Latino leaders decry lack of congressional support for immigration reform
By Max J. Castro
majcastro@gmail.com
A consortium of nine major Latino organizations has just released a report card that gives mediocre grades to a large number of Senators and Representatives who have significant Latino and/or immigrant constituencies in their districts or states.
According to the report, “for districts and states with significant Latino populations legislators’ performance was generally uninspiring with 48% of the 185 Members and 36% of the 50 Senators with significant Latino populations not being consistently supportive of progressive immigration reform.”
The leaders of the organizations also charged that there is a mismatch between the lack of Congressional action and public attitudes: “A 2009 survey by the Benenson Strategy Group showed that majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents all favor comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented.” Yet Congress has failed to act on public sentiment. Instead, undocumented immigrants are left in the shadows, subject to home and workplace raids and the prospect of divided families.
The groups sponsoring the report include the Hispanic Federation, LULAC, MALDEF, WCVI, MAPA, NALAC, NDLON, NHEC, and SVREP. The report card was based on the voting and sponsorship records of members of Congress on immigration related legislation between 2007 and 2009.
The major highlights of the report are:
· Despite strong national public support for progressive immigration reform, a majority of House members evidence overall records of non-support for pro-immigrant measures and support for anti-immigrant measures.
· Only a bare plurality of Senators demonstrated consistent support for pro-immigrant measures.
· Many Congress Members show voting/sponsorship records that are inconsistent with the significant number of immigrant-profile constituents in their districts, as measured by significant numbers of Latino, Asian, and/or Foreign-Born residents.
· Regional differences in legislative records of Members of the House and Senate on immigration-reform and immigrant rights legislation appear, with varying levels of consistency among Census-defined divisions within regions.
· Certain House caucuses show very strong records of support for or opposition to pro-immigrant measures among caucus members.
Scores were generally lower in the South and lowest among members of the Immigration Reform Caucus. The Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, and the Hispanic Caucus attained high scores.
What was included in the data provided but not highlighted in the report is perhaps more interesting than the actual findings. That’s the party breakdown regarding support for immigrant related measures:
· Democrats in the Senate scored 83.4 percent compared to 13.0 percent for Republicans.
· In the House, Democrats scored 75.2 percent compared to 6.9 percent for Republicans.
Thus the most significant determinant of whether a member of Congress had a pro-immigrant record is political party, a point not stressed by the non-partisan consortium of Hispanic organizations.
The report concludes that inaction on immigration reform is both bad policy and bad politics.
“Many Congressional members show voting/sponsorship records that are inconsistent with the high number of immigrant-profile constituents in their districts, as measured by significant numbers of Latino, Asian, and/or foreign-born residents. It is important for members of Congress to know that Latino voters and other important immigrant groups will be studying their records to determine whether or not they are truly voting in the best interest of their families and constituents. At this time, we see voting/sponsorship records that betray the immigrant roots of this country and our strong commitment to human and civil rights,” said Lillian Rodriguez Lopez, president of the Hispanic Federation.
