Pro-Migrant Republicans: New Allies in the Sanctuarysphere
After several of the business leaders complained about the difficulty in obtaining temporary H1B visas for scientists and engineers, something the Senate immigration bill was supposed to address, Mr. McCain expressed regret the measure did not pass, calling it a personal “failure,” as well as one by the federal government.
“Senator Kennedy and I tried very hard to get immigration reform, a comprehensive plan, through the Congress of the United States,” he said. “It is a federal responsibility and because of our failure as a federal obligation, we’re seeing all these various conflicts and problems throughout our nation as different towns, cities, counties, whatever they are, implement different policies and different programs which makes things even worse and even more confusing.”
So, I thought it would be a good time to remind people that pro-migrant Republicans not only exist, but that they are a powerful constituency. Latinos are a prominent example, but I recently stumbled upon a strong grassroots upwelling against Republican nativism in the blogosphere.He added: “I believe we have to secure our borders, and I think most Americans agree with that, because it’s a matter of national security. But we must enact comprehensive immigration reform. We must make it a top agenda item if we don’t do it before, and we probably won’t, a little straight talk, as of January 2009.”
[...]
Later, Mr. McCain took up the topic again, saying the problem of what to do with illegal immigrants already here needs to be solved, saying “they are also God’s children, and we have to do it in a human and compassionate fashion,” which drew applause from his audience.
Michael Luo - The Caucus (22 May 2008)
Republican blogs like The Pink Flamingo, Called as Seen, Opinionated Catholic, The Pajama Pack, and The Strata-Sphere, are all pro-migrant, and together make up a pretty substantial readership. They also count conservative talk show host, Michael Medved, among their ranks.
SJ Reidhead from The Pink Flamingo describes her feelings in a tell-all post that she caught some flack for:
And there is the problem in a nutshell: Immigration reform. The GOP is being manipulated by people who are hard-line immigration. The problem is the average person who is taking this approach is not all that much of a Republican. They have an agenda. They are manipulators. They are adept at manipulating the morals cowards of the Republican House. They make so much noise, and create such massive chaos with their phone calls, blast faxes, and radio talking multi-millionaire heads, that they have literally destroyed the Republican Congress.John Hawkins of Right Wing News says "I will no longer support John McCain for President". Who is he going to vote for? Bob Barr? I say good for him. Maybe Republicans will stop catering to the nativism of people like Hawkins now.SJ Reidhead - The Pink Flamingo (17 May 2008)
| 
| 
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Pro-Migrant Republicans: New Allies in the Sanctuarysphere.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.citizenorange.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/289
3 Comments
Leave a comment
Count me as another who agrees that immigrants are human beings who, like any of us, deserve respect as human beings. I'm for better enforcement of the borders (southern AND northern!), but I'm not for the kinds of draconian measures that the likes of VDARE support, or for their vile rhetoric. They disgust me and make me ashamed of what's become of my party - or at least the loudest elements of it.
BTW, this is my first time to Citizen Orange; I'll be back. :)
GORGEOUS site design, too!
Thanks for stopping by Beth. I have Nezua to thank for the gorgeous site design. I've added your blog to my feedreader, and I will definitely look into adding it into a new pro-migrant republican column that I will add soon. I look forward to hearing more from you. A friend of migrants is a friend of mine.