Abigail Philip
Power and Politics
Professor Karras
10/19/06
Current Events Assignment 2
The name of this article found in the New York Times is “Some Democrats
Send a More Conservative Immigration Message” by Rachel L. Swarns. The article
is dated October 17th, 2006. The issue that the article is discussing is the stance of the
Democrats mainly on Immigration (being more conservative) and also the stance of
some Republicans. The issue at hand is that of the overwhelming amount of illegal
immigrants entering the United States illegally and ways the democrats are seeking
to curve this problem.
The issue is that the “Democratic leadership in Congress has maintained a
united front on immigration, and are demanding or pushing for legislation that
would legalize illegal immigrants and create a guest worker program to ensure a
reliable legal flow of foreign workers.” But the problem is that some democrats are
breaking this message. There are some who think that we should enforce measures
to curb illegal immigration.
For example in North Carolina, Heath Shuler, who is running for congress
ran an advertisement saying that he would never grant amnesty to illegal
immigrants, and in Georgia, Representative John Barrow votes to build a fence on
the southwest border. In the article it states that the vast majority of Democrats in
Congress support their leadership’s call that would grant legal status to illegal
immigrants and toughen border security.
The parties that are involved are mainly the Democrats because the article is
centered on them and their immigration message, the Republicans and immigrants.
The arguments of the sides are as follows.
Firstly, I think that the Democrats are trying to present a united front on
the issue but there are some members in the party from states such as North
Carolina, Georgia and Ohio who has separate views on how the issue should be
addressed. These are the ones who seem to be some of the candidates vying to be
tougher than the Republicans on border security.
It is the Democrats in the South and the Midwest who are emphasizing
tougher border security. The reason for this is because there are a lot of Hispanics
immigrating that are forming small towns and cities, and some are ridiculing
legalization as amnesty, proclaiming border security as their priority. Some of the
Democrats are also blaming their Republican opponents for failing to stem or cut
the flow of illegal immigration.
On behalf of the immigrants, who has advocacy groups one of which is the
National Council of La Raza and the Tennessee Immigration and Refuge Rights
Coalition. Some of these groups believe that they are unfairly likened to terrorists.
Republicans such as Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona who supports
legalization of illegal immigrants says that “it’s just who can claim I’m not for
amnesty and who can say it the loudest” on the parts of the Democrats. Republicans
also argue that most Democrats still remain vulnerable on immigration.
Also, the article stated that” 62 House Democrats voted to support a strict
border security measure championed by Republican leadership, up from the 36 who
supported tough legislation last December. In the senate, 26 Democrats voted in
favor of building 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border, outnumbering the
17 Democrats who opposed it.”
The side of the argument that makes the most sense to me is indeed the
Democrats in particular the leadership in Congress or the vast majority that would
grant legal status to illegal immigrants and toughen border security. However I do
think that the issue of illegal immigration is continuing to be a huge problem in
America and for its citizens. I agree that the border should be better secured and
that not all the illegal immigrants should be given amnesty. It may seem harsh but if
there are persons who can do things the “correct” way, why shouldn’t others also do
the same.
The conclusion that I drew from my reading of this article about how the
political system works is that there are constantly on going debates from both the
Republican Party and the Democratic Party on how they can create solutions and
policies for problems that our country may be facing.