MATT.org spotlight

• In the forums, members discuss "Loyalty & Dual Citizenship"—a point of contention between the anti- and pro-immigration camps.
• Marisa Treviño, a MATT contributing writer, looks at the Hispanic vote in 2008.
• Learn about MATT.org's "Hecho en América" initiative to promote products made in the Americas as a pathway to creating more jobs throughout the continent.
  

Candidate tracker

A regular feature, here we track what U.S. presidential candidates have had to say about immigration-related policy in recent days.

• Democratic presidential candidates promised the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials they will continue to pursue comprehensive immigration reform. Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Bill Richardson, and Barack Obama, among others were there. Republican presidential candidates were invited, but only Rep. Duncan Hunter showed up.
• Rudy Giuliani reaffirms the U.S.' need for "secure borders" after the terrorist scare at Glasgow's airport this Saturday: "[I]f you don't end illegal immigration, almost nothing is possible, because no matter what you do, things are going to get worse."
• Mitt Romney says he doesn't want to deport the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country but he doesn't want to give them a "special pathway" to legalization either.

GOP presidential candidates could lose Hispanic support in 2008

As predicted in yesterday's posts, Washington news has readily moved on from immigration reform to the U.S. presidential campaigns. CBS News brings both topics together in a piece that asks if the GOP's candidates risk losing the key Hispanic vote.

The article highlights McCain as one of the few Republicans seeking the nomination who supported S.1639 and goes on to say:

Should McCain end up winning the nomination however, both he and his party may be grateful for his refusal to abandon his support for the bill.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll demonstrates why. While the Republican Party has made strong inroads among Hispanic voters in recent years, the poll indicates a dramatic shift toward Democrats in the midst of the sometimes-emotional immigration debate. The poll found that 59 percent of Hispanics polled either identify themselves as or lean toward supporting Democrats, compared with just 20 percent who identified with the GOP. For a party which received about 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2004, that's quite a change.

While the CBS article doesn't make this conclusion, it seems to us that after a great majority of the GOP blocked S.1639 in the Senate yesterday, the Hispanic cohort is more likely to keep on moving to the Dems' side. And for now, according to the USA Today/Gallup poll, they prefer Hillary.