Latinos See Obama ‘Betrayal’ On Immigration: Opportunity for Perry?

President Obama came into office with strong Latino support, having won two-thirds of the Latino vote, according to exit polls.  According to an arcitle in NPR, that support is beginning to erode.

See full article here:  NPR

According to the article: “there’s a deep sense of betrayal and disappointment towards the Obama administration,” said Sarahi Uribe, coordinator of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Indeed, the latest Gallup poll shows his support among Latino voters has fallen to 48 percent, a new low. Uribe singles out a program called Secure Communities, in which local police check the immigration status of those they arrest on other violations. The administration says the program has led to some 195,000 criminals being deported this past year — about half of all deportations.  “The president ran on a platform of immigration reform,” she said, “but what we’ve seen is that he’s actually leaving behind a legacy of deportation and criminalization.”

Here is a really interesting point made in the article:  “The Republicans running for president, with the exception of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, are taking a hard line on immigration issues. So the real worry for the president isn’t Latinos voting for Republicans — it’s that they won’t vote at all.”

Perry seems to have slipped a bit in the polls, lately.  However, how much momentum, particular among Latinos, could Gov. Perry gain by truly embracing immigration reform?  Past republicans, famous ones at that, have been pro-immigration.      Here is a clip from a debate between George H. Bush and Ronald Reagan from 1980:  Bush & Reagan.  It is amazing to hear these viewpoints.  Both candidates call for immigration reform, with Reagan even calling for an open border.  Here is a portion of Reagan’s quote:  “…Rather than talking about putting up a fence, why don’t we work out some recognition of our mutual problems, make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit, and then while they’re working, and earning here, then they pay taxes here and when they want to go back, they can go back…and open the border both ways by understanding their problem.”