Thread: Sotomayor Could Buy Obama Time on Immigration

Sotomayor Could Buy Obama Time on Immigration
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 7:28 AM
By: Rick Pedraza

President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor might buy him some time on a key campaign promise he made to Latino voters about making comprehensive immigration legislation a priority in his first year in office.

"I’m not sure I would even expect anything to pass in this Congress, much less this year," James Gimpel, a professor at the University of Maryland and expert on immigration politics, told The Hill.

"I think it’s a lot to expect."

Obama's choice of Sotomayor has drawn praise from Latino voters who turned out strongly for him in the 2008 presidential election. The Latin community strongly supports immigration reform and would like the president to make the nearly 12 million illegal aliens living in the U.S. legal.

"The Latino community — and not just Latinos, but anyone who’s had a set of life experiences like Sotomayor — will always remember Barack Obama for this," Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., told The Hill in support of Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court.

"This will inspire people who were hungry to see a reform of our broken immigration system to stand behind the president on this issue and behind the decisions he makes."

Obama, who is set to hold a high-profile meeting on immigration with key lawmakers June 8, recently has seen an increase in his favorability rating among Latinos rise from 67 percent to 81 percent, according to a University of Washington poll, and may experience another increase with his controversial high court pick.

However, Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies writes in the National Review that there’s no way immigration reform is going to happen this year. Recent surveys show more than 75 percent of U.S. citizens are against providing amnesty to illegals.

“It’s just fantasy,â€

Court pick could buy time on immigration

By Silla Brush and Jared Allen
Posted: 05/26/09 08:35 PM [ET]

President Obama’s decision to nominate federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court may help him delay a thornier challenge: what to do with millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States.

The nomination of the first Hispanic justice drew praise Tuesday from the Latino community at a time when many are growing anxious over inaction on broad legislation that would put illegal immigrants — most from neighboring Mexico — on a path to citizenship. Hispanic lawmakers have been pressing Obama to deliver for a key demographic that helped put him in office, with immigration reform the top priority.

The White House has yet to commit fully to taking up broad immigration policy changes this year, with Obama instead pushing forward in tough fights over healthcare, climate change and closing the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Former President George W. Bush twice failed to enact “comprehensive immigration reformâ€

This is why I was somewhat glad about this pick. Obama can now call of the dogs and postpone amnesty without loosing a large amount of the hispanic vote. Obama's handlers are probably telling him to wait and push for amnesty before his re-election campaign. Pushing for amnesty now, after he has nominated a latina woman, would give him little votes for the backlash he will get in return.

With the Sotomayor pick, Obama already has 60%+ of the hispanic vote, pushing amnesty will probably give him 10% more of the latinos votes, but he will loose 30-40% of the non-latino vote. There is no upside for him to risk alianating the rest of the population if he already has the good-will of the hispanics.

Sotomayor has given Obama time to postpone amnesty.

This certainly seems to be the buzz today.
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Court pick seen as tied to immigration issue
By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
05/27/09 10:05 PM EDT

Democrats on Capitol Hill know that passing an immigration reform bill this year is unlikely now that they are already bogged down with energy and health care reform, two of President Barack Obama’s top agenda items.

But Obama may have thrown the Democratic leadership a lifeline to Hispanic voters with the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

The daughter of Puerto Ricans, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic on the bench if confirmed by the Senate, and some see her nomination as a strategic move by Obama to placate those who believed that immigration reform would happen this year.

“It buys him some time,â€

Added top article to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4250--0-0.html

AMNESTY IS TREASON!!!!!

Please call now and oppose nomination of sotomayor!!!!


http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-903799.html#903799