Today's POLITICO has a complex analysis of what's next for immigration reform. The bottom line is that immigration reform is dead in this Congress and that's the sweet and short of it.
It failed because liberals did not understand that a "path to citizenship" was a deal breaker in the House. They should have settled for border security, a modest Dream Act and called a victory press conference afterwards.
The Hispanic left could have taken 2 steps forward but now will go home with an empty bag again.
Beyond that, the liberals should have also understood that it is very difficult to "legalize 10 million workers" when 90 millions Americans have left the workforce.
I understand that legalizing workers may not be directly related to workers leaving the workforce. Nevertheless, the optics (i.e. political reality) are very bad..
How do you explain to those 90 million that you are going to add 10 million to compete with them? Also, most of the 10 million "undocumented" are at the low end of the income level.
In other words, legalizing 10 million will flood the labor market with people willing to work for very low wages.
Last, but not least, there are thousands of people all over the world waiting to come legally into the US. They've followed US laws, paid the fees and patiently waited for their turn. What do you say to them and their families or sponsors in the US?
The Hispanic leaders have themselves to blame for unrealistic expectations. Maybe they will finally get off the 'si se puede tequila" and hold President Obama accountable for doing nothing when he had majorities in his first term.
P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.
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