Blog Stage Seven

Harry Reid and Immigration in the United States by Scott Cameron

Abortion. Religion. Civil Unions. Death Penalty. Many of these topics of discussion have been at the forefront of politics and debates within the citizens of the United States for years now. One topic, however, that is easily overlooked yet has been brimming under the surface since the foundation of the first colonies that would later become the United States of America has been the discussion of immigration.

Immigration has always been an issue for the citizens within the United States since the foundation of this nation. It boils to the surface in cycles which match the cycles of the waves of immigrants that come to this nation from differentiating geological locations with each wave and in time with the cycle of domestic growth, recessions, and depressions. The issue is so deeply imbedded that we have even had major political parties that had their platform based solely around the ideals of immigration such as the Know Nothing Party. during the 1840’s and 1850’s.

Recently the Senate Majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, spoke up for the need of immigration reform. At a speech given in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 10th, 2010, Senator Harry Reid stated to the crowd “We need to do this this year” in reference to immigration reform. Both houses of congress have their agendas filled with many other issues prior to recess including nominations for Supreme Court, bank reform, and the climate bill which the topic of immigration might push to the side. I question the timing and the motives for taking up the topic of immigration in the houses of congress; why here and why now?

The hispanic population is the largest minority population within the United States. The hispanic vote is fast becoming one of the most influential and sought out vote within this nation. In the state of Nevada the hispanic vote makes up 12% of the registered voters and is one of the fastest rising groups of voters in the state. Hispanics are a majority democrat but tend to lag behind in actually voting vs. other counterparts in the state and nation. Currently Harry Reid is trailing his state in most major surveys and polls by several percentage points in the upcoming elections this fall.

I question if Senator Harry Reid intentions are genuine or not. If Senator Harry Reid has been apart of the Senate now for 23 years why now suddenly make immigration reform a top priority by dumping other initiatives already well underway in the houses? Why after 23 years suddenly make it a top priority that needs to be passed in a matter of several weeks?

It seems that Senator Harry Reid is latching onto the issue of immigration in a desire to gain a topic for his platform to run on since right now there is no strong topic of discussion for political parties to latch onto this upcoming election year. I question if Senator Harry Reid is reaching out onto the issue of immigration to attract the hispanic voters to the poll both knowing that a majority of them are democrat and will vote for partisan candidates which would gain him votes. I question if Senator Harry Reid is picking up this platform is abusing his senior and high ranking position within the Senate to control the agenda for personal gains or manipulate the system in his favor.

Immigration reform needs to be done but it needs to be done right. It needs to be preformed under the context that it is what is best for the nation and the interests of the nation versus the politicians own personal interests and the interests of special interest groups. This topic has been taken up many times beforehand but have been hindered by personal opinion and politics that have led to weakened and failed results that have led us to the indecisiveness that our nation now suffers from on a daily basis. This political issue has been raised many times beforehand and been dealt with in the same manner as in years gone by. History has a tendency to repeat itself.

Please, politicians, let us learn from our past and mistakes committed previous so we are not doomed to repeat them again in the future.