After the 2012 elections, American Latinos are feeling their
oats, and making their voices heard on immigration reform.
U.S. Conservatives
See Writing On the Wall: Immigration Reform is Coming (El Universal, Mexico)
"This time
conditions are ripe for change. In 2012, the Hispanic community demonstrated
its power at the polls. It was thanks to the 70 percent of Latinos who voted for
Obama that the president was reelected. The interpretation of analysts and
politicians is clear: their opposition to Republican Mitt Romney was in retaliation
for his party's anti-immigrant position. It has never been more costly than it
is today for a U.S. politician to oppose reform in this area."
For the first time in years, perhaps since the fall of
the Twin Towers in 2001, there exists a real chance for a reform of immigration
that will benefit the millions of Mexicans living without papers in the United
States. This is the inevitable result of the growing economic and political influence
of Mexican nationals in that country.
This week, a group of Republican and Democratic senators launched
an initiative to regularize 11 million illegal immigrants - a proposal that was
well received yesterday by President Barack Obama. The president's priority in
this area is such, that he has already announced that if lawmakers fail to
rapidly come to terms on their project, he will sent one to Congress himself.
Experience has taught the president that when it comes to
issues like this, it is best not to wait. He said in
his speech on the topic: "The closer we get, the more emotional this
debate is going to become." At other times, previous initiatives have been
blocked by the polarization that has marked public life in the United States.
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Worldmeets.US
And support from members of both parties guarantee nothing
- except that there is a long way to go. Remember the moderate 2010 initiative
that failed, which sought to legalize almost 2 million children of undocumented,
mostly students, who arrived in our neighbor country when they were scarcely babies?
This time, however, conditions are ripe for change. In
2012, the Hispanic community demonstrated its power at the polls. It was thanks
to the 70 percent of Latinos who voted for Obama that the president was
reelected. The interpretation of analysts and politicians is clear: their opposition
to Republican Mitt Romney was in retaliation for his party's anti-immigrant
position. It has never been more costly than it is today for a U.S. politician
to oppose reform in this area.
Reason is on the side of the reformers. All that is being
asked for is full rights for people who already comply with their tax
obligations - or are willing to do so. These are millions of workers, students
and consumers who have enriched and invigorated the economy and society of the
United States.
Conservatives call regularization "amnesty," as
if migrants need to be forgiven for a crime they are aware of. This is not so.
For Mexico, the dollars received by families, while providing relief given the
lack of opportunity, is no compensation for the absence of its people, and
doesn't make up for the loss of their potential contribution to the country.
Now it is the United States who needs Latinos.
Immigration reform is inevitable. And it is coming soon, regardless of whether the
current Congress opposes it again.
