Immigration Debate Remains Hot Political Topic
A weekly newsletter dedicated to Mexican American news, politics, and culture.
In today’s Daily Chela newsletter….
Spotlight: Mike Madrid
Election: Kamala Harris
Poll: Trump Enthusiasm
Podcast: Kamala vs. Trump
Democrats and Latinos
More News and Links
Mike Madrid: Kamala Must Reset The Democrat Immigration Narrative
The immigration debate has once again reared its ugly head in Presidential politics. As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Vice President Kamala Harris faces the daunting task of defending her multifaceted stance on immigration against former President Donald Trump who has enjoyed a massive polling advantage over Biden-Harris on the issue for the better part of two years.
Illegal immigration, in fact, has emerged as the second most important issue for voters behind “the economy” and is closely correlated to voters' concerns on crime.
The complexity of Kamala Harris' past on the illegal immigration front may be a significant vulnerability in the face of Trump's straightforward, albeit controversial, approach to the issue. As district attorney of San Francisco, Kamala Harris supported and enforced a law that required law enforcement to turn over undocumented juvenile immigrants to federal immigration authorities if they were arrested and suspected of committing a felony, regardless of whether or not they were actually convicted of a crime.
This position significantly undermines the moral high ground when attacking Trump on putting kids in cages and on pursuing a family separation policy.
Conversely, she also has voiced support for providing taxpayer funded universal health coverage for the undocumented, a position that promises to motivate voters on the right and left equally. Of course, when running and governing on the ticket the Biden Harris team also promised to not build another inch of the wall (they did) and Harris was famously put in front of the issue by visiting with Latin American countries and urging refugees not to come to the United States.
This position coincided with the largest surges in illegal immigration in fifteen years.
These inconsistencies are more than mere semantics. Where Harris weakest political vulnerability may lie in her hope to position the race as a ‘prosecutor versus a perpetrator’. Border security is perhaps her greatest political exposure and she is more than mildly exposed on the issue. While illegal immigration rates are now lower than they were during the Trump administration, they were at their highest levels in a generation for three of the four years of the Biden Harris administration.
But just as she is working to reset the campaign entirely away from the branding of the Biden led effort, so too can Kamala reset the campaigns narrative on border security, immigration and reform and the overall trajectory of the race.
But that reset will require acknowledging the Democratic Partys failed strategy of using immigration as a primary issue through which their appeals to Latino voters lie—a big task for any Democrat but necessary if the party is to be competitive this year and relevant in national elections going forward. Joe Biden actually started the process by agreeing to the Langford led GOP compromise bill that Republicans, directed by Trump walked away from.
He further pushed the envelope, and Democrats in the right direction by signing the executive action essentially stopping asylum requests. Both of these reversals of Democratic direction enjoy wide public support, the asylum restrictions action specifically is supported by 70% of all Americans according to a CBS poll conducted right after he signed. Not surprisingly, but just as importantly, fully 69% of Latino voters supported the action—virtually indistinguishable from all Americans.
Kamala Harris must articulate a tight coherent border security plan. She should go to the Arizona Border with Senator Mark Kelly and Congressman Ruben Gallego—two Democrats who have led on the border security issue and have a proven track record of winning Latino votes - two goals critical to Harris winning the White House.
Harris cannot withstand the coming attacks from a defensive posture, her only hope of narrowing the gap between her and Trump on this issue is by leaning into the issue with a strong offensive strategy. Adopting the compromise bill that Republicans walked away from would be a fine start, allowing her the ability to say Republicans support it, Democrats led on it and if you make me President and send me the bill I’ll sign it tomorrow. By adopting specific policies Harris moves beyond blaming Trump (who is widely more trusted on the issue) and it gives Democrats specifics to rally around politically - something they haven't had in thirty years.
Kamala Harris has to reset this race. She can not do that without resetting Democrats' position on border security. Her opportunity is now to turn the page before Republicans define her on the issue—if she doesn't she’s gonna lose a lot more than the moral high ground on the election. She's gonna lose the race.
Mike Madrid
Author, “The Latino Century”
Political Opinion Contributor
More Informative Things For You…
Election 2024: Kamala Consolidates Support With Help From DNC
Vice President Kamala Harris has surpassed the required 1,976 Democratic delegates needed for the Democrat Party’s presidential nomination.
The consolidation of support comes as the Democratic National Convention rules committee approved a virtual roll call. However, the committee also unexpectedly voted to move up the deadline for Democrat candidates to collect signatures.
As a result of the deadline change, potential Democrat challengers to Harris’s candidacy were given only 3 days to announce their candidacy and garner the required support.
The swift timeline, which comes less than two weeks after President Joe Biden’s exit from the race, positions Harris favorably to win the nomination.
In wake of the change, some organizations have criticized the Democrat Party for not allowing a more democratic process. The Democrat Party, however, has responded by saying the date change was necessary to fend off an impending ballot-related lawsuit by Republicans.
The official Democrat National Convention is slated for August 19th in Chicago.
Weekly Podcast: Kamala vs. Trump
In last week’s podcast episode, Paulie from the Latino Slant joined Brandon to discuss the upcoming 2024 election, the viability of a Kamala Harris candidacy, and the Latino vote. This week, Brandon will discuss the latest presidential polls, the state of the two party political system, the upcoming Democrat National Convention, and more. Don’t miss it!
Opinion: Democrats Still Have Much To Learn About Latinos
The Democrat Party would do well in the future to understand this, especially since Latinos are such a large and culturally diverse voting bloc. Mexican-Americans in California are far different than those in Texas, and far different from New Mexican Hispanos, all of whom are far different than East Coast Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, and Cubans.
Given the cultural and ideological differences between these groups, they obviously need to be approached in culturally-sensitive ways.
But even more than that, identity-based pandering will not work for a large segment of Latinos. Cubans in Florida typically see themselves as white, as do many other Latino groups in the country, and don’t necessarily find themselves tied to the most-recently downtrodden Latinos.
History: A Look At Antonio López de Santa Anna
Like no other leader, the name Antonio López de Santa Anna remains forever united to the history of the United States. As the only General who posed a real military threat to a country considered to be impassable, Santa Anna is probably the only Mexican who has caused headaches to America.
I will lay Washington City in ashes,” he said on one occasion. The man wasn’t boasting—he had fought (and defeated) the Spanish and French armies, the most powerful at the time.
He is also the star of hundreds of songs, movies and even comic books, a feat no other Mexican has accomplished.
Rosa’s Reviews: Carlos
“Carlos” is a documentary that chronicles the life and musical journey of the iconic guitarist, Carlos Santana. Predominantly narrated by Santana himself, we navigate his life and upbringing through his perspective with sprinkles of anecdotes from his direct family.
My introduction to Carlos Santana’s music was at a very young age. My mother was one of his biggest fans, such that every time I want to walk down memory lane since she passed away eight years ago, all I do is play one of his albums.
I was initially a bit confused as to why my mother loved his music since what I had been listening to didn’t have many lyrics (this was before his “Supernatural” release). Now I realize the incredible taste in music my mama had and why she was one of his fans. She always claimed that he wrote “Maria Maria” just for her, because yes, my mom’s name was Maria.
Watch now: American Homeboy Movie
American Homeboy explores the complex origins of pachuco and cholo culture which sprouted from American soil more than 100 years ago in response to wartime sentiment, social alienation, and government discrimination only to become a pop culture phenomenon.
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