Puerto Rico trip won't woo Latinos

http://www.politico.com/news/stories...979_Page2.html


President Barack Obama’s visit to Puerto Rico today is the first official visit by a president in 50 years. Many observers have rightfully surmised that this trip is more about the Puerto Ricans in the mainland than on the island — particularly the fast-growing Puerto Rican population in Florida.

You see, Obama has a Latino problem. To win reelection, he needs the Latino vote. But Latinos have become increasingly frustrated with the president’s inaction on immigration.

Obama must now view Puerto Ricans as his way to win some of the Latino vote without having to address his dismal deportation record and his muted response to states’ attacks on immigrants. But what the president apparently fails to grasp is that the unsolved immigration crisis affects all Latinos — regardless of their legal status.

Puerto Ricans are in the same situation as the other 32 million U.S. Latino citizens who confront the growing anti-Latino attitudes that have become part of our immigration discourse.

In a country with a dysfunctional immigration system, the fight over immigration reform has real-world consequences. Radio talk show hosts and local politicians paint Latino immigrants as criminals. Hate crimes against Latinos are up 45 percent since 2003, according to the FBI. It could be that these hate crimes are underreported — Latinos are often hesitant to interact with law enforcement these days — and that the actual statistics are likely much higher.

There are many good reasons for immigration reform, including protecting the millions of children who grew up in the United States, know no other country and through no fault of their own lack residency documents. While our immigration system clearly affects immigrants and their families, it is also directly hurting millions of U.S. citizens who happen to be Latino, including Puerto Ricans.

Yet, in the past few years, immigration reform has stalled, and rhetoric against immigrants has become more toxic. States like Arizona and Alabama have passed tough deportation laws. Thousands of U.S. citizens have been detained, according to a study by Jacqueline Stevens, a political science professor at Northwestern University, and in some cases, even deported.

Some stunning cases involve non-Latinos. Consider Mark Lyttle, a North Carolinian with a history of mental illness, who was detained, processed and forced to walk across the Texas border to Hidalgo, Mexico.

Amazingly, Lyttle produced a birth certificate proving his U.S. citizenship. But in today’s heated anti-immigrant atmosphere it didn’t matter. He was processed as undocumented.

Eduardo Caraballo also had his birth certificate. Yet he nearly got deported to Mexico, though his birth certificate showed he was born in Puerto Rico. Caraballo had lived in Chicago virtually all his life, but it took a congressman’s intervention to keep his deportation from going through.

Incidents like this could be one reason that Obama’s tack of trying to court Puerto Rican voters won’t work. They know that non-Latinos don’t always see them as Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens by birth. They realize that, too often, non-Latinos who hate immigrants see them as just more immigrants the country doesn’t need.

Misidentification of Puerto Ricans and other Latino citizens is only likely to grow as the proliferation of Arizona -style immigration laws continues. In many states now, politicians are calling for laws that allow the police to racially profile and then detain and deport people they suspect of being here illegally. For American Latinos, it’s unsettling to think you might have to walk around town with your birth certificate in case you get detained and wrongly imprisoned.

Two years ago, an official at Arizona State University told me that though she was a third-generation Arizonian of Mexican descent, she no longer felt safe in her community. Every time her husband, a Vietnam veteran with a slight accent, went to the grocery store after dark, she feared he would be mistakenly detained and might not return.

This was before Arizona passed its racial profiling legislation.

Even before SB 1070 passed, U.S. Latinos in Arizona were living in a poisonous environment. The ASU official said that she didn’t even feel comfortable expressing her feelings to her colleagues — for fear it would hurt her career.

And so it is now with millions of U.S. Latinos around the country. We feel a sense of alienation and even repression as a result of the toxic immigration debate. And a fear to vocalize it.

Polls tell the story. Five years ago, American Latinos put immigration fifth on their list of national priorities. Today, it’s first – tied with jobs.

Obama should pay heed to those polls and the sentiments they reflect. He should understand that immigration matters to a majority of Latinos. The hate generated by the immigration debate affects us all – Puerto Ricans included.

Obama , Daddy Yankee aint got your back papi '

U guys seriously want Obama to not get re elected ?? That's our only hope ladies and gentlemen believe it or not. No other rep will sign crap

You still believe in "change"?

The truth is that immigration reform are words thrown around to sway votes and that's it.

minus I still believe in change and if you don't .. Then just give up already and go back to a homeland you know nothing about...

Okay, Obama could of tried harder to pass dream. But really common we dreamers got his signature. No other republican will favor immigration as much as Obama does. People are just frustrated with Obama but at least he tried and is still willing to try. Name me a rep candidate that is willing to help immigrants as much as Obama ?? No one no one

I agree with you on the signature and change. But, he has yet to show us big balls on immigration. You know he has not done enough. Let's see how Obama responds to the possible combination of Dream Act and E-verify.

Obama's balls fell off after passing HCR. Possible he needed to get insurance to save them lol.

lol !!!!!!!