Immigration Reform in GOP's SOTU Rebuttal, but Only in Spanish
Wednesday, 21 Jan 2015 07:43 AM
By Melanie Batley
In its official responses to the president's State of the Union address, the Republican Party gave a different message to Spanish speakers than it did to those listening in English, making mention of the immigration issue only in the Spanish-language version of its rebuttal.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst's rebuttal made no mention of the topic, but Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo's Spanish-language version emphasized that Republicans wanted to work with President Barack Obama to fix the immigration system, Politico reported.
"We should also work through the appropriate channels to create permanent solutions for our immigration system, to secure our borders, modernize legal immigration, and strengthen our economy," Curbelo said in Spanish.
"In the past, the president has expressed support for ideas like these. Now we ask him to cooperate with us to get it done."
The disparity, party officials say, was merely a matter of personal decisions made by the speakers based on the issues that most resonated with them, Politico reported.
But earlier in the day, House Republicans had said that Curbelo's response would be a direct translation of Ernst's remarks.
In an interview after the speech, Curbelo said he focused on immigration as well as other issues that were of personal importance to him — such as education and Cuba — in addition to the broader focus on economic issues put forward in Ernst's rebuttal.
Curbelo said he got a copy of Ernst's prepared remarks several days in advance of the speech, made his own additions, and got clearance from the leadership for his comments.
"That's a shame that Democrats would try to criticize us for each of us having our own priorities and ideas and making them known," Curbelo said, according to Politico.
"I think leadership should be commended for encouraging those it selects to talk about their lives, their priorities, and their vision."
Curbelo supports the pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, in contrast to many in his party who oppose it.
In his State of the Union address, Obama escalated his threats to veto Republican efforts to undermine his executive action on immigration. But unlike in past years, he did not go a step further and press Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
In fact, The Hill noted, Obama's speech mentioned immigration only twice.
Democratic immigration activists said the scant mention of immigration in Obama's speech in no way reflected an abandonment of his commitment to comprehensive reform in this Congress.
"Absolutely not," Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee told The Hill. "I just think that he's said all that he can say.
"He put forth the executive action when we weren't moving and doing anything. And he's now said, 'Send me a bill.' He can't say anything more."
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/immi.../21/id/619745/
