Political Calculus 101-A

Trey Smith

Barack Obama has the worst record on immigration of any president in US history. No one else comes close. In the last 3 and a half years, Obama has rounded up, detained and deported more than 1.2 million immigrants, roughly 400,000 per year. That’s more than double the number of deportations that took place under his predecessor, George W. Bush, in the same amount of time. Obama also launched the controversial Secure Communities program, which uses local police departments to help federal authorities collect fingerprints so that victims can be watched, harassed, detained, abused and deported more easily by the Gestapo thugs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE]. Obama intends to make the program mandatory by 2013.

Now, after nearly four years of terrorizing the immigrant community, Obama has softened his stance in order to win back the 60% of Latinos who voted for him in 2008, but who no longer trust him or approve of his reactionary policies. Last week, in a cynical political stunt that was clearly aimed at winning votes, Obama directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop the deportation of immigrants under the age of 30 who came to the U.S. before age 16 “and who do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings.”

Obama’s policy-reversal was intended to throw his liberal constituents a bone while putting the Republicans on the defensive on an issue that deeply divides their rank and file. (emphasis added)
~ from The Great Pretender Throws His Base a Bone by Mike Whitney ~

OK, I know what some of you are thinking, Trey already highlighted this issue a few days ago in Political Calculus 101. Why rehash it?

I think it's important to examine this issue owing to the simple fact that, as Whitney points out, Barack Obama's administration has deported far more people than the supposedly evil George W. Bush. Progressives railed against Bush for his draconian immigration policy and yet the man of "hope" has a far worse record.

A person must be insanely naive to think that Obama had an abrupt change of heart that has absolutely nothing to do with his reelection bid. If you've been paying only half attention to the upcoming election, you know that the growing power of the Latino vote may prove crucial. Since Obama has given Latinos few reasons to vote for him due to his over-the-top immigration policy, his advisers knew that he had to do something spectacular to turn the tide.

Barack Obama is not the first president to utilize this ploy and he certainly won't be the last, but that doesn't mean we should shy away from speaking clearly and frankly now! This "new direction" is nothing more than a cynical attempt to win key votes. It is as simple as that!