Publicado el 08-03-2012
The Hispanic Vote and
the Immigration Issue
Much is said about how important the Hispanic vote will be in the November presidential election and about the efforts that both candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are doing to get it.
Experts seem to agree in that the issue of an immigration reform could influence the Hispanic voters at the time of casting their ballot. That is why it is timely to remember what has been attempted until now to fix the problem of the twelve million undocumented aliens, mostly Hispanic, who live in the United States.
In 2007, during the Bush Administration, Congress discussed a bill (S 1348) known as the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007, that would have granted legal status to the undocumented immigrants that were living in the United States. The bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate on May 9, 2007, but was never voted on. The bill was based largely on three previous failed efforts, the one known as the McCain-Kennedy Bill of 2005 (S1033); the one known as the Cornyn-Kyl Bill (S 1438), also of 2005, and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 (S 2611) sponsored by Senator Allen Specter, which was passed in the Senate in May 2006, but never passed in the House of Representatives.
The above proves how complex the problem is and also how difficult it will be for either of the presidential candidates who wins, to do something about it. When Obama was running in 2008 he promised an immigration reform during his first year in office, something that, obviously, did not happen and, as far as we know, something that he not even attempted.
Hispanic voters should not vote thinking about what the winning candidate might do on behalf of the twelve million undocumented aliens, because this is a very controversial issue for both parties and, in spite of what the candidates might promise, the next president will face a long battle with Congress in order to do something positive.
The voters of Hispanic origin should vote in November thinking, above all, about the high interests of the nation and about whom the candidate is that could do more to get the country out of the precarious financial situation in which it now is. Once the economy is running well, other important issues can be tackled.
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