Why don't blacks desert the Democrat Party over this issue?
>Immigration Is the Question
How '08 Hopefuls Answer
Could Take Them Far
By JUNE KRONHOLZ
November 19, 2007
CHARITON, Iowa -- Barack Obama had just ended his stump speech before a friendly audience in this tiny southern Iowa town when Stephen Scott's hand shot up with a question. Would Mr. Obama, as president, have signed last summer's failed "amnesty bill" for illegal immigrants, Mr. Scott, a local landscape painter, asked testily.
Mr. Obama cautiously walked through a long answer that ended with a plan to give legal status to long-established illegal immigrants. "There. Another question," he said, shutting down discussion.
IN THE BALANCE
• The Issue: Party strategists believe that Hispanic voters could ensure the election of a Democratic president and the cementing of a Democratic majority.
• The Problem: The party risks alienating other key constituencies if it appears soft on illegal immigration.
• What to Watch For: Republicans and some Democrats are pressing immigration votes in Congress to highlight their positions.The debate over how to deal with illegal immigrants split the Republican Party two years ago, infuriating its social-conservative base. It could be even more perilous for Democrats.
"This election could turn on this issue if we don't handle it intelligently," says Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Democratic presidential candidate. After a recent Iowa City foreign-policy speech, four of the 30 questions passed up to him from the audience were about immigration.
A pro-immigration policy risks alienating other Democratic constituencies.
"A heck of a lot of middle-class Democrats feel they're being overwhelmed [by illegal immigrants] and they're reacting the same as Republicans, only they're more ashamed to say so," says University of Virginia political scientist James Ceaser.
Democrats also risk setting off a "rivalry between the minorities" if they tilt toward Hispanics with their immigration policy, says the University of Virginia's Mr. Ceaser. The rise of Hispanic political power has come largely at the expense of African Americans, and Hispanic immigrants have largely replaced blacks in some industries, including construction.
Miami Urban League president T. Willard Fair, among the few black leaders who speak openly about the effects of illegal immigration on African-Americans, says "there is an undercurrent" of resentment in his community. Blacks aren't likely to leave the Democratic party over it, he says, and they're reluctant to publicly oppose immigration because of their own civil rights history. But "all you have to do is take a walk to the neighborhood bar to hear the talk," he says.
Democrats further angered many voters by proposing some benefits for illegal immigrants before producing any economic relief for worried middle-class voters, adds Mr. Brodnitz.
Polls regularly show a majority of Americans resigned to legalizing immigrants if the process includes penalties and is balanced by improved border and workplace enforcement. But polls also show that Americans are outraged about government benefits for illegal immigrants, which makes framing a campaign message tricky for the Democrats. |
