US Mid-Term Election Leaves Immigration Advocates Frustrated with Obama Elise Foley - The Huffington Post
go to original November 6, 2014

Drinking & Talking: Where Immigration Reform Went Wrong (Huff Post)

As of next year, the Senate will be controlled by Republicans, as will the House. The fact that the Senate flipped to Republicans wasn't necessarily surprising to advocates, but it was a frustrating reminder of the president's decision to delay executive action on immigration. That move was meant to protect vulnerable red-state Democrats like Hagan, but most of them either lost anyway or are poised to lose. In Colorado, executive action could have boosted enthusiasm from Latino voters to the benefit of Udall. Instead, he lost to Republican Cory Gardner, whose immigration stances are far more conservative. The only tangible effect of the delay may have been the deportation of thousands of people who could have been helped by executive action.

"There was a political miscalculation from the administration that delaying executive action would help them save the Senate," Lorella Praeli, advocacy director for the Dreamer advocacy group United We Dream, said at the watch party.

Both sides of the immigration debate are likely to make claims about what the result means for immigration prospects. Pro-reform advocates can argue that Democrats lost because they opposed executive action on immigration and because Latinos were disappointed with the president. Reform opponents can say that it was a referendum against immigration reform and Obama's policies. In reality, immigration wasn't the top issue for most voters, despite remaining a priority for Latinos.

What's next depends on who you ask, how optimistic they are and how they define "immigration reform." Some Republicans have said a GOP-led Senate would be more likely to get an immigration bill to the president, particularly as the party tries to win the Latino vote in 2016. But bills brought up by a Republican Senate aren't likely to be as immigrant-friendly as the legislation that passed the upper chamber in 2013.

Read the whole story at The Huffington Post

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