The lack of action on a comprehensive immigration reform bill at the federal level has not only brought with it continuing uncertainty for millions of families throughout the country, but has also given new life to anti-immigrant figures who look to take advantage of the current situation and attempt a political resurgence.
The most recent case is that of the former Congressman from Arizona, J.D. Hayworth, whose anti-immigrant positions and near-obsession with the subject led to the loss of his seat in the 2006 midterm elections to a Democrat who supported immigration reform.
Now Hayworth, supported by those two gems of the anti-immigrant movement, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), wants to run against Senator John McCain for the Republican nomination for the seat currently occupied by the veteran Senator. The primary takes place next August.
McCain, seeking reelection, continues to stick with the same message he put out as presidential candidate: emphasize that control of the border is of prime importance, while at the same time supporting a program for temporary workers. But as in 2008, McCain has kept himself on the margins of any debate on this issue.
Although polls favor McCain, the challenge by Hayworth once again manifests the Republicans' dilemma in their handling of the immigration issue; the more to the right they put themselves and the more they turn to ultra-conservatives, they may satisfy their base, but at the expense of their viability as a national party.
McCain experienced this first-hand in 2008: the more he distanced himself from the immigration reform he himself had promoted, the more he alienated Latino voters.
Interestingly enough, while Hayworth and his supporters tout their credentials as tough guys on the issue of immigration, a group of Latino conservatives is putting forth an initiative designed to attract Hispanics to the conservative movement.
The so-called "Latino Project" is being promoted by an organization called American Principles Project (APP), and Alfonso Aguilar--an APP analyst and ex-immigration official under George W. Bush--who declared, according to the EFE news agency, "Immigration reform is the issue keeping Latinos from supporting the conservative movement."
To this we would add that it is in the way some members of the Republican Party have resorted to using the issue of immigration to demonize immigrants and insult the Hispanic community.
"We now have a Democratic president, an overwhelmingly Democratic Senate, an overwhelmingly Democratic House, and they've done nothing in the last year," Aguilar told the Washington Times.
On numerous occasions, we have criticized the Democrats' lack of action on the immigration issue. We have warned about the risk they take in disappointing Latino voters in the run-up to the midterm elections this fall, or the 2012 general elections. Voters might simply choose not to vote. The best thing for the Latino community would be for the two parties to fight for their support, and not take it for granted; but rather, of course, manifest that support through actions and not just nice words and hackneyed phrases.
After all, we must not forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
