Open Letter #95 To President Obama – Immigration Reform Now!

Immigrants are in every US state.

Dear Mr. President,
A new Pew Research Center poll done recently summed up the feelings across the country of many – both Democrats and Republicans – on the issue of illegal immigration

The survey conducted Sept. 2-9, 2014 among 2,002 adults, including 863 Republicans and Republican leaners, and 913 Democrats, found that just 37 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners feel the GOP is doing a good job representing their views on illegal immigration while a whopping 56 percent say they are NOT doing a good job.

For Democratic voters, the numbers were 44 percent to 47 percent with 44 saying Democrats are not doing a good job on immigration while 47 percent saying they are.

But what was also clear is that Hispanic Democrats are mostly unhappy with their party on their handling of the issue. While 63 percent of Black Democrats are more likely than Hispanic (45%) or white Democrats (42%), to say the party does a good job on illegal immigration, four-in-ten Hispanic Democrats (40%) think the party is not doing a good job on this issue and say it is not willing enough to allow legal status.

Worst is that a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll earlier this month showed just 47 percent of Hispanic voters approve of your performance, down 15 percentage points from April, 2013.

That poll also found that fewer than 3 in 10 Latino voters described themselves as “very positive” about you and the administration.

The numbers are significant, since it shows clearly that voters on both sides of the aisle, including independent swing voters in the Black immigrant and Hispanic camps, are unhappy with the way you and the country’s elected officials are making decisions on key issues and it does not auger well for the November elections.

Your indecision on the issue of immigration has not helped, so it is unclear whether anything coming out of your White House, including press secretary Josh Earnest’s statements on Telemundo’s “Enfoque con Jose Diaz-Balart” on Sunday Sept. 28, 2014, will help to dispel the perception that both sides are simply playing political football with voters.

I know many are waiting too to hear what new excuse and deadline you will set for executive action when you address the CHCI’s 37th Annual Awards Gala on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center with the largest gathering of Hispanics.

This House Speaker John Boehner keeps playing his own game. On Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” he claimed he could “absolutely” get immigration reform passed even though he failed to even allow any votes on a measure all year.

The truth is voters – whether Democrats or Republicans, Hispanics or black immigrants – are tired of being played; they are tired of watching their savings dwindle while their political leaders get richer and live off the backs of their taxes and they are tired of excuses, promises and deadlines that amount to naught.

What will you do to energize Hispanics and Black immigrant voters to not stay home but go out and still tick Democrat in November? I hope immigration help via your pen is on the top of that list and this time you will keep the deadline you set yourself.

Respectfully,

Felicia Persaud.

The writer is CMO of Hard Beat Communications, which owns the brands News Americas Now, CaribPR Wire and Invest Caribbean Now.