Profiles in Immigration: John Cornyn

Mitt Romney at a Latino Outreach in Texas before being hopelessly crushed by Latinos

Mitt Romney at a Latino Outreach in Texas before being hopelessly crushed by Latinos

While Washington ties itself into knots over the gun control debate and a very one-sided gay marriage debate, immigration is still making news, poking through the coverage of Newtown fathers and “skim-milk” marriages.  Rep. Young’s (R-AK) casual comments about “wetbacks” working on his family farm and Boehner leading Republicans to twist his arm into a more sincere apology after his first fell flat; Sen. Schumer’s (D-NY) talk about how the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the two titans of business and labor, striking an agreement; the constant babbling on both sides about border security sounds like Michelle Bachmann desperately sticking to a talking point: the time for immigration to consume the 24 hour news cycle like the Heene balloon boy hoax until at least some issues are resolved is near.  When details emerge from the labor and business compromise, how will Jon Cornyn weigh in on the issues?

Demonstrators held by Secret Service after demonstrating at Romney's Latino Outreach

Latino protestors (the only Latinos at the rally) held by Secret Service after demonstrating at Romney’s Latino Outreach

When Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) was interviewed on Meet the Press, after with Chuck Todd about how to ramp up security along the Tucson border, Todd asked  “and when that is done it would trigger the pathway to citizenship?” “Yes.  First we’ve got to get, as you mentioned, some kind of metrics from Homeland Security” answered Sen. Flake.

In his quote, Sen. Flake was referencing the “Southwest Commission,” which is essentially a group of political leaders from border states that are required to give the OK before a path to citizenship opens up for undocumented immigrants.  John Cornyn may very well be one of those on the Commission, however, there’s a pretty big problem with this: he’s running to the far right of the Republican Party along with Ted Cruz out of fear of being “primaried” next year.

Latino demonstrators, protesting outside of a Romney fundraiser in Texas

Latino demonstrators, protesting outside of a Romney fundraiser in Texas

Cornyn, like many other Republican elected officials, will face a re-election bid in which he will face a challenger from the right; his particular challenger is a wounded Iraq veteran who is poised to give him a difficult primary.  In response, Cornyn is taking stances further and further to the right.  This isn’t too dissimilar from what we saw last year: after an ugly purging of candidates like the very experienced Sen. Dick Lugar in favor of the very unelectable Richard Mourdock, Republicans took that brand of crazy to the polls and it didn’t do so well in November.

Cornyn was one of three Senators, including Ted Cruz, who voted against John Kerry, the man the Republican Party actively pushed into the Secretary of State position by relentlessly going after anyone else picked while suggesting Kerry for the role on numerous occasions: this level of political flamboyance could make Liberace blush beneath a sparkling diamond cloak.  Democrats have accused him of being on “Cruz Control” as he stakes out further and further right opinions to match his Junior Senator and avoid losing a primary.

In Texas, with the demographics shifting in an unquestionably Latino direction.  Can Cornyn win his primary incurring the wrath of Latino voters (which will only continue to grow between now and the general election)?  Even if he can, will it be worth recording commercials like “finish the dang fence” that continue to haunt Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and further harm his party’s national brand?  Once he gets through the primaries, will he be able to get through the general election in a state that’s 38 percent Latino when organizations like Voto Latino are listening hard to the debate?  Even if he can, he will undoubtedly be sacrificing his long-term career to weather the short-term storm.

Latino demonstrators, protesting outside of a San Antonio fundraiser for Mitt Romney

Latino demonstrators, protesting outside of a San Antonio fundraiser for Mitt Romney

Many Latinos that voted for Obama are shaking their heads and saying that guys like John Cornyn, along with Ted Cruz, Jan Brewer and Joe Arpaio, still don’t get it: SB 1070 and border walls are not the way to govern a state full of immigrants in a country of historical immigrants that is reliant upon the participation of immigrants for our economy, infrastructure and even for just expanding the youth demographic in an aging nation.

All sorts of reports, such as Mayor Bloomberg’s report, have been issued by reputable organizations on the benefits to the economy of reforming immigration; silicon valley, lead by characters like Mark Zuckerberg, are reaching out to allow the employment of immigrants to fill engineering jobs they cannot fill domestically; human rights organizations decry the conditions US border policy pushes people into as a human rights violation that the United States is obligated to address; the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest labor and business lobbies nationally, have come to an agreement on an immigration deal: the writing is on the wall that the environment has never been better, nor the conditions more demanding, to ramp down the costly enforcement, and embrace the young, working demographic that is roughly 5 times more likely to start their own business.

What we are seeing here is steady movement in an unpopular direction against a growing tide of Latino voters from politicians in a state that people have already put speculation on as a swing state for 2016.  If Latinos don’t hit critical mass in this election, they can’t be far away.  When this happens, it is hard to see how a Republican Party that has so failed to engage with Latinos on a policy level will be able to crawl out of the pit they will create for themselves by once again arguing the anti-immigrant side of the immigration debate in an environment where YouTube highlight reels of inconsistency are today’s political currency.

About The Author

Ryan Campbell is a graduate of CUNY School of Law, Author of "Chasing Romney: How Mitt Romney Lost the Latino Vote," Co-Founder of DRM Capitol Group and editor for DRM Action Coalition

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