Immigration: Gillibrand Versus the Minutemen-AlterNet.

[pampango]

Schumer's committee will be holding a hearing on Thursday concerning immigration reform.

http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3793

"Moderate Democrats are beginning to get that the public wants leaders who lean into tough problems and forge pragmatic solutions. At the same time, the Republican Party is debating whether to move away from extreme candidates like Rosanna Pulido and (Minuteman) Chris Simcox. Let's face it: the GOP's viability as a major party depends in no small part on distancing itself from Minuteman-style politics."

"Pulido's (Republican nominee in Illinois' 5th district) predictable loss (this is a woman who compared Muslims praying to dogs sniffing butts) follows an analysis conducted by America's Voice in the last election, which revealed that in 20 of 22 battleground races where immigration was an issue, the candidate supporting a more comprehensive approach to immigration reform won . In addition, candidates who spent significant campaign resources on immigration attack ads gained little- and often suffered- as a result of pandering on the issue."

"It will be instructive to see how both parties behave during next week's Senate Judiciary Hearing, "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?"" Tune into what the public- not the noisy Minuteman minority- really want. Weigh the economic benefits of legalizing twelve million underground workers and cracking down on bad-actor employers against the human and financial costs of deporting 12 million men, women, and children."

"With the White House recently renewing its pledge to move forward on immigration reform this year with the unified support of the nation's largest labor coalitions , we might expect the answer to the first question to be, "Yes.""

http://www.alternet.org/immigration/138577/immigration%3A_gillibrand_versus_the_minutemen/