As Congress works toward the final stages of an immigration reform plan, a new issue brief from the Center for American Progress explores how immigration and the growing Latino population could impact the future political landscape in key states.
Immigration issues among Latino voters were crucial in swinging the 2012 presidential election.
And
the rapid growth and voting power of the Latino population also ensured
key swing states such as Florida, Colorado and Nevada voted for the current Democratic president, according to the brief.
Key states such as
Arizona and North Carolina are also reaching demographic tipping points that could shift the states reliably blue, said Philip Wolgin,
senior policy analyst for immigration at the Center for American
Progress.
“These are states that are becoming swing states in a
way that I think nobody really envisioned would have happened in the
past,” he said.
In front of a more than 600-person audience, former speaker of the house and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich sat down for a 90-minute conversation with former White House senior adviser, President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, and new MSNBC correspondent David Axelrod at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics last night. Progress Illinois was there for the candid discussion.
A lack of minority presence in the Republican Party and a poor turnout of non-white voters has prompted many to question the party’s ability to reach out, and forced Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, to travel to Atlanta and speak to black voters.
President Barack Obama told six progressive leaders that he will push
hard on comprehensive immigration reform early in his second term,
according to the Huffington Post.
In a true display of people power, President Barack Obama’s heavy
support from Latino and immigrant voters on November 6 is already prompting
bipartisan action on immigration reform.
On Sunday, both parties
called for immigration reform. In the U.S. Senate, where Republicans
filibustered the federal DREAM Act into defeat, Sens. Lindsey Graham
(R-South Carolina) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York) announced that they
are working on an immigration reform bill that would create a pathway to
citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The same day House Speaker
John Boehner (R-Ohio) urged Obama to take the lead on immigration
reform. Just before the election, President Obama said he was confident
immigration reform would pass Congress in 2013, predicting that
Republicans will switch previous votes against immigration reform after
seeing the consequences of alienating the voter demographic.
Immigration, specifically the need for a so-called comprehensive immigration reform bill, has become a critical issue in the presidential campaign. It has also become important in deadlocked Illinois congressional races. We take a closer look at some candidate proposals in the presidential race and a key House race in Illinois.
Upon further review, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is,
in fact, basically against President Barack Obama’s deferred action
program intended to let some undocumented immigrants avoid deportation.
Romney told the Denver Post
Monday that if he won the presidency the candidate would not revoke
deportation exemptions already granted by the Obama administration.
Romney did not say to the Post if he would continue the program.
However, Romney clarified in comments to the Boston Globe yesterday that he would end deferred action upon taking office in January 2013, if elected.
Whatever
the political outcome of Romney’s statements, the policy
outcome is clear: Ending deferred action a few months after it started
would render the program mostly ineffective. Read more »
Latino voters are more enthused to vote for Barack Obama in this year's
presidential election than they were in 2008, accord to a poll completed Thursday by Latino Decisions.
As Congress works toward the final stages of an immigration reform plan, a new 
In a true display of people power, President Barack Obama’s heavy
support from Latino and immigrant voters on November 6 is already prompting
bipartisan action on immigration reform.
Upon further review, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is,
in fact, basically against President Barack Obama’s deferred action
program intended to let some undocumented immigrants avoid deportation.