Millions of immigrants and allies marched in America's streets in 2006. I marched in Dallas on April 9, 2006.

Bashing Immigrants in 2012

GOP risks Hispanic Votes

 By Jesse Garcia

All eyes are on the Latino community in 2012. Will they turn out like they did in 2008 (more than 11 million voters)? Will Republican-backed Voter ID laws in 14 states block Latino access to the polls? Will the GOP pick a Hispanic candidate for the Vice Presidency (Florida Senator Mark Rubio or New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez)?

One thing is for sure. Republicans are worried that their past attacks on the Latino community (anti-immigrant legislation, English-only laws, Voter ID bills, anti-affirmative action measures, etc.) will come back to haunt them.

Sensing backlash, Arizona Republican Senator and 2008 Presidential Candidate John McCain issued a warning in November 2011 that Latino voters in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico may sway this election to President Barack Obama. McCain told the Associated Press that Republicans need to “address immigration in a humane and pragmatic way that every voter could appreciate. GOP presidential candidates should find a way to address the status of illegal immigrants already in the country while finding a way to secure the border to deter others from crossing the border.”

This is rich coming from a man who co-sponsored the DREAM Act prior to his 2008 presidential run but helped defeat the measure in 2010, for what close associates say was payback for Latinos abandoning him in 2008 (exit polling showed 67 percent of Hispanics voted for Obama). McCain’s worries, though, are being validated by recent anti-immigrant stances by 2012 GOP candidates. Even though this presidential race is supposed to be about the economy, immigration still dominates the GOP debates, leaving Hispanic voters wondering if there’s any candidate left to support:

Michele Bachman (U.S. Representative – 6th District of Minnesota). Bachman, 55, only states on her website: “I will ensure our borders are fully secured.” But what she says on the road is inflammatory, seeking to fuel rage among conservatives. On Dec. 7, 2011, Bachmann claimed on the Bill O’Reilly show that 50 percent of Mexico’s population had already moved into the United States (Mexico’s population currently stands at 112 million. I doubt that another 112 million former Mexicans live in America when the 2010 Census only counted 50 million Latinos). When elected, Bachman wants to deport every undocumented immigrant -- 11 million of them (at a cost of $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, according to Centers for American Progress).

Ron Paul (U.S. Representative, 14th District of Texas). Paul, 76, believes America’s military should concentrate on its borders rather than the world’s hot spots. He is against Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Paul believes undocumented immigrants have access to welfare (even though state workers mandate proof of U.S. citizenship to qualify). Paul is also against birthright citizenship, something guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Rick Perry (Texas Governor). Perry, 61, the governor of a state with a large Latino population, signed a bill giving in-state tuition rates to undocumented students, opposed any Arizona-type laws in Texas, and once supported a pathway to citizenship. At an August 2011 campaign stop in New Hampshire, Perry backtracked when pressed on immigration reform and came out against it by saying that the nation needs to come up “with a way that clearly stays away from this issue of making individuals legal citizens of the United States if they haven’t gone through the proper process.” He still stands by his Texas DREAM Act decision. And as far as Arizona’s laws, he hasn’t addressed them but he was endorsed by the most reviled man in the immigration-rights movement, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who traveled with Perry on campaign stops.

Jon Huntsman (Former Ambassador to China and Former Utah Governor). Huntsman, 51, wants to secure the southern border for which he criticizes the federal government for not doing so. But when Huntsman addresses the subject via a blog video on his campaign website, he contradicts himself and asserts that the four border governors will have take a lead to verify the security. Of all the candidates, Huntsman has the most moderate record toward immigrants. As governor, he urged the Congress in 2007 to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform. In 2005, he signed a bill giving undocumented immigrants “driving privilege cards,” and in 2002 Huntsman threatened to veto a bill that would deny undocumented students in-state tuition.

Newt Gingrich (Former U.S. House Speaker from Georgia). In the Nov. 22 CNN debate, Gingrich, 68, gave the response heard round the world: “I do not believe that the people of the United States are going to take people who have been here a quarter century, who have children and grandchildren, who are members of the community, who may have done something 25 years ago, separate them from their families, and expel them.” On his campaign website, you see an elaborate plan to deal with immigration, but for Latinos who remember history, there is a deal breaker. Gingrich’s plan to allow undocumented immigrants to have a pathway to “legal status” but not citizenship — coupled with a “guest worker” program — basically creates second-class citizenship. Gingrich’s solution conjures up visions of the dreaded Braceros program of early 20th century America, when the government allowed Mexicans to enter as temporary laborers for the agriculture and train industry, only to have 500,000 workers repatriated during the Great Depression without full pay owed to them.

Rick Santorum (Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania). During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Santorum, 53, had a solid anti-immigrant voting record which included voting against the DREAM Act. On Fox News, Santorum said on Nov. 30, 2011, “Yeah I feel bad, I don’t like to break up families, but you know the family can go back. We’re not sending them to Siberia. We’re not sending them to any kind of, you know, difficult country. They’re going toMexico, which is a great country, a nice country.” Santorum never addresses the fact that more than half of Mexico’s population lives in poverty and drug cartel violence is a daily worry for several city mayors.

Mitt Romney (Former Massachusetts Governor). Back in 2007, Romney, 64, stated that “12 million or so that are here illegally should be able to sign up for permanent residency or citizenship.” Today, Romney believes in deportation and that the right course is to “secure the border and then we can determine what’s the right way we can deal with the 11 million [illegal immigrants]. And to make it as clear as I possibly can: Let those people apply just like everybody else that wants to come to this country. But they have to apply at the back of the line as opposed to jumping into the front because they’ve come here illegally.” While governor, Romney signed a federal memorandum allowing state troopers to arrest undocumented immigrants and he vetoed Massachusetts’ version of the DREAM Act.

As in any presidential election, once the primaries are over the party’s nominee will move to the center to appeal to independents. But will these anti-immigrant stances by the GOP’s frontrunners be forgotten? And how will he or she stack up against a Democratic president who supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the DREAM Act? Obama was heavily criticized by the GOP candidates for directing the Department of Homeland Security back in 2011 to prioritize the deportation of criminals, rather than DREAMers and family members of veterans or active duty members. What will the GOP candidate do with his or her executive power – when Congress fails to act – to address the immigrant plight in America? We’ll have to wait until June 2012 – the last of the Republican primaries – to get that answer.

Jesse Garcia is an activist and writer on civil rights issues. For more information, visit www.jessegarcia.org.