Immigrants and Politics Blog

Minorities made real gains at polls
Breakthrough for non-white candidates in office traditionally hardest to crack
Nov. 29, 2006
NICHOLAS KEUNG
Toronto Star

As municipal councils across the GTA [Greater Toronto Area] start taking
oaths of office and settling down to business next week, a few will look a
little less white bread than they did before the Nov. 13 election.

Overall, members of visible minorities will hold 14 municipal seats - up
from nine in the 2003 election. The gains are all in the regions: four seats
in York Region alone, one in Oakville, and one in Clarington, where newly
elected Willie Woo will sit as the only visible-minority councillor in
Durham Region.  Toronto’s 45-member city council, on the other hand,
will see a drop from five to four.

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[KR: This story reminds of the kinds of stories that used to be written about immigrants in the U.S. about 10 years ago, in terms of the second generation and its attempts to make sense of its hyphenated and “dual stranger” status. It would be interesting to see what drives the tone of news coverage on immigrants, and whether there is somewhat of a ‘novelty’ element in Europe right now as far as the 2nd generation is concerned.]

European minorities torn between worlds

By JAMEY KEATEN and PALMA BENCZENLEITNER, Associated Press Writers
November 25, 2006

PARIS - Nacera Berrouba, a young Algerian in Paris, says she couldn’t get the job she dreamed of until she dyed her hair blond.

Karima Ramani, who calls herself “addicted to freedom,” says the Dutch love her hip black jeans and bright red nails but can’t accept her Moroccan mind.

Straight-A student Gokboru Ozturk was born in Germany and waved the German flag during last summer’s soccer World Cup tournament, but wants to be buried in Turkey because “as much as I feel German, I cannot be buried here.” Meanwhile, his mother jokes he should change his name to Schmidt to boost his job prospects.

As Europe goes through a wrenching debate over integrating immigrant populations — and at a deeper level about what it means to be European in a globalized age — the children of those immigrants also find themselves grappling with issues of identity in an environment where tensions are complicated by the scarcity of jobs and distorted by the fear of terrorism.

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[KR: One couldn’t make up this story and produce something funnier than what this legislative panel in Missouri has produced. Some humorous reading to start the week…]

Mo. panel: Immigration, abortion linked
By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press Writer
November 13, 2006

A Republican-led legislative panel claims in a new report on illegal immigration that abortion is partly to blame because it is causing a shortage of American workers.

The report from the state House Special Committee on Immigration Reform also claims “liberal social welfare policies” have discouraged Americans from working and encouraged immigrants to cross the border illegally. The statements about abortion, welfare policies and a recommendation to abolish income taxes in favor of sales taxes were inserted into the immigration report by the committee chairman, Rep. Ed Emery.
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Asian American voters flex muscles
Rebounding from a scandal, they see gains in both the electorate and the winners’ circle.
By David Pierson

November 11, 2006

As he savored his victory this week in the race for state controller, John Chiang couldn’t help but reflect on how grim the political landscape had been for Asian Americans just a decade ago.

Back then, a fundraising scandal involving then-Vice President Al Gore and a Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights embroiled the Democratic Party and in some eyes cast suspicion on Asian American donors and politicians.

But in the decade since, the fortunes of Asian American politicians have rebounded in dramatic fashion.
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[KR: Sensenbrenner seems to have had a very similar effect to Prop. 187 in CA — even though reports of registration before the election did not point to a strong increase, high turnout and a strong anti-GOP slant ruled the day. Looks like Bowler, Nicholson, and Segura’s claim that such measures turn off moderate voters also seems to have occurred (although Iraq may have played a larger role).]

2006 Elections: Polls show Latinos help turn tide
Strategists claim Republicans overplayed immigration issue
By Barbara Ferry | The New Mexican
November 10, 2006

“Send a Minuteman to Congress'’ was a campaign slogan for Randy Graf, a Republican who ran for an open House seat in southern Arizona’s “Ground Zero'’ — the area of the United States most heavily impacted by illegal immigration.

It didn’t work.
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[KR: Here is a piece by Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek that is in line with my thinking over the past month that immigration reform may be part of the few early legislative achievements with a Democrat-controlled House. Since the GOP-controlled House was the major obstacle to bill passage of the McCain-Kennedy legislation, a change of leadership, especially early in the Congressional session and well before election season, may help bill passage (although filibustering in the Senate may still be an issue)]

Nov. 13, 2006 issue - If Iraq was the dominating topic of the election season in the United States, immigration is the issue that wasn’t. Despite the efforts of populist and nativist politicians and pundits to whip up hysteria about a looming catastrophe, Americans didn’t bite. In a news-week poll taken last week, voters listed immigration a distant fifth on their list of concerns—after Iraq, terrorism, the economy and health care.

Polling on immigration has been remarkably consistent over the past few years. The American public wants tighter enforcement of the laws but also realizes that the system now in place is unworkable. Consistent two-thirds majorities favor a comprehensive overhaul that would include tighter enforcement, but also guest-worker visas and a path to citizenship for illegal workers already in the country. This compromise package has the potential to be realized after the elections. After all, how many issues are there today on which George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Ted Kennedy and Rudy Giuliani all agree?

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[From Christine Brenner, Rutgers-Camden]

This link provides information about U.S. district judge’s temporary injunction against Hazelton, PA’s implementation of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act. The site also links you to (more…)

[From Rodolfo de la Garza, Columbia]

Columbia University is hosting an immigrant conference focusing on politics and policy in Fall 2006. Papers will be posted to the website which may be found at:
http://sipa.columbia.edu/resources_services/faculty_curriculum/immigration_policy.html