Several of my Republican friends have been echoing Ted Cruz from the other night:
“Then, we would see stories about the economic calamity that is befalling our nation. And, I will say for those of us who believe people ‘ought to come to this country legally, and we should enforce the law, we’re tired of being told it’s anti-immigrant. It’s offensive.”
There is a certain ostensible logic to this claim, but it misses the key dynamic embedded within the GOP approach to the issue: the cold and clinical lack of empathy for immigrant families. Republicans tend to see empathy as a form of weakness, when it truth it’s the reason Democrats win when people turn out. Combine this trait with a core belief within the base that the nation’s demographic shift is an issue unto itself, and it’s not surprising why the party can’t garner more than 30 percent of the Latino vote.
To elaborate, I submitted this in a recent message thread —
“The problem for Republicans generally on immigration is the complete lack of empathy for families who have come here to improve their lives. As lawmakers and former prosecutors, they know that law is flexible, and that circumstances can result in lenient application. We see it every day as lawyers negotiate plea bargains, etc., and as judges/juries consider mitigating factors. So if I am a Hispanic voter, I'm wondering aloud why in this case the Republican line is hard and absolute - i.e., if ever there was a mitigating consideration, it seems that providing a better future for your children would qualify.
If I'm in these shoes, I'm also wondering why Republican candidates seldom speak about the companies who "aid and abet" via the lure of work. Republicans look the other way on behalf of business owners, while unleashing all their fury on the people filling those jobs.
It's a red meat attraction, reminiscent of the old Southern Strategy. In fact, what exactly is the issue in the first place? From Bloomberg:
‘The second big fact about immigration is that there isn't a substantial inflow of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. at this time. According to the Pew Research Center, the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2014 was 11.3 million (out of a total U.S. population of 318.9 million), or about 3.5 percent of the total. In 2011, it was 11.5 million. In 2007, at its peak, it was 12.2 million.
In other words, illegal immigration isn't just decreasing. It's less than zero. Obviously some immigrants still come here illegally, but their numbers are not large enough to make up for those who leave every year. Another fact: unauthorized immigration has been negative since 2007. ‘
Lastly, there is no denying that a core part of the right wing base is uneasy or outright angry about the nation's evolving demographic shift. It doesn't take six degrees of separation from the candidates to find people who think that is an issue unto itself. That disdain bleeds out in various ways.”
Can somebody like Rubio buck that trend, simply because of his background? I doubt it.