Editorial: Immigration is the GOP’s piñata
Since Latinos are not needed in this election, the strategy is to attack reform
Two years in politics is an eternity that allows for the most contradictory spins in order to win an election. What better example than Republicans and immigration.
President Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012 brought the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, to declare —in a review/autopsy of the race— the importance of the Latino vote for the party, and the major role of immigration in the Republican strategy to attract this voting bloc.
“We must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform… If Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States, they will not pay attention to our next sentence,” said the document.
Today, less than a week before the election, Priebus’ strategy is completely different. An executive order by Obama on immigration would be “unconstitutional, illegal, and we don’t support it… It is wrong. It is un-American… There is not a molecule in my body that agrees with the President on executive amnesty,” said Priebus on Monday to a group of Tea Party activists.
If two years ago they worried not to offend Hispanics by showing they care about their priority — identified as immigration by Republicans themselves— now they have no problem using it as a piñata to motivate the conservative base.
Tragically, numerous Republican candidates are also using Priebus’ strategy of making immigration the enemy.
The argument goes that they only oppose Obama’s immigration policy. But the reality is, they oppose even the most basic measures, such as extending the Deferred Action for DREAMers. There is a big shared hypocrisy among those who have supported comprehensive reform and now endorse politicians who oppose it.
It’s only words for Priebus, but for many Latinos this is about their life and future. We hope it will also be about memory, so voters will remember two years from now who benefited from kicking them.
