Defeat of immigration measure reveals failed White House strategy, advocates say

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...l?hpid=topnews

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 18, 2010; 12:55 PM

Whenever Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and other immigrant-rights advocates asked President Obama how a Democratic administration could preside over the greatest number of deportations in any two-year period in the nation's history, Obama's answer was always the same.

Deporting almost 800,000 illegal immigrants might antagonize some Democrats and Latino voters, Obama's skeptical supporters said the president told them, but stepped-up enforcement was the only way to buy credibility with Republicans and generate bipartisan support for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

On Saturday that strategy was in ruins after Senate Democrats could muster only 55 votes in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a measure that would have created a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. Under Senate rules, Democrats needed 60 votes to overcome Republican opposition to the bill. The House of Representatives had passed the measure earlier this month, 216 to 198.

The irony of the DREAM Act's failure is that it had strong bipartisan support at the start of the administration, and advocates believed it could generate momentum for more controversial policy changes.

But as the country's mood shifted on the issue of illegal immigration, support among Republicans and some Democratic senators evaporated, with many decrying it as backdoor amnesty for lawbreakers. Even a former co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), voted against it.

"This law, at its fundamental core, is a reward for illegal activity,'' said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who led Republican opposition to the measure. "This is an amnesty bill because it provides every possible benefit, including citizenship, to those who are in the country illegally.''

Virtually no one believes immigration overhaul is possible in the next two years, given the views of many members of the incoming Republican majority in the House.

Now many immigrant-rights supporters are second-guessing the president's efforts to woo Republicans by ramping up deportations.

"It is a strategy which has borne no fruits whatsoever," Gutierrez said. "This administration has unilaterally led the march on enforcement, yet the other side has not given one modicum of compromise."

"If you really want to bring Republicans to the table," he added, "so long as they are getting everything they want, every piece of enforcement, why, why would they come to the table?" At a recent press briefing, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano denied that the administration had increased deportations to bring Republicans to the bargaining table.

"I don't view it as a quid pro quo," Napolitano said. "We enforce the law because we took an oath to enforce the law."


But a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly, said that although there was no explicit quid pro quo, the administration had indeed hoped that tougher enforcement could create a new climate where legislative compromise became easier. "One of the arguments that gets trotted out regularly is that the government can't do its job," the official said. "We believe the government can do its job, and our work hopefully is evidence of that."

Being tough enough


Latino groups pushed hard for passage of the DREAM Act, mobilizing thousands of students to campaign for the measure across the nation and the Washington area. They went on hunger strikes, conducted prayer vigils, and organized holiday food drives and Thanksgiving dinners with citizens.

The DREAM Act would have given hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants brought to the United States before age 16 a chance to gain legal status if they have been here for five years, have graduated from high school, have no criminal record and attend college or serve in the military for two years.

"I am not asking for just a vote for the DREAM act today," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who tried, along with Gutierrez, Napolitano, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and others, to round up enough Republican votes for passage. "From some of my colleagues, I am asking for much more -- I am asking for a vote of political courage."

But the Obama administration miscalculated conservative antipathy on the subject of immigration, said a senior Democratic Hill staffer, speaking on the condition of anonymity since he was not authorized to talk about the issue. Even as the administration stepped up deportations, conservatives charged Obama with being too soft on the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.

"Short of marching these people naked over the border at the point of a bayonet, there is no such thing as being tough enough" for those who want to target illegal immigrants, the staffer said
Immigrant-rights advocates believe the issue will reverberate through the 2012 elections. Obama will have to persuade Latinos -- who turned out for him in record numbers in key states in 2008 -- to do so again, despite the lack of progress on legislative initiatives. For Obama to get into trouble, Hispanics don't have to switch sides on election day - they just have to stay home, Latino leaders said.

Republicans, meanwhile, have discovered that they can talk tough on immigration and still appeal to Latino voters by picking conservative Hispanic candidates. That produced three significant Republican victories in 2010: Marco Rubio captured a Senate seat in Florida and Susana Martinez won a gubernatorial race in New Mexico, as did Brian Sandoval in Nevada. Rubio is already being mentioned by some as a vice presidential pick.

Pain without gain


Ali Noorani, who heads the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant-rights group, said Obama faces a dilemma going forward.

Republicans would now cry foul if the administration eased up on deportations, he said. But Latinos are losing patience with a strategy that has produced pain without gain for their families and communities.

"The administration is in a pickle of epic proportions," Noorani said. "They are going to feel incredible pressure in the House to increase enforcement, and the record shows they will continue to increase enforcement of a broken immigration system. On the other hand, candidate Obama will need those same Latinos, Asians and other immigrant voters to come out for him in record numbers. How do they square that circle?"

The senior White House official said the administration has no plans to pull back on enforcement just because Republicans were unlikely to support a bipartisan overhaul of immigration laws in the next two years.

"In the short term, there is not a lot of evidence [Republicans] will come forward, but our response is not going to be to dismantle immigration enforcement," the official said

So, my question is this? What is going to happen to people who were given a reprieve from their final order of deportation? Execution of the orders were put on hold because of the pending DA vote, but that was always speculative, and now we know that it's failed. What is to happen to people like Abbadon (sp)? He is just as American as all those others that were put in the media, why can't he stay?

This doesn't make it any easier to plan for the future.

Wait to see what happens next as far as CIR and stay in the Country? Or play by their rules and start the 10 year process of never seeing friends and family in the states. ?

Seems like something will happen in the next 10 years. But at the same time if you are 25 and older you are running out of time fast.

As much as it was Senate that failed to block the filibuster, it was Obama who clearly promised that he will pursue CIR in the late 2008-early 2o09. He has made absolutely no effort for 2 years. The only time he was yet enthusiastic about Dream Act was only recently merely to get Hispanic votes for 2010 election.

Let's look at the bottom line shall we?
2008: Obama: I promise to pursue CIR ASAP when I become president
2009: Obama: I will do this in the next 6 months
2010: Obama: Oh I can't do it because republicans filibuster
2011: Obama: Can't do it because of house
2012: Obama: Can't do it but vote for me for president and I promise to do it in when I'm in office again

Do you see the pattern?

It's puzzling how Dream + CIR would not pass, Dream Act + Defense Act was a no go and now Dream Act by itself still would not pass...... Mr Choi the Dentist laments while Mr Choi the homo rejoices.

I disagree with the title. The white house has put in alot of effort to get the dream act to pass, Like Guiterrez said, they stepped up enforcement and gave the republicans pretty much everything they wanted yet this. The President advocated more for the dream act than DADT. These republicans are just not caving in. What baffles me is if Reid and Durbin already knew they did not have enough votes why still take it in. It's baffling.

Reading previous post, I have to say, most of you might as well be Republicans, with all your constant "No no no not going to happen no no no forget about it." I swear. There's a reason DADT repeal succeeded: the LGBT didn't give up! They had their defeats & they kept going, not stopping & they got what they wanted. But, one DREAM acr defeat and all of you immediately go into "f*** this" mode. It sucks, yes. But you're seriously giving up when a battle, now the war, is lost? You're giving the anti-immigration people exctly what they want: for you to give up, keep being oppressed, helpless, ect... If you're giving up, so easily, sorry, but do you even DESERVE to have your Green Card? Call me stupid, or whatever you want, but that isn't going to make you smarter. Point is we have to keep fighting, they can't get away with this. Let's learn from the DADT repeal movement & keep pushing until we get what we want! More pressure!!

But, if you're going to whine, & bitch, & moan, then... Get. The. Fuck. Out. And go be bitter & pessimistic in your country of origin. With the disatisfaction that you gave the Republicanss, and anti-immigrants EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANTED.

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One DREAM ACT DEFEAT???? ONE?????? You must be in la la land or a fucking retard. Dream Act's been drafted since 2001 and keeps getting shut down each time, atleast 3times.....DADT - 2006, you tell me they put in more effort? Get da fuck outta here!!!! I don't recall seeing Dan Choi and friends going on hunger strike or walking thousands of miles for the repeal. Maybe you are one of those cyber activists who stay in the comfort of your fucking home and blab about how much calls needs to be done. Try doing it for once before talking about effort. Like I said before, all of us walking on water would not have changed these guy's mind today, it's just bad timing.

Hey kid are you saying that DA activists didn't do enough? GTFO. We did far more advocacy than any other current movements.

Lol, wtf is wrong with you?

The DADT passed because the LGBT community can fucking vote, not because they didn't give up. The activism for DADT was nowhere near what it is for DA and CIR. These people could still join the armed forces , you know? It's not like there was some magic test that you had to take when enlisting that determined what your preference was. The only thing that was asked of them was to keep it to themselves.

I second that.

i third tat u fucking retard, but one thing u r right, lets all stick ogether man, maybe we all should start some kind of movement, seomthign seriously would hurt them or at least get their attention, take us seriously man, maybe we all shold start some kind of boycott movement or something guys, work it out man, we gotta b united