President Obama in El Paso – A renewed national debate or a political stunt?

President Obama visited El Paso in Texas this week to renew his campaign pledge for immigration reform. Unfortunately, many viewed his speech as yet again divisive and an attempt, to woo his crumbling Hispanic votes ahead of next years 2012 election.

He released a document called,” Building a 21st Century Immigration System,” which emphasised federal responsibility for enforcement of immigration laws; holding employers accountable if they hire or exploit undocumented workers; creating a legal immigration system that adequately provides for the demands of employment and family reunification along with the need to learn English.

The reality is President Obama after winning the election with 67% of the Hispanic vote in 2008 compared to McCain’s 32%; failed to pass the DREAM Act, while the Democrats had control of Congress and the Senate in his first two years. Many view his failure to act, as a lack of commitment and sincerity on his part to honour one of his key election promises. Although he did introduce it 2009 it was too late with the sad passing of former Senator Edward Kennedy. During his 2008 Campaign, then Senator Obama promised Hispanics a better economic future under his new administration and pledged action on immigration reform. Yet, three years later, he has yet to fulfil his promises to Latinos.

President Obama accused congressional Republicans of “moving the goal posts” in their demands for the kinds of border security measures they want. He claimed that the border is now secure; this is far from being the case with only 650 miles of the 2000 mile southern border having a physical fence.

President Obama attempted to take the credit for a lot of the measures introduced and started under former President Bush, a fact that did not escape many political commentators. It was President Bush who authorised and got the legislation passed for doubling the border security agents. President Obama also failed to mention that his administration had cut $226 million from the border fence program. This may be more representative of his thinking as a Senator when he voted against the extension of the southern border fence extension initiative. There is no doubt the President chose his words carefully and manipulated his figures for the purposes of the speech.

A Gallop Poll in April showed that those Hispanics asked about their preferences ahead of next years vote, showed his support had dropped to 54%. A drop from 67% to 54% may not seem significant however; many believe it was the Hispanic vote which enabled him to win in 2008.

It should be recognised that the issue of immigration needs to be addressed seriously in American politics however, it requires real commitment not to be treated as an issue for playing divisive politics. This fact will not be lost on Hispanic voters who were increasingly voting for GOP in the 2010 mid-term elections.

President Obama went further attacking Republican’s and mocking them saying, “We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done. But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I’ve got to say I suspect there are still going to some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time,” Obama said. “You know, they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol. Or now they’re going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol. Or they’ll want a higher fence. Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they want alligators in the moat.”

It is a sad fact that President Obama used such a serious issue to have a cheap political dig at GOP again and what is fast becoming a characteristic of his re-election bid. He appears to be adopting victimisation, class division and other unnecessary tactics in a bid to win re-election. I must say, I find such tactics uncharacteristic and disappointing to see and hear in a serving president of the United States. This approach is cynical and non productive. Immigrants deserve some resolution and action to their very real concerns and Americans deserve to feel protected and secure in their homes with a secure border.

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