The future is looking fairly rocky for the DREAM Act and for CIR. One wonders what will happen next.
It is interesting to note that just a short two years ago, the Hispanic population was promised, just about on bended knee, that immigration reform was coming and that the DREAM Act would be passed should Obama be elected. Of course, economic recovery was also promised, and look at where the nation is now.
Flash forward to this fall around about election time, or just prior to it. The Democrats were out stumping along the campaign trail and they wanted the electorate, in particular the Latinos, to stick it out with them. To stay with them for the duration. The duration of what? Speeches, commercials, radio and TV appearances carried pleas for voters to hang in there and make another commitment to the Obama administration. After all, they were not scary or extreme like the other guys; the other guys who would not adequately represent them in the House on the Hill. Now, that begs the question about adequate representation to date, doesn’t it?
To boil all the rhetoric down into one common theme, you’d get the same thing that was said those two short years ago, that the government would work on CIR and the DREAM Act, more jobs and a brighter economy. And just what has happened so far? It is not that the Latino voters weren’t holding out and hopeful that those promises would come true, it’s that they didn’t come true, despite the politicians being given more than adequate time to deliver on their promises.
During the session prior to the election, there was a two week window where the progress, or lack of it, was being watched very closely by Hispanic voters. The lack of progress and the dismal looking future for CIR and the Dream Act are bellwethers for how the Latin population will vote in 2012. The original campaign slogan of “Yes, we can,” has been lost somewhere along the way, leaving many to wonder if it should now be “No, we really can’t.”
Based on the election results, the future looks like it may shape up to be interesting and likely highly controversial, with politicians re-visiting Latino hot buttons dealing with CIR and the DREAM Act. If anyone is taking bets, they might want to give some thought to a whole new government on the Hill in 2012 and another uphill battle to deal with immigration reform.
Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit Rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.
