Rob Horowitz: Obama Moves Us Forward on Immigration Policy

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

President Barack Obama’s executive action preventing young, illegal immigrants brought to our nation by their parents from being deported is an important step towards a more humane, sensible and economically-smart immigration policy.

This new policy applies to people under the age of 30 who arrived here when they were under the age of 16. They must have no criminal record, have a high school diploma or currently be enrolled in school or be a military veteran. The policy frees these young people who strongly identify as Americans to emerge from the shadows and work legally.

As President Obama said in announcing this new policy, “These are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they’re friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents -- sometimes even as infants -- and often have no idea that they’re undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver’s license, or a college scholarship.”

Good policy can also be good politics and this announcement was clearly made with the re-election calendar in mind. Increasing turn out among Latinos, who accounted for nearly one out of every 10 voters in 2008 and are even more heavily concentrated in key swing states, such as Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, is a high priority for the Obama campaign. Obama received more than two out of every three Latino votes in 2008 and needs another strong performance with Latino voters to put him over the top in what is shaping up to be a close fight for re-election.

The reaction among national Republicans so far is a sign that they understand that they need to do better with Latinos. Rather than reprising his tough anti-immigrant policy positions and rhetoric from the primary campaign, Mitt Romney said he essentially shared the President’s goals, but believed by bypassing Congress the President had made achieving a long-term solution more difficult. The presumptive Republican Presidential nominee’s stance was echoed by Republican Congressional leaders.

Of course, this new Republican position is somewhat disingenuous. These same Congressional leaders have blocked the passage of the Dream Act and stood strongly against a comprehensive, long-term solution to the immigration problem. Still, any movement by today's Republicans towards the more inclusive and far-reaching solutions backed by Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan is welcome news. A comprehensive permanent solution that combines tough border enforcement with a path to citizenship remains needed.

President Obama’s important executive actions positively impact nearly 1,000,000 young people with much to contribute to our nation and take us closer to the vision inspired by the Statue of Liberty. With the softening tone of the Republicans, let us hope it marks a new chapter in immigration policy -- one focused on a unified solution, not more divisive rhetoric.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.

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Comments:

Roger Williams

8:11am on Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Rob Horowitz dares not call it pandering to Latino voters, but I will. Doing the right thing, for the wrong reasons after spending his entire first term not doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons to pander to anti-immigration constituencies and labor interests is so grossly cynical that it's almost beyond belief.

Common Sense RI

9:07am on Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Nothing this fraud in the White House does is "beyond belief". I love how his spokesman says with a straight face that politics played no role in this decision at the same time the NY Times is running a front page story about the politial calculation being made. Pathetic.

george pratt

10:33am on Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Mr Horowitz, your bio doesn't point out which polical party you consult for. Would you like to offer full disclosure?

vinny coia

10:42am on Tuesday, June 19, 2012

" rob horowitz praises obama..."
and, he praises , cicilline , .... and any other liberal on any position .
boring sycophant .

Dave Barry

10:44am on Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Anyone who respects the constitution cannot abide this overreach. Horowitz doesn't respect the constitution. This is scary. Obama is a serial violator of constitutional law. Very scary for me. When we cease to be a nation of laws, the lawless will rule.

Harold Stassen

9:48am on Thursday, June 21, 2012

Mr. Horowitz does indeed fail to note the blatantly obvious political pandering by Obama to Latino voters. The same is true for his recent support for gay marriage. All well and good, that is politics plain and simple. However, it is amusing to watch him criticize Romney for his inconsistencies on various issues while ignoring his own long list of flip flops. BUt then, that's different.

However, what is not all well and good is the overreach and power grab by Obama in his attempt to circumvent immigration law. Clearly, something needs to be done to deal with the illegal (not undocumented) immigrants in our country. However, Obama's disregard for current immigration law and policy and lack of intestinal fortitude to work towards a comprehensive solution is quite troublesome. I don't expect Mr. Horowitz to acknowledge this anytime soon.

LDN65

5:49pm on Tuesday, July 03, 2012

illegals don't live in the shadows, they come in daily to apply for lots of social welfare programs. how do i know this? i have worked for 1 such program for 30 years.