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

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121801679.html

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

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. 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... But even as the administration stepped up deportations, conservatives charged Obama with being too soft on the country's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants...

Something that hasn't been done in the past, but should have been. Republicans say they want to STOP illegal immigration, but they are lying. They "want" to keep everyone illegal so they can keep hiring them to keep wages down. As long as employers can hire illegals without being fined or even given jail time, they will keep on doing it, and wages will keep on going down, while unemployment goes up!

We need to enforce the laws for both the employers and the illegals, otherwise it's a losing battle. We do need a "real" immigration program, a way for those who really want to work here to be able to come and work where employers really need them. We need to do background checks on those who want to become legal. There needs to be provisions for those who get on the path that say if you commint a felony you lose your chance to get legal. We also need to make sure those employers who really do need help get it, but are not simply laying off legals in order to pay lower wages! Allowing employers to lay off legal workers so they can hire illegals needs to be stopped!

Sure there is a lot more to be done, but my thought is going after the employer is he best way to stop things, and working out a real immigration plan, on that will help those who came here to work and not to commit crimes, needs to be done as soon as possible. The problem is getting something that everyone will agree on, and that is going to be hard as long as we ignore the employers who are breaking the law in order to make larger profits!

Now they will remain "illegal" so they can be taken advantage of. A glorious repub outcome and the reason they voted against it.

Repubs know full well that the mantra of enforcement, enforcement, enforcement (coupled with the tried-and-true "Secure the Border!") without a path to legalization leaves a large pool of exploitable workers here indefinitely. Not surprising that they would vote to kill the DREAM Act. :(

to show that we are good partners.

Why is that so difficult to understand?

If we don't do whatever they want, then they'll just do whatever they want without us. Wouldn't that be worse? Same results, but we can now say the word "bipartisan" instead of "polarized".

In any case, Obama has a lock on the votes of Hispanics and Liberals, so why should he care about them? Wouldn't make any sense.