Immigration Was Not an Issue at the First Round Presidential Debate

       The presidential race entered its final month with the first of the three presidential debates having taken place in the University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, on October 3. The importance of the debates cannot be underestimated as, with the presidential elections approaching, any vote counts and the whole country closely follows every word the candidates have to say about the issues that people are concerned about.

      The first presidential debate focused on the domestic policy, including such issues as social security, healthcare programs and the role of the government, but somehow managed to avoid the immigration topic. Although most voters believe that the immigration is an important issue, being a significant part of the economy and one of the major issues in the GOP platform, as well as the Democratic National Convention, it was not important for the presidential candidates in their discussion on October 3.

      Some people felt that the immigration issue had to be touched upon, at least, in some way in the first presidential debate on domestic policy as it represented a major part of domestic policy and economy.

       According to Fox News Latino, Luis Gutierrez, the Illinois Democrat who is chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Task Force on Immigration, made the following comment on this situation: “It is absurd that a 90 minute debate on domestic policy and the economy would not address immigration at all, not even in passing, especially when Latino voters are considered the key demographic that will determine who sits in the White House.”

      However, many believe that the immigration topic is still likely to come up in some way later in one of the other two debates scheduled this month. With the presidential race getting tight, both candidates understand the important of reaching out to the Hispanic population and earning their support. A recent analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center reports that a record 24 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the 2012 election. That is an increase by more than 4 million or 22 percent since 2008. Neither candidate can afford to neglect this community. 

       Consequently, last Monday, 2 days before the Denver meeting, in the effort to outreach the Hispanic voters, Mitt Romney stepped back to support the Obama immigration initiative. “On Monday, after months of pressure to clarify whether he would end the program if elected, Romney said in an interview with The Denver Post that he would not cancel two-year deportation deferrals already granted by the Obama administration,” the New York Times said.

      However, just hours before the Wednesday debate, campaign representative clarified that, if elected, Mr. Romney would honor the visas already issued but would not issue any new deferrals. Romney intended to cancel Obama’s temporary measure and work on the permanent solution of this problem.

     In his battle to appeal to the Hispanic community Romney emphasizes the economic issues as being top priority. The Dallas Morning News quoted Ben Ginsberg, chief counsel to the Romney campaign, as saying: “Hispanic voters are no different than other voters in that what they will look for is who can provide more jobs for middle-class Americans, and for communities. It’s all about jobs and the economy.” In overall, the republican candidate’s position regarding illegal immigrants remains conservative.

         However, as Washington Post reports, despite Romney’s efforts to hold Obama below 65 percent of the Hispanic vote, the most polls show that the president is above that level. The Obama’s position on immigration policy doesn’t seem to have changed much.

         Although both candidates seemed unwilling to discuss the immigration topic, most observers and reporters put the blame on the moderator, Jim Lehrer, who decided on the topics to be addressed and follow-up questions, and omitted the immigration policy. Moderator’s choice to omit the immigration issue could somewhat be explained by the fact that the immigration is not in the voter interest as much as it was before the recession. According to the Pew Research Center, among registered voters, 41% consider immigration a “very important” determinant of their vote, the lowest of twelve issues being tested, which is 11.0 percent down compared to 2008.    

Published by Aiya Anvarova