The Democrats can blame whomever they want for their recent losses in the midterm elections. And while they may blame President Obama’s abysmal approval ratings, a nation scarred by a seemingly never-ending list of crises, a partisan Congress or a more cunning Republican Party, the culprits are the Democrats themselves. In the final months leading up to the elections, the Democratic Party attempted to play it safe by avoiding key issues. However, in doing so, they left themselves politically vulnerable to the anger and disillusionment that exists within Latino community. In particular, the president and the Democratic Party hurt their own prospects of retaining the Senate and regaining the House by holding off on immigration reform.
Immigration reform is ranked as the number one issue for Latino voters and in the past, the Democrats’ support for reform has strengthened their popularity within the Latino community. For example, President Obama’s support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants helped him win 71% of Hispanic voters in 2012. Yet in the run-up to the 2014-midterm elections, he decided to delay executive action on immigration reform. For years, immigration activists have demanded that deportations be slowed down and stopped, particularly regarding non-criminal immigrants. They want undocumented immigrants brought as children to be given the chance to stay in the only country they know and for their parents to be protected as well. They demand that families not be separated. Even though he argued that later action would be more “sustainable,” the president was implicitly claiming that inaction would help, or at least not hurt, the Democrats in the elections. The White House seemed to be more worried about a wave of Tea Party voters than a decline in Latino voter turnout. The day the president made this announcement was the day he asked the Latino community to trust his word over any actual action, and for many that was unacceptable.
Immigration activist groups were infuriated by the president’s unwillingness to bravely act. The managing director of United We Dream, a national immigration rights organization, called the decision a “slap to the face of the Latino and immigrant community.” A decision that was supposed to help the Democrats politically may have cost the party the votes it needed to retain the Senate. In fact, throughout the nation, Republicans were able to use this frustration with President Obama to attract Latino voters. In Georgia, according to exit polls, the Republican candidates won 42% and 47% of the Latino vote. In Kansas, Republican Pat Roberts won 46% to Independent Orman’s 49%, and in Colorado, Democrat Mark Udall won 71%, which shows a decrease from Obama’s 87% and Michael Bennett’s 81% in 2010. Udall lost by less 50,000 votes in a state where Latinos are 20% of the population. Latino voters switching parties doesn’t seem to be the main problem at this point; instead, as the number of eligible Latino voters increases, the actual percentage of Latinos voting has remained the same for years. Democrats are losing their ability to excite and convince Latino voters to come out and vote.
However, this fall in support did not happen overnight. It is the culmination of six years of broken promises to the Latino community. The immigration system is still fundamentally broken. The Obama administration has deported more than 2 million individuals, far more than under any past administration. Moreover, President Obama consistently avoids this issue. In all, the Obama administration has created an environment in which Latinos are being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils and this will only decrease voter turnout. They are stuck between Republicans that only talk about opposing amnesty and Democrats are unable to commit itself to real change.
Courtney Perales ’17, a student coordinator for the Princeton Dream Team, an immigrant rights advocacy group on campus, frankly said that the President’s inability to act came as no surprise. She explained, “I am not surprised because of his history of empty promises and arbitrarily extending deadlines all of the time.” She continued and suggested that the midterm election result “illustrates the faults of the Democrats politically in that they keep holding off on immigration.” As a member of the Princeton Dream Team, Perales has witnessed first hand how this administration’s failures have fostered a dangerous environment for the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. The work of the Princeton Dream Team in detention centers with undocumented students and immigrants has shown Perales and the rest of the Dream Team the countless challenges that are created by inaction at the federal level.
The 2014 elections were always going to be tough for the Democrats. Many of the states being contested were traditional red states before the 2008 Obama victory. Midterm elections are typically defined by low turnout overall and a higher proportion of older white voters. The Democrats went into these elections wounded by constant battle with the GOP, but Latinos should not and cannot be lost to the GOP. Latinos are a growing community and as the largest minority group, ignoring their votes is unacceptable. Simply believing that Latinos will always vote Democrat will only also hurt the party. For instance, in Colorado, Senator Udall avoided the issue of immigration throughout his campaign to the point where voters did not even know the difference between him and the GOP nominee. By not acting on immigration reform, the Democrats are assuming that promises alone will deliver the votes. Eventually, the promises will be overshadowed by the President’s track record. Latino voters will look to the other side to get the job done, and for at least the next two years Republicans have a real chance to make inroads with the Latino population by passing some form of comprehensive immigration reform. The Democrats dropped the ball on immigration and handed it straight into the hands of the GOP.
In recent days, it has been reported that President Obama will in fact release his new plan for immigration reform. Although the specifics of his plan is currently not specifically known, reports coming from different news outlets show that Obama is prepared to save up to 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. This much-needed action from this administration is a step in the right direction and will show the Latino community that the Democrats are committed to them. But, because of his failure to act earlier, President Obama will not only have to confront a furious GOP, but a GOP that controls both houses of Congress to protect his plan.
This midterm election was all about making a statement. Just as many Americans reacted against the Obama administration, so did Latinos. Latino voters used this election to voice their frustration with the administration. President Obama’s final term was supposed to be about taking political risks. Instead, he is falling into a web of political games that are backfiring on his party and more importantly on his people. The president and his party can strengthen their ties to the Latino community simply by making every effort to pass immigration reform. The concerns of the Latino citizen are real and the Democrats cannot get away with taking this community’s support for granted. President Obama can leave behind a legacy that involves tangible and realistic immigration reform but that involves leaving the politics of inaction behind.