As the Iowa Caucus nears, Republican candidates are focusing on the hot-button issue for Conservative Americans: Immigration.
Immigration Moves to Front and Center of G.O.P. Race
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I am disappointed that Conservative voters and nominees are catering to people that are focused on an issue that boils down to race as its central argument.
More than three-quarters of Republican primary voters described illegal immigration as a “very serious†problem for the country in the latest nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll, which was conducted Dec. 5-9.
Admittedly, not every person that rates immigration as a serious problem is a racist; some simply fear change and others fear the potential threat from a group of non-local people taking away the few available jobs where they live. Simultaneously, the absurd weight given to this issue is due in large part to prejudice and hatred. The fact that this is an issue sadly leads to nominees legitimizing this thinly-veiled racism and attempting to implicitly suggest that they are the most hateful to obtain votes.
The failure of current immigration policy is a valid issue and needs to be addressed by any incoming administration, but the dialog is tainted from the underlying fear and loathing seething under the political debate and fostered by Republican nominees in their quest to retain power.
In an effort to grow their voting base that is not in the least hypocritical, the Republican Party makes an active appeal for Hispanic voters while playing on other voters’ fears of people from “Down South.”