Being taken for granted by Democrat politicians is nothing new for the Latino community but if the fastest growing population in the country votes en masse for a second Obama term and gets nothing, again, on immigration reform, it will have only itself to blame.
President Obama is not serious about immigration reform, he wasn't in 2008 and he isn't now. Even the Washington Post is skeptical of his recent explosion of hot air on the subject.
Here are three reasons why the President is just blowing smoke:
1. When he actually wants to get something done, he talks about bipartisanship. When it comes to immigration he's blaming the Republicans in Congress 100 percent. “I know some here wish that I could just bypass Congress and change the law myself,” Obama said at a speech in Florida recently. “But that’s not how democracy works.”
2. He's not talking to anyone who is actually involved in reforming immigration laws. He's talking about immigration to people who will either give him money or give him votes. He's not asked for a meeting with any Republicans in Congress to discuss immigration reform and he hasn't even sat down with the one senator from his own party who was last working on a comprehensive immigration compromise, Sen. Chuck Schumer.
3. Obama hasn't got any idea how to reform immigration. He can only talk in platitudes about how changes to immigration laws have to be comprehensive and when he does get specific it is only about one small piece of the puzzle that failed to pass the Senate last year, the Dream Act. His only reference point in the discussion seems to be those who are here illegally. This is a myopic view of the problem for someone who keeps talking about an expansive, comprehensive solution.
On this point one can't blame Obama alone. After all, when the Congresional Hispanic Caucus met with the President the only thing on their minds was illegals. These lawmakers urged the President not to enforce the law and stop deporting students here illegally. “We do need to seek a legislative fix, but the reality right now is it would be very difficult with the huge majority the Republicans have in the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio). The truth is that no legsilative fix was possible when Democrats were in the majority so it is pure politics for anyone to suggest the problem is the Republican majority.
President Obama sometimes seems to think Americans are stupid or not paying attention so that needn't make perfect sense. Apparently he feels that way about Latino voters as do the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
And bingo! The highlighted sentence in reason No.2 is why no one with a sense of logic is taking this seriously (as of now). This administration is hoping for people so desperate and caught up on our own limbo that we cannot see the forest for the trees; but after nearly three years of listening to Obama tell the immigrant community that immigration reform is up to Congress, people are really taking him at his word. At our family church, the people who can vote are talking about Congress members; they really don't care who signs reform into law, so consequently, they no longer care WHO will be voted president in 2012 if "reform" hasn't passed because, you know, it isn't up to the president to legislate.