For Latinos it is still the politics of the economy and immigration reform

David Conde
conded@ecu.edu

(Part II of Dr. Conde’s series on the 2008 Primary Elections)
Glenn Beck ran a story on how the drug cartels have taken over Nuevo Laredo, Mexico just across the border from Laredo, Texas. He was appalled that some 70 Americans have disappeared in the last four years in the city just across from the United States.
The power of the drug cartels on the border sometimes goes beyond the limits of the safety and security that the government can guarantee. At this point, they affect more the safety and security of Mexicans than Americans.
Beck and Lou Dobbs of CNN and Bill O’Reilly of FOX lump the drug cartel issue on the border with immigrants coming across to work in America. They see the lawlessness on the border along with illegal immigration as a purely Mexican problem that we can solve by putting a wall along the border.
The irony is that both issues have been caused by our drive for economic prosperity as well as our appetite for illicit drugs. Until very recently, the American economic engine was fed by immigrant labor at such a relatively low cost that there has virtually been no inflation.
It is true that our economic engine has been slowing down lately. But it is not because immigrant labor has been less productive.
Rather it is because our foreign policy has caused the cost of energy to go through the roof and our banking policies at home have caused sub-prime loans to go into default. Throughout all of this, our country is still addicted to illegal recreational drugs and still has the money to finance the traffic that brings those drugs to our doorstep.
The reaction largely by the cable media and anti-immigrant demagogues especially on the right have put the blame for the country’s ills squarely on the back of 12 million or so working here without papers.
The national dialogue that is the presidential campaigns gives us a very good opportunity to wake up to the fact that it is Americans who want the drugs and have the money to get them and it is Americans who want the good life that can be achieved through cheap labor.
Offended by those who would blame them for the ills of the country, Latinos are fighting back in the best American tradition. They are preparing to vote and decide who gets elected as the next president of the United States.
This is the political landscape that faces the candidates for president. There is no way to get around the issues of the economy and the treatment of Latino immigrants in particular and Latinos in general.
It is clear that during the primaries Republicans are following the lead of Tom Tancredo who is left silent in the televised debates, but can not help but take joy in the notion that his fellow candidates are outdoing each other in pushing his immigration agenda. It is also true that the Democrats have yet to engage the economic and immigration issues of interest to Latinos.
The Democrats appear more interested in cutting each other up on healthcare, social security and the war in Iraq. They have yet to succeed in pulling the Latino voters in the numbers required to win an election.
On Sunday September 9, 2007 the Univision Spanish Network held a Democratic presidential debate in Spanish that drew 4.6 million viewers. This is greater than the 4.3 million average in the previous debates held in English by the other networks.
Applications for U.S. citizenship in the beginning of the year are up 61 percent over last year. Most of the new applicants are Latino immigrants.
This is the clearest evidence that Latinos are out to “revolutionize American politics.” They are not going to wait on either the Republican or Democrats.
They are busy forming the block that is sure to make the difference in who will be elected president next fall.
David Conde is a professor at Metro State College. To -contact Dr. Conde, send email to conded@mscd.edu.