Election ‘08: The Undocumented Vote
November 3, 2008 by admin
Filed under All Stories, Immigration
Among concerned citizens whose voices will be heard Tuesday in one of the most anticipated Presidential Elections, there are an estimated 11.1 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. watching from the sidelines. Some are just as anxious.
Living in the U.S. since the age of seven, college graduate Karin, who did not want to reveal her full name, is awaiting changes in her legal case.
As an immigrant, she has realized the next president can have a dramatic affect in her future plans in the country.
“I would like to see [Illinois Sen. Barack] Obama as our next president,” said the 24-year-old Fullerton resident. “I believe that his presidency will equalize races and genders in ways that no other president can.”
As were many undocumented immigrants, she watched in 2007 as the immigration reform bill worked its way into the Senate.
The previous year, Arizona Sen. John McCain co-sponsored the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill, which, had it passed, would have radically reshaped the nation’s immigration policies.
Sen. Obama also supported the bill.
It would have prioritized border security and workplace enforcement of policies. The bill would have also included a guest worker program and provided a path to legalization if immigrants paid back taxes, learned English and paid fines.
“McCain [however] abandoned his previous support for a path to citizenship for immigrants [because of] pressure from the right wing of his party,” said Cal State Fullerton Political Science Professor Raphael Sonenshein. “Had he stuck with his original position, I think he would have had a very good chance of winning their [immigration advocates’] support.”
Although the two senators agreed on immigration policies, some unauthorized immigrants still preferred Sen. Obama’s triumph in the elections.
“Just because both senators agreed on one issue [it] does not mean that they are equal on most issues that I feel are important,” Karin said.
The War in Iraq and the idea of fundamental change has played an integral role in the desire to see Sen. Obama as the next president.
“He has a better plan for [the] Iraq situation and for the economy and it is about time we change the dynamics of presidency by having an African American as a president,” said Cal State Fullerton student Puja, who did not want to reveal her full name as she deals with immigration policies.
Another immigrant, whose legal case is pending, agrees on the notions of Iraq and the economy.
“I’m hoping that if he [Obama] is going to be the next president, that he [will] stop the war in Iraq and other countries and bring peace,” said 31-year-old Sherman Oaks resident, Grace.
The idea of gay marriage and abortion has also shaped perspectives.
“As a female, Christian, Arab-American, I believe that it is a woman’s right to choose for herself what she deems right for her life and body,” Karin said. “As far as marriage, did people forget that there is a separation of religion and state?”
Westwood resident, Nina, who did not want to reveal her full name for the same reasons, would also like Sen. Obama to win the elections.
She favored his apparent support of the middle class and vice presidential pick.
Media coverage of the two candidates may have also played a significant role in molding their political views.
Sen. Obama’s coverage in the media following the six weeks since the conventions was more positive at 36 percent than negative at 29 percent, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Sen. McCain’s coverage however, was significantly negative at 57 percent with only 14 percent positive.
“I don’t agree,” Sonenshein said. “He has had adoring coverage from the media for years. No other American politician has had anything like it. He is quite simply running a terrible campaign.”
McCain has managed to alienate reporters who have helped build his image for so many years past, he said.
“I don’t feel that any one party has been scrutinized more than the other,” Karin said. “Both parties are sponsoring coverage”
The PEJ study, funded by the Pew Research Center, examined a total of 48 media outlets in print, cable news, network television and online.
Credit: Urmi Rahman
