It is Immigration Reform: Stupid
By
Rodolfo F. Acuña
For the past forty years, the most pressing issue for Mexican Americans and other Latinos has been immigration reform. It has dominated our conversations, our agendas, and for the more politically conscious among us, it goes to the core of who we are.
Seemingly the Democrats have come to the realization that our resolve to protect the foreign-born will not go away, and that immigration reform is an issue that three-quarters of Latinos will not compromise on. I say seemingly because Democrats are still hedging on many aspects of immigration reform, and some believe that we are gullible enough to accept a compromise.
President Barack Obama moved assertively although belatedly to normalize the status of the Dreamers, which was a no-brainer. At a time when we actively recruit educated college graduates from Eastern Europe, and drain Latin American countries of their professionals, it seems logical to look for those resources at home. In the case of the Dreamers, they are Americans, they attended American schools, they earned good grades and they made it despite the inequalities of the American system.
A lot is at stake: the challenge is for us to be true to history and to come up with an equitable law that will last. We must remember that up until the Immigration Act of 1965 Latin America was not part of the American quota system. Those who wanted to come here could do so.
