The immigration miasma
Obama’s Announcement Seizes Initiative and Puts Pressure on Romney
By HELENE COOPER and TRIP GABRIEL, NYT
WASHINGTON — In many ways, President Obama’s unilateral shift in immigration policy was a bluntly political move, a play for a key voting bloc in the states that will decide whether he gets another term. But as political moves go, it held the potential for considerable payoff.
It sent a clear signal to fast-growing Hispanic populations in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and other states that he understood their frustration at his lack of progress so far in addressing problems with the immigration system and reducing the number of deportations.
After two weeks in which his re-election campaign often seemed to be struggling to cope with events and losing the upper hand to Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama, for a day at least, was able to drive the agenda. And the president’s announcement put Mr. Romney, whose party is already split on the issue, in a tough spot, pressuring him to choose between further alienating Latino voters who chafed at the anti-illegal immigration stances he took in the primary season and alienating conservatives who reject policies resembling amnesty.
The timing of the announcement appeared to have been carefully calibrated. Next week, Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama are scheduled to appear before a group of Hispanic elected officials on successive days in Florida, a ready-made opportunity for the president to draw a contrast in their positions before a swing-state audience. Mr. Obama is also scheduled to meet on Monday with a group of immigration activists at the White House. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon, perhaps Monday, on Arizona’s legislation that requires state law enforcement officers to check immigration status during traffic stops and makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to work in the state.
(More here.)
By HELENE COOPER and TRIP GABRIEL, NYT
WASHINGTON — In many ways, President Obama’s unilateral shift in immigration policy was a bluntly political move, a play for a key voting bloc in the states that will decide whether he gets another term. But as political moves go, it held the potential for considerable payoff.
It sent a clear signal to fast-growing Hispanic populations in Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and other states that he understood their frustration at his lack of progress so far in addressing problems with the immigration system and reducing the number of deportations.
After two weeks in which his re-election campaign often seemed to be struggling to cope with events and losing the upper hand to Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama, for a day at least, was able to drive the agenda. And the president’s announcement put Mr. Romney, whose party is already split on the issue, in a tough spot, pressuring him to choose between further alienating Latino voters who chafed at the anti-illegal immigration stances he took in the primary season and alienating conservatives who reject policies resembling amnesty.
The timing of the announcement appeared to have been carefully calibrated. Next week, Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama are scheduled to appear before a group of Hispanic elected officials on successive days in Florida, a ready-made opportunity for the president to draw a contrast in their positions before a swing-state audience. Mr. Obama is also scheduled to meet on Monday with a group of immigration activists at the White House. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon, perhaps Monday, on Arizona’s legislation that requires state law enforcement officers to check immigration status during traffic stops and makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to work in the state.
(More here.)
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