Newsweek: Obama's PR Offensive on Immigration (Showing how "tough" he is)

OK now it's clear. Obama has to pander to the right to show them he is "tough" on immigration.

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Obama's PR Offensive on Immigration
The administration is campaigning to show that it is tough on the issue.

Armed with evidence that federal authorities are deporting more illegal immigrants than ever under its watch, the Obama administration is stepping up its messaging on the immigration issue. John Morton, director of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, has made a slew of public appearances of late as he tries to hammer home the idea that the administration is getting tough, namely by sending more immigrants packing. The most recent stump was in Arizona.

The numbers appear to support that narrative: ICE says it deported 380,000 people during the year that ended June 30, about one-third of whom are convicted criminals. Both of those numbers are the highest on record, Morton has said.

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/08/13/obama-s-public-relations-offensive-on-immigration.html

from entering (or staying in) this country ILLEGALLY. It has *ZERO* to do with IMMIGRATION.

Deliberately conflating illegal aliens with immigrants is offensive to immigrants, not to mention unseemly and beneath the standards of honest discussion I expect of fellow DUers.

Do you hold ANY progressive or liberal views? Or is your purpose here just to chide those of us who do at any opportunity? Just curious.

That is your right. It sounded scary to me and I am not an immigrant or alien or criminal.

He called them "Undocumented IMMIGRANTS", talked about not separating families through deportation, and promised immigration reform with a path to citizenship during his first year in office.

So to Obama, this was INDEED about Immigration.

During the campaign, he was pandering to Hispanics with words of understanding their plight, and promises of legalization, underlining how different he was to the pro-deportation Republicans, and that was a big reason why Hispanics should vote for him (and yes, undocumented immigrants don't vote, but most have family/friends who do).

Do you get it now?

Obama becomes president, and starts pandering to a right wing which will never, ever support him no matter what. He will NOT get their vote; meanwhile, he risks losing a block of voters who were becoming a force to reckon with.

Do you think family and friends of those hundreds of thousands of people who have been deported Will vote again for him?

Pandering to them doesn't get one iota of change in their attitude.

Interesting how they think it's ok to spend all that money on the border, when most people are more concerned about the economy. From what I've heard, a lot of the traffic has been going BACK across the border to Mexico because the economy sucks here too.

But, a walking marshmallow when it comes to Wall Street, Corporations, The Pentagon, Gays, Abortion Rights, Torture, Privacy, Transparency in Government...to name a few.