Reflection Post: Immigration Reform

Reflection Post: Illegal Immigration & Immigration Reform

There is no doubt that immigration has become a highly contentious issue over the last four years, but lately immigration has taken a back seat to the economy, health care reform, and the war in Iraq as a talking point on the presidential campaign trail. However, the issue of immigration is not going away any time soon. No matter what your political views happen to be, I believe our class can benefit from listening to both Bill Richardson and John McCain’s views on immigration:





In the first video, Governor Richardson outlines his multi-faceted approach to dealing with immigration by:

1. securing the border
2. punishing those that hire workers illegally
3. proposing Native Mexican job creation and joint border projects
4. raising illegal immigration quotas
5. passing an illegalization plan
a. earned legalization program

On the other hand, John McCain’s biggest proposal includes enforcing pre-existing laws and seems to make a harder-line approach towards illegal immigrants who have broken United States law. I'd be remiss to not mention that there seems to be some discrepancy between John McCain’s approach to immigration reform now compared with his past statements because of his need to appease his conservative base.

In all fairness to John McCain, we have seen political candidates ‘slide’ their views in order to win primaries and subsequent presidential elections throughout the history of the United States. Nevertheless, Barack Obama highlights a particularly alarming case of a shifting ideology:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRCjN3wZ48Y

What are your thoughts on immigration reform?