As politicians announce their candidacy for the 2012 presidential election, the political community is contemplating how to capture the Hispanic vote—which undeniably has connections to the immigration debate.
The Hispanic population grew by 43 percent in the past 10 years, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, and many argue the increasing Hispanic population signifies a political shift.
POLITICO published an Op-Ed piece by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), entitled Hispanics like law and order, too. Smith wrote that immigration reform is not an anti-Hispanic movement. Rather, he said, “it is pro-rule-of-law.”
But this ‘law and order’ Smith refers to appears to be divided among political parties.
“For Hispanic U.S. citizens, there’s a certain amount of resentment of illegal immigrants,” said Edward Allen, senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. But Allen said the White House is hoping to mobilize the same Hispanic support it did in 2008.
In May, President Obama spoke at the Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. “One way to strengthen the middle class in America is to reform the immigration system,” President Obama said, “So that there is no longer a massive underground economy that exploits a cheap source of labor while depressing wages for everybody else.”
Tomás Jiménez, professor of sociology at Stanford University, said politicians understand the necessity of addressing immigration reform during the campaign. He believes that’s why President Obama went to El Paso, to let Latinos know he is keeping “his eyes on the ball.”
“[Immigration reform] is important for Latino households because they come from immigrant families,” he said. “So anyone who wants to attempt to win over the Latino vote will have to say something about immigration.”
But it has yet to be seen whether immigration will be at the forefront of the 2012 campaign. Jiménez thinks not.
“For Republicans, at least in primary season, they’re moving strongly away from immigration reform and are hoping to appeal to Hispanics in other ways.”
