(WEB EXCLUSIVE)
"He who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind," concludes a well-known Biblical proverb. Republican immigration hard-liners may be about to learn that lesson – again.
In the mid-1990s, California Gov. Pete Wilson's anti-immigrant policies damaged his party's standing with Hispanics in the nation's largest state. A decade later, a GOP congressional stand against immigration reform spurred nationwide demonstrations and helped the Democrats reverse a modest GOP increase in Hispanic support attracted by President George W. Bush.
This time, Arizona Republicans may have unwittingly given another boost to Democratic support in the nation's fastest-growing demographic group by enacting a law giving local police the authority to round up suspected illegal immigrants and thus thrusting the contentious issue back onto the national political stage.
Whether that impact is more long-term than short-term is hard to say. To be fair, the politics of illegal immigration aren't clear-cut, and members of both parties play politics with the issue.
But this surely won't help Republicans achieve a goal that many strategists regard as crucial to their long-term hopes: attracting an increased number of this culturally conservative, rapidly growing voter group. Barack Obama's election ensures black voters will stay overwhelmingly Democratic; the whites who favor Republicans constitute an ever-declining portion of the electorate.
Posted By: Michael Felix
AUSTIN, Texas – A Republican Texas lawmaker plans to introduce a tough immigration measure similar to the new law in Arizona, a move state Democrats say would be a mistake.
Rep. Debbie Riddle of Tomball said she will push for the law in the January legislative session, according to Wednesday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle.
"The first priority for any elected official is to make sure that the safety and security of Texans is well-established," said Riddle, who introduced a similar measure in 2009 that didn't get out of committee. "If our federal government did their job, then Arizona wouldn't have to take this action, and neither would Texas."
The Arizona law would require local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status – and make it a crime for immigrants to lack registration documents.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday that a Justice Department review is under way to determine the law's constitutionality.
Copyright The Dallas Morning News.
(posted by Michael Felix)
