THE BATTLE OVER HISPANIC VOTES

Posted in political on May 16th, 2006
My experience with Hispanic people has always been very positive. I’ve had several Hispanic friends; I worked for a while at a Spanish-speaking center, and even dated a couple of Mexican girls. I found them to be hard working, religious, family centered and loyal to their friends. Traits that I find admirable. Having said that, I have a few questions about this whole immigration debate. Tens of thousands of Hispanics have been demonstrating all over the U.S., and from what I gather, are demanding “rights” for illegal immigrants. Even after listening to several of the advocates, I’m still fuzzy on what “rights” people who broke into our country deserve or should be demanding. I say “broke into” because that’s exactly what it is. We put up fences on our border along with signs, guards, outposts, and barricades. The message to me is very clear, no one welcome except through the proper channels. The door is not open. The very fact that they go through such lengths to avoid border patrols proves to me that they are breaking in. The spin from the advocates drives me crazy. “Undocumented immigrants” is such a euphemism for what they really are, Illegal immigrants who are breaking into our country. If I broke into your home, could I then claim to be a “undocumented” family member? Could I then refuse to leave and demand food, shelter, and medical care? Would it matter to you that I’ll work but won’t pay rent (taxes)? This is such a disservice to the legal, honest, hardworking immigrants that have been the heart of this country since day one.
They even go so far as to compare their movement to the civil rights movement of blacks. Black people did not break into our country, they were drug in, and by the way, the black fight for civil rights is not the same as the gay rights movement either. I could, at the university where I work, claim tomorrow that I’m gay and there would be no way for them to refute it. I could not however, claim to be black and get away with it. But that’s a separate issue for another column.
The one part of all of this that has me pulling the hair out of my head, is that no one is being honest about what this is really centered on….votes, votes, votes.
For most of the U.S.’s history, the Hispanic vote was inconsequential. Their numbers were small and their voting record dismal. All that started to change in the mid 80’s when Mexican immigrants started pouring into the Border States looking for work. For states like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California their population swelled enough to matter to politicians. Democrats in some of these states, particularly California, started wooing Hispanics into their camps by promising them lax border enforcement, schooling for their children, and other social programs. Governors like Grey Davis (D-Cal.) soon found victory in the Hispanic vote. George W. Bush as Governor of Texas knew the value of these new voters too, and appealed to their Catholic upbringing and family values to woo them over to the Republican side and help him win. The Hispanic voters showed themselves to be a very fickle constituency willing to go to either side to get what they wanted. (Blacks and Labor, are you paying attention?) The battle for the Hispanic vote was under way.
The population of Hispanics in the U.S. really took off between 2000 and 2004 when they increased an amazing 5.7 million to capture 14.3% of the population, surpassing blacks as the “majority minority”. This caught everyone’s attention. Although Democrats nationally had enjoyed the lion’s share of those votes (Hispanics claim themselves 49% Democrat, 20% Republican, and 19% Independent), all that was about to change. While Bob Dole (R-Kan) had captured a measly 21% of the Hispanic vote in 1996, Bush proved stronger with 35% in 2000 and then over 40% in 2004. By demonstrating his knowledge of Hispanic issues, frequently speaking in Spanish, and even having a Hispanic sister-in-law, (Jeb Bush’s wife, Columba, was born in Leon-Guanajato, Mexico) G.W. stole votes away from the Dems. All this was not lost on the Dems who, more used to the blind loyalty of the blacks, found themselves suddenly having to come up with reasons for the Hispanics to stay in the fold. Hence the illegal immigrant issue you see today. Knowing that even legal Mexican immigrants have friends and family here illegally, the Dems have decided that championing their cause would put them back in favor with the voting Hispanics.
Politics is politics, and I can’t fault either side for catering to a group’s demands to gain votes, after all that’s what our whole political system is based on. But I don’t care much for catering to people who have entered this country illegally and in some cases, forged I.D.’s and stole Social Security numbers. The real problem here is that on some level, your making a mockery of the immigrants who applied legally, went through the years of waiting, took classes, learned English, and sweated tons of paperwork. The only reason they’re not publicly upset is because of the aforementioned illegal family and friends.
So, once again, what’s your answer H.C.? Well, there’s no easy answer to this one. Despite what the Democrat advocates are telling you, adding all these people to the workforce will put Americans out of jobs. Yes, most of them are doing jobs that we won’t do for that pay, but that could change once they’re legal. The jobs they’re doing now don’t care if your legal or not, but certainly once they’re legal, they will apply for jobs that do care, leaving their old jobs vacant for, guess who? Right, more smuggled illegals. Certainly a good start for any plan would be increased enforcement of our border. With terrorism looming large, we can no longer afford to look the other way as unknowns melt into our society. We have no choice but to be more vigilant. A guest worker program would help fill the gaps for farm jobs and low skilled labor, but any citizenship program has to put the people who followed the rules first. The Democrats may be drooling over the prospects of getting the close to 12 million illegals to the polls in time for the 2008 elections, but I’ll stand hard and fast behind the hardworking, honest, legal Hispanics who followed the rules getting their citizenship first. H.C.