immigration bills and resolutions appearing in state legislatures across the country declined steeply in the first quarter of this year, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Ciudad Juarez Back on Border Region Tourist Maps Ciudad Juarez is returning to maps featuring attractions for visitors to the U.S.-Mexico border region around El Paso after two years of being excluded due to a wave of drug-related violence.

Republicans’ Hispanic problem — in 2 Charts New data from an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll that show President Obama leading former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by 34 points among Hispanics set off a new round of speculation about whether Republicans can win in November if they can’t narrow that margin.

Mitt Romney's polling numbers with Hispanic voters are abysmal. The media has attributed this to his extreme statements on immigration. This is only part of the story. Romney's campaign outreach to Hispanics faces deep structural and policy deficits. His campaign does not have the necessary tools to present his best case to Hispanic voters. From a policy standpoint, his stance on the DREAM Act is complicated at best and his embrace of the Ryan Budget puts him at odds with Hispanic voters on education and Medicare.

Romney's sagging numbers in Florida and Obama's considerable lead among Hispanics in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona shrinks his electoral map path to victory. This electoral map reality makes Romney's lack of outreach to Hispanic voters all the more baffling.

Buzz Feed puts it best: "A full year after Romney launched his presidential bid, the campaign doesn't have a Spanish version of its website, nor has it hired a Spanish-speaking spokesperson. Romney boycotted a primary debate on Univision, leading to the event's collapse, and, to date, he has only done one sit-down interview on a national Spanish network."

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has constructed a Spanish language tumblr which mostly trashes the Obama Administration in Spanish. It is fine to disagree with the President's policy decisions, but to present no policy recommendations of your own is a bit hypocritical. Although you can't really blame the RNC for not presenting any policy recommendations for Hispanic voters, as Romney's campaign has not done so itself. Romney's campaign does not have a policy page yet because they have not worked out where they are on issues important to Hispanics. A perfect example of this is the DREAM Act.

Speaking at the White House's Cinco de Mayo reception, President Barack Obama called on Congress to pass the Dream Act --a measure deeply popular with Hispanic voters. The Romney campaign has repeatedly stated that he would veto the DREAM Act if it came to his desk as President. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a possible vice president pick for Romney, is currently advancing his own version of the legislation. Romney has declined to endorse the legislation and as of this writing was "studying" the legislation.

While immigration is important to Hispanics it is by no means the only issue they vote on, Medicare and education are deeply cherished institutions to this voting bloc. Romney is far to the right of where Hispanic voters are on both issues. Romney has publicly stated that Congressman Paul Ryan's budget plan was "Marvelous." His campaign has indicated that he would be running on a plan similar to Ryan's in the general election. The Ryan Plan certainly is marvelous, as long as you are fabulously wealthy. However for those in the country who rely on a good public education or Medicare it is disastrous.

On education, the Ryan/Romney Plan would eliminate money for 200,000 children in 2014, according to an analysis by the National Education Association. On Medicare, the Ryan/Romney Plan would cut spending on the poorest by about $5 trillion over 10 years from Medicaid and other programs that Hispanics and the rest of working class Americans use. On the other hand, the Ryan/Romney plan balances the budget on the back of the working middle class while giving $4 trillion in tax cuts to the most-wealthy Americans.

While some may disagree with this analysis, even a casual observer can see that the Romney campaign has put zero thought into their Hispanic outreach. The worst thing about Romney's presidential campaign is not their Tumblr page (which is actually an RNC production), nor their lack of Spanish language content/spokesmen, but rather there has been no new ideas about how a Romney Presidency would help Hispanics. Romney's team has indicated that the Hispanic vote is important, but when will he ever actually reach out to them? At this point is it even possible for Romney to reach out without flip flopping completely on past stances? It is perfectly O.K. if Romney wants to engage on other issues with the Hispanic community, he may have a great energy plan.... at this point he just needs to engage.

This is cross posted at the Huffington Post

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories from your Border Bulletin include:

Our non-existent immigration problem Tim Noah of The New Republic provides analysis on our non-existent national immigration problem.

The Arizona Immigration Law is Beside the Point An editorial notes that despite the fact that the Supreme Court is likely to uphold the most pernicious sections of SB1070, the real fight is just beginning.

How the Taco Gained in Translation Mexican American fast food expert gives a history lesson on how food from Mexico immigrated to the U.S. mainstream. 

With the Supreme Court likely to uphold portions of Arizona's infamous immigration law, the state will remain front and center in national headlines up until this year’s general election. While Hispanic voters in the state have no control over the Supreme Court’s decision, they will be able to have their voices heard at the Arizona ballot box in November.

The Obama campaign certainly believes that the agitation of Hispanic and independent voters in Arizona puts the state in play for the general election.  Historical evidence and recent polling indicate that the states may well be up for grabs this year. Putting Arizona's 11 electoral votes in play would not only shake up the electoral map but also send a clear message that extremist immigration laws are political poison.

In 2008 – with minimal investment from the Obama Campaign – the President commanded a large share of the Hispanic vote in Arizona, besting hometown Senator John McCain 56% to 41%. If the President can boost Hispanic turnout, the statewide electorate could become much more Democratic. With recent polling showing Arizona as a toss-up, a solid investment in Hispanic mobilization could make the state very competitive.

A recent NBC News/Marist Poll reveals that President Obama is only trailing in Arizona by 5 points. The real eye-popping numbers for the President, however, are the preferences of independent voters. Among independents in Arizona, the President outperforms Romney 45 percent to 36 percent, with 19 percent undecided. Another poll by the Merrill/Morrison Institute puts the race within the margin of error. 42 percent of Arizona registered voters preferred Mitt Romney, while 40 percent supported the President. With a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent, so if the election were held today the contest for Arizona’s 11 electoral votes would be a toss-up.

The real question on everyone's mind is; can an investment in maximizing the Hispanic vote in Arizona generate enough support to push Obama and down ticket Democrats over the top? Trends in Hispanic turnout from neighboring states with similar demographics suggest that these investments could pay off. Significant efforts to boost turnout in 2008 resulted in substantial increases in Hispanic voter participation.  Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada saw Hispanic voter participation increase by 33 percent, 62 percent and 32 percent respectively from 2004 to 2008. The overwhelming majority of that increased Hispanic vote went to Obama. The growing voter turnout from Hispanics helped the President carry all three of those states on his way to the White House, and this same dynamic could bring Arizona into the fold later this year.

Hispanics nationally are breaking nearly three to one for the President, if this holds true in Arizona increasing the vote of this population could swing the general election vote for more moderate voices in Arizona as well.  For the first time ever there is viable Hispanic Senatorial candidate in former Surgeon General Richard Carmona.

Carmona, a military veteran, has a huge lead with Hispanic voters. Politico notes that Hispanic voters favor him 61% – 25% percent statewide. Hispanic women are even more supportive, giving him a 70% – 14% advantage over Flake. At this point in the race he is an unknown quantity. Just 22 percent of voters can identify Richard Carmona, including just 19 percent of white voters, giving him room to expand support. The reality is the more Carmona is able to galvanize Hispanic support in Arizona the better off the Obama campaign will do in the state.

If any segment of the Arizona population should want to change the dynamic of the state’s political apparatus it would be Hispanics. The current political environment in Arizona is toxic for Hispanics, and has been hijacked by political extremists. For those in the state vested in sending a strong message to the country that Arizona is turning a corner on this brand of governance, voting against the likes of Jan Brewer, Joe Arpaio, and Russell Pearce would speak loud and clear. With the Supreme Court likely to uphold parts of SB1070, November will be the earliest that Arizona voters can let the country know where they truly stand on this law.

This is cross posted at Fox News Latino

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories from your Border Bulletin include:

Union challenges Alabama immigration law under NAFTA An international labor union and a Mexican labor lawyers group have filed a complaint challenging Alabama's immigration law under an international trade agreement.

Visa Plan Poses Bipartisan Test Two Senators have found much bipartisan agreement on the need to expand the number of visas given to highly skilled foreigners, however their legislation may be in trouble.

Drones at Mexican border have yet to prove worth Drones at Mexican Border are seen as an enhanced security mechanism by some others are saying they are a waste of taxpayer money.

Over the next several months the Supreme Court will hear arguments over Arizona's state-passed immigration law. Regardless of the outcome one thing should be very clear: the anti-immigrant movement has no long-term strategy to fix our broken immigration system. All these laws have done is create an environment which has stagnated conversation about repairing the systemic problems inherent in our non-functioning immigration system. The bottom line: state-passed laws by design cannot and will not ever reform an immigration system which needs a uniform overhaul from Congress.

Any law which seeks to fix the problems associated with undocumented immigration in our country must deal with three issues on a national scale: 1) how best to enforce our immigration laws; 2) how to deal with those undocumented immigrants currently here; and 3) create a process for moving future flows of legal immigration into and out of the country.

The Obama Administration has already made significant movement on the enforcement part of this strategy. Deportations are at a record high level and undocumented immigration into the country is at a net zero. Most importantly, between 2009 and 2010 for the first time in decades the undocumented population actually dropped, and has remained stagnant to date. In fact in a huge reversal, more Mexican undocumented migrants are leaving the country then are entering it. Despite the strides made, there are those who see state-passed immigration laws as a legitimate fix for our broken immigration system. Playing the devil's advocate, let us envision a scenario in which the Supreme Court upholds SB1070.

Using simple arithmetic, 36 of 51 states have attempted to pass anti-immigration laws similar to Arizona SB1070. However, only six of the thirty six proposals or around16% have actually passed. This suggests that even if the Supreme Court sets a precedent by finding these laws constitutional, it is highly unlikely that anything close to a majority of the states would pass their own immigration laws. Under this scenario removing immigrants currently in this country without documentation would be all but impossible.

A patchwork of state-passed immigration laws will not remove immigrants from the country. The evidence suggests it merely causes them to move from one state to another. Carrying this proposed scenario out further, if states were given constitutional authority to generate mass deportations or to implement a system which compels self-deportation, they would still be reliant on federal enforcement resources and financial support.

From a basic process standpoint states do not have the legal means or resources to deport immigrants. Deportations are a controlled process with specific and expensive steps which must be adhered to. States who attempt to deport on their own would find themselves in a morass of legal red tape coupled with staggering costs. It can cost anywhere from $12,500 to $23,480 to deport one immigrant. Estimates show that deporting the population of undocumented immigrants already in this country could cost as much as $285 billion.

A patchwork of state-passed immigration laws does nothing to fix the utterly broken process of legal immigration into the country. The majority of undocumented immigrants in the country are Visa overstays who came into the country legally. The number of immigrants who apply to come in legally far outnumbers the allocations for visas currently given. Even if possible, deporting all of the undocumented immigrants in the country would accomplish nothing, if the process of legally moving people into and out of the country is not fixed. On their own states simply cannot do this. Any scenario which finds state-passed immigration laws constitutional will only bring the country right back to where we are now, dealing with an immigration system that doesn't work.

The rise of the state-passed immigration movement has been an ideological dead end for the country and a stagnation of real conversation around reforming our current system. The Supreme Court case matters, not just because of the precedent it will set, but because upholding these laws would only give Congressional Republicans the ability to continue to shirk their duty to come to the table and fix our immigration system. Regardless of whether or not the Supreme Court strikes down some or all of SB1070, the inescapable fact remains, states individually will never be able to fix the larger problems associated with our immigration system. Most assuredly, with time the Court's decision will only reinforce a simple fact: the only entity that can fix the mess we are in is Congress.

This has been cross posted on The Huffington Post HERE.

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories from your Border Bulletin include:

Arizona lawmaker defends immigration law in Senate: Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing opening arguments on SB1070, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the constitutionality of Arizona's papers please immigration law.

Democrats plan to force vote on Arizona immigration law if it’s upheld by court: At the hearing Senator Charles Schumer revealed that Democrats would be scheduling a vote to overturn Arizona's state passed law.

Russell Pearce: I 'Absolutely' Believe Romney Called SB 1070 A 'Model': Finally Russell Pearce, the architect and only politician in the history of Arizona to ever be recalled has said that he thinks Mitt Romney was talking about Sb1070 when he cited Arizona as a model for the country.

Your Daily Border Bulletin is up! Stories Featured in your Border Bulletin are as follows:

High court hears Arizona immigration dispute This week the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over Arizona's controversial immigration law SB1070, the outcome of this case will have significant ramifications for the country.

Supreme Court will hear 2 strikingly different views ​The Supreme Court case will touch upon whether or not states have the right to enforce their own immigration laws.

More Mexicans returning home, fewer coming to U.S. ​Finally stepped up immigration enforcement and a deep recession has resulted in the lowest undocumented immigration statistics in ages.

The Supreme Court debate over SB1070 Arizona’s immigration law is likely to have a significant impact in the coming general election. The candidate’s stances on the law are sure to be litmus tests for many Hispanic voters. While the President is firmly against the law, Mitt Romney’s stance shines a harsh light on his ties to many of the authors of the bill, his serious problems with Hispanic voters, and further validates his reputation as a political opportunist.

By all accounts Romney was a moderate Republican Governor; however in a brutal primary in an attempt to placate Tea Party Republicans suspicious of his campaign he took hard right stances on immigration issues. A recent NBC/WSJ poll reports that Romney’s favorability gap with Hispanic is at 23 percent  favorable 42 percent unfavorable. A CNN/Opinion Research Poll reports that 71 percent of Hispanic’s polled are opposed to the bill. Unsurprisingly Romney has begun toning down his rhetoric on this issue, however what he is saying and doing has been two different things.  Nowhere is this more apparent than his stance on SB1070. 

To his credit Romney has begun to distance himself from immigration hardliners including Kris Kobach the author of SB1070.  Despite Romney’s statements to the otherwise, Kobach claims he still advises the campaign on immigration daily. Romney has also begun to embrace more Hispanic vote, as a senior advisor to his campaign.

He has even floated Florida Senator Marco Rubio as a possible VP pick, a decision that is already paying dividends.  Rubio recently gave Romney cover on a controversial statement he made in a primary debate about Arizona’s law being a model for the country. Rubio recently said that he does not believe that the law should be a model for the country. The Romney campaign then clarified his previous statement, saying that their candidate was referring to E-Verify, an employment verification tool, not SB1070 and that Romney’s views were consistent with Rubio’s.

Despite clarifying his comments on Arizona’s immigration law Romney is not shying away from his connections to the drafters of the policy. He has received the endorsements of the bills authors and main supporters in Russell Pearce, Kris Kobach and Jan Brewer. Why, because after alienating women and Hispanic voters, he needs the conservative wing of his party if he has any chance of winning this election.  In another example of actions speaking louder then his words two days before the Supreme Court was set to hear opening arguments, Romney held several fundraisers and a rally in Arizona. Since his campaign has skillfully obscured his position on the Arizona law, the real question for the general election is what roles are Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Governor Jan Brewer, Sheriff Paul Babeu and Senator Russell Pearce going to play in the national campaign this fall?  

For general election voters broadly and Hispanic voters in particular this is just another instance of Mitt Romney trying to have it both ways. He accepts the endorsement of the authors of the legislation, yet attempts to muddy his views on the legislation. Who knows exactly what Romney thinks as he is only speaking through his campaign, and they are parroting another politicians stance. In the end Congressman Xavier Becerra, said it best, “There’s a saying in Spanish that says it all: Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres. Tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are.  We now know who Mitt Romney is.” 

This piece originally ran on NBC Latino

NDN and The New Policy Institute is proud of our report, “Realizing the Full Value of Tourism from Mexico to the United States,” which came just in time to help inform a recent Presidential executive order designed to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States.

As part of this executive order the Department of Interior and Commerce turned in recommendations on how to increase tourism into the United States. Below please find a letter written by the United States – Mexico Border Association urging the White House to include Mexico, the Southwest and increased border infrastructure spending in the new tourism plan.

Please click the link for the full letter:  U.S. Mexico Border Mayors Letter To White House