House Democrats Finally Getting America’s Immigration Message: Enforce the Law

By Joe Guzzardi

An analysis of U.S. House members’ campaign websites conducted by Smart Politics, a blog for the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute, shows at least 50 percent of Republican incumbents advocate cracking down on the nation’s immigration problems. On the other hand, only eight percent of Democrats’ websites promote immigration law enforcement.

Since the candidates represent districts throughout the nation, a safe assumption is that the problems created by unchecked illegal immigration and rudderless legal immigration are evident to Americans from coast to coast. Among the most compelling problems that lawful taxpayers have grown tired of funding are rampant population growth, overcrowded schools, over-extended social services and a shortage of hospital beds.

Professor Eric Ostermeier, the blog’s author, said that this election season about 70 percent of Americans favor a "get tough" stance on illegal immigration.

The sentiment for reduced immigration is playing out in two key U.S. House elections, geographically separated by more than 2,000 miles, where both Democratic incumbents were once considered “safe”. As November draws near, however, Massachusetts’ Barney Frank and Arizona’s Raul Grijalva realize that they are in the fights of their political lives.

Although liberal Massachusetts has a comparatively small immigrant demographic, estimated at about seven percent of the total state population, Frank has been one of the most reliable House advocates for amnesty, the DREAM Act, and expanded non-immigrant visa categories.

Sean Bielat, Frank’s G.O.P. opponent and a Major in the U.S. Marine Corp Reserves, has taken the immigration battle to his opponent. In a debate broadcast by Boston’s WKRO that included immigration as one of its key topics, Frank came out in favor of anchor baby citizenship and suggested that securing the border would be too “expensive.” Bielat called security on the southern border “a joke” and defended Arizona’s right to pass S.B. 1070 a law that, under certain circumstances, would require illegal aliens to prove they reside in the U.S. legally

In Arizona, another compelling House race is growing unexpectedly tight thanks in large part to S.B. 1070.

Raul Grijalva, the American-born son of illegal immigrant farm laborers, represents Arizona’s 7th Congressional District which stretches along 300 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border and extends to the edge of California’s boundary. Since Grijalva’s district is nearly 51 percent Hispanic, conventional Washington, D.C. wisdom was that his 2010 reelection was assured. But as voter dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party grows, even a Hispanic running in an Hispanic district is under siege. Grijalva’s Republican challenger Ruth McClung, a rocket scientist and self described conservative, finds herself polling even with the four-term incumbent.

McClung’s aggressive criticism of Grijalva for his call to boycott Arizona because of S.B. 1070 put her on the political map. Said McClung: "He’s called for a boycott of his own state at a time when we’re second in poverty. The [proposed] boycott was just a slap in the face. It was almost the straw that broke the camel’s back."

Sensing Grijalva’s vulnerability, nationally prominent Republicans like former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin have endorsed McClung.

Arizona offers a cautionary note about ethnic identity politics that escapes Grijalva and other open borders advocates. Hispanics who vote are American citizens. As citizens, their concerns are different from those of illegal immigrants. Citizens, regardless of their ancestry, don’t want to compete with illegal immigrants for scarce jobs or welfare benefits. The 2010 message to Washington, D.C. is that Americans want immigration enforcement. Those like Frank and Grijalva who have been slow to get the message, may be on their way out.

Joe Guzzardi has written editorial columns—mostly about immigration and related social issues – since 1990. He is a senior writing fellow for Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) and his columns have frequently been syndicated in various U.S. newspapers and websites. He can be reached at [email protected].