Salon: Backlash on the Border (anti-immigrant ballot initiative in AZ)

[kskiska]

An anti-immigrant ballot initiative with ties to racist groups threatens to split the GOP and derail Bush's chances in Arizona.

In the third and final presidential debate in Tempe, Ariz., George W. Bush and John Kerry were called upon to explain their positions on immigration, an issue so hotly debated in Arizona that debate moderator Bob Schieffer remarked, "Mr. President, I got more e-mail on this question this week than on any question." In his response, Bush focused on his support for a guest worker program for undocumented immigrants "that allows a willing worker and a willing employer to mate up." His mention of the program was surprising -- since he first proposed it in his State of the Union address last January, he has carefully avoided discussing it, even when trolling for Latino votes on the campaign trail.

Bush's reticence is well advised. His initial proposal of the program sparked a bitter backlash from the traditionalist, anti-immigration wing of his party that threatened to shatter his grass-roots base. Three weeks after Bush's State of the Union address, at a House Republican retreat, angry conservative members of Congress surrounded presidential advisor Karl Rove and demanded that the White House bury the guest worker plan.

Thanks to Bush's ensuing silence on immigration reform, the degenerating situation in Iraq and a grinding presidential race, the intraparty conflict Bush's proposal caused has largely subsided. But in Arizona, where rapidly changing demographics and a constant stream of Mexicans and Central Americans crossing the border into the state have inspired a wave of public resentment, the anti-immigration backlash is still gaining momentum. It has propelled a divisive anti-immigrant ballot proposition that is using anti-elitist populism and coded racial appeals to harvest votes from fearful and frustrated Arizonans. Some of the proposition's supporters are even working to defeat Bush in Arizona. While it's hard to gauge how much impact they are having, the furor over immigration could spell trouble for the GOP -- not only by weakening Bush's base but also by awakening the sleeping giant of Arizona politics -- Latino voters, most of whom are Democrats.

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/18/arizona_immigration/index.html

[ogradda]

1. why can't we match up employers and employee's

that are american or legal immigrants? it's illegal to hire illegal immigrants not that bush gives a shit about a petty thing like legalities.