Republicans: "Alright, alright! We'll help these kids. But in a very, very, very limited fashion. Now can you vote for us?" (Jeff Topping/Reuters)
Nothing says, "Please vote for us in November" like saying, "We're going to help you,
but in a very limited way."
In remarks to Efe, a spokesman for [Republican Sen. Marco] Rubio, Alex Burgos, said Tuesday that the Florida senator "wants to help these young people and do it in a more limited way than the DREAM Act would do."
And how might they limit a bill that would grant residency status to innocent children if they go to college or join the military? Well, they are Republicans. You can guess.
In January, however, [Mitt] Romney suggested that he would support the legalization of undocumented students who serve in the U.S. military.
In the House of Representatives, Florida Republican David Rivera is promoting the ARMS Act, a type of DREAM Act that only opens the way to legalizing undocumented students who serve in the military.
It's convenient for these assholes—the military needs bodies, yet they don't want their own kids put in harm's way. I mean, has any of Romney's bazillion boys gone anywhere near a recruiter's office? Of course not. People who have car elevators and their country club pals don't fight wars.
That's not to say that serving in the military is not honorable. It was obviously the decision I chose to make when I was 17, and if I had my way, both my kids would follow in my footsteps. I wouldn't be who I am today without my service to this country. But that's not a choice innocent kids should make out of duress.
Fact is, there is already a DREAM Act on the table that would legalize children who serve in the military. It just so happens that it would also legalize children who decide to go to college, and we know how much Republicans hate education. And, particularly, educated brown people.
Then there's Rubio's apparent approach, which is to deny those kids any chance of citizenship:
“You can legalize someone’s status in this country with a significant amount of certainty about their future without placing them on a path toward citizenship, and I think that is something that we can find consensus on,” [Rubio] said.
Ah yes, let's put these kids, Americans in every possible way, in a legal limbo that sure, doesn't get them deported, but doesn't give them the full rights afforded to all Americans. Here's my compromise—let's change the current policy for Cuban immigrants (automatic asylum if they reach dry land) with this one. Then we'll see how humane Rubio thinks it is.
But the fact that they're scrambling for something to "show" Latinos is telling. Republicans are headed toward an epic drubbing among Latinos—a loss so substantial, that it would guarantee a presidential loss and a great deal of carnage down the ballot. Yet they can't do the right thing because they'd have an uprising among their nativist base.
For their part, Democrats aren't buying it, and they shouldn't. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in particular, has his job because of the Latino vote, and he's not about to sell them out to the watered-down piece of shit the GOP offers up.
“While you’re here in town, don’t take the bait that will be given to you by my Republican friends,” said Reid, who acknowledged that a surge of support from Hispanic voters helped him win reelection in 2010 despite his low approval ratings.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to stop a watered-down version of the DREAM Act,” he said. “That’s what they’re pushing now.”
