US ELECTIONS/ Immigrants: Legal or illegal, they are all people

A friend of mine brought to my attention the fact that, in the debate about illegal immigration between the leading Republican candidates seeking to become the Party's candidate for President of the United States, the illegal immigrants (mostly Hispanics) were referred to simply as the "illegals." My friend was implying that the candidates did not consider the immigrants as human persons with legal problems, but as totally defined by their legal status. Maybe my friend was seeing too much in the use of the term, but the fact is that many Hispanics, even if sympathetic to the Republican Party for other reasons and as opposed to illegal immigration as any Republican, are beginning to reconsider their support for the Republican Party because of the tone of their debate about immigration policy.

The subject of immigration is back again in the news as part of the Republican contenders attempt to prevent the nomination of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Granted, nobody really knows with certainty what Romney really believes about the issues being debated, since his views seem to change from one election campaign to another. Right now he is trying to present himself as a strict conservative, since the threat to his candidacy is coming from the right, in particular from Governor Rick Perry from Texas and from - what can one call him -candidate Herman Cain, CEO of a Pizza chain. We know how Cain would solve the problem of illegals (by scaring them with jokes about how they could be electrocuted at the border), while Perry and Romney are too busy accusing each other of being too nice to them and have yet to unveil their comprehensive plan. One thing is clear, it will not be kind to illegal lawn caretakers (as Perry accuses Romney of being) and will not be understanding to sick illegals brought to a hospital's Emergency Room (as Romney accuses Perry of being).

Meanwhile, Hispanics watch and listen.

President Obama must be thrilled at all of this. He knows he needs the Hispanic votes, especially in the crucial states of Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, California, and Florida. However, he has had problems with those Hispanic leaders at the base of the Democratic Party who are disillusioned that Obama has not fulfilled campaign promises concerning a comprehensive immigration policy that will include ways in which illegal immigrants could seek to legalize their status. Watching the Republicans, the President must be happy that Hispanics are seeing the alternative to him.