What Exactly Is The Risk Of "Latino Ire"?
01/06/2011
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A Reuters story from Phoenix is headed "States plan crackdown on immigration but risk Latino ire." I wondered if they meant that serious immigration enforcement might lead to rioting and violence, but what they really mean is that Latinos might not vote Republican.
The concerted push is also deepening mistrust of Republicans among Latinos, the country's fastest growing minority, who turned out by a 2-to-1 margin for Obama in 2008 and helped Democrats hold on to control of key Senate seats in the West in November. "You are looking at alienating the largest growing segment of the electorate in the country," said Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. "(This) is really shooting yourself in the foot." The Hispanic population is projected to nearly triple, to 132.8 million by 2050, when nearly one in three U.S. residents will be Latino, according to a 2008 U.S. Census Bureau study.[States plan crackdown on immigration but risk Latino ire, By Tim Gaynor, Reuters, January 4, 2011]
Jerry Gonzalez is a Democrat, like most "Latino Elected Officials"I doubt that  he's really concerned about the future of the Republican Party. In fact, neither party stands to lose by immigration enforcement in a two-party system. Republicans will never get a majority of the Latino vote, so won't lose by being patriotic, and even if Democrats start enforcing the law, they won't lose much, because Latinos who hate enforcement don't have anywhere else to go.
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