On immigration, the wailing and gnashing of teeth bodes well
Obama’s immigration plan may be a decoy
By Eugene Robinson, WashPost, Monday, February 18, 6:56 PM
Republicans spent the weekend trumpeting shock and outrage over President Obama’s leaked “backup plan” on immigration. In dysfunctional Washington, this means that prospects for comprehensive reform — including what amounts to an amnesty for the undocumented — are getting brighter.
“Dead on arrival” was the verdict from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has taken on the thankless task of leading his party back within shouting distance of reasonable on the immigration issue. The president’s plan, obtained by USA Today, would leave the nation with “unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come,” Rubio charged.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the White House proposal — which hasn’t actually been proposed — shows that Obama is “really not serious” about reform. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Obama’s plan “tells us that he’s looking for a partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution.”
Translation: Things are looking up!
Here’s the state of play: In the November election, Obama carried both the nation’s largest minority — Hispanics — and its fastest-growing minority — Asian Americans — by nearly 3-to-1. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been trying to explain to his party that immigration is a “threshold” issue for communities with fresh memories of arrival. Mitt Romney’s notion of reform, which he summed up as “self-deportation,” communicated hostility rather than empathy. Voters returned the favor.
(More here.)
Republicans spent the weekend trumpeting shock and outrage over President Obama’s leaked “backup plan” on immigration. In dysfunctional Washington, this means that prospects for comprehensive reform — including what amounts to an amnesty for the undocumented — are getting brighter.
“Dead on arrival” was the verdict from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has taken on the thankless task of leading his party back within shouting distance of reasonable on the immigration issue. The president’s plan, obtained by USA Today, would leave the nation with “unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come,” Rubio charged.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said the White House proposal — which hasn’t actually been proposed — shows that Obama is “really not serious” about reform. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Obama’s plan “tells us that he’s looking for a partisan advantage and not a bipartisan solution.”
Translation: Things are looking up!
Here’s the state of play: In the November election, Obama carried both the nation’s largest minority — Hispanics — and its fastest-growing minority — Asian Americans — by nearly 3-to-1. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been trying to explain to his party that immigration is a “threshold” issue for communities with fresh memories of arrival. Mitt Romney’s notion of reform, which he summed up as “self-deportation,” communicated hostility rather than empathy. Voters returned the favor.
(More here.)
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