Now that elections are approaching, immigration is an issue that is in the news and on nominee’s minds. With the election heating up, and with candidates and parties wanting to appeal to the widest audience possible, recent concerns about immigration and immigration reform will likely play a role in the election.
Recently, President Obama has claimed that Mitt Romney – who President Obama referred to as the Republican presidential nominee in a recent interview — has shown “hypocrisy” when it comes to immigration reform. President Obama was elected after making a number of promises when it comes to immigration reform. Although his administration has made a number of positive changes, President Obama claimed that the other side of the aisle has led to less than compressive reforms when it comes to immigration.
President Obama, for example, has vocally supported the DREAM Act, which would allow children of undocumented immigrants to get legal status and get started on the path to citizenship if they obeyed the law and attended school or took part in military service. Despite heavy popular support, the DREAM Act has failed to pass. President Obama has stated that the DREAM Act and other legislation has not passed because Republicans have blocked immigration reforms in Congress and have taken othe steps to prevent changes to the immigration system.
In an interview with Telemundo, President Obama criticized the Republican stance when it comes to immigration. He stated that Republicans want to “appeal to anti-immigrant” views and want to veto immigration reform laws but still claim to care about the undocumented immigrant children. President Obama stated categorically that the attitude “looks like hypocrisy to me.” The President also slammed Arizona immigration laws, which he stated allows people with “Latino surnames to potentially be picked up [and] asked for their papers.” That comment may have been a dig at Mitt Romney, who has supported Arizona’s immigration laws publicly and has also supported so-called “self-deportation,” which asks undocumented immigrants to voluntarily leave the US.
While the immigration issue was a serious one, the President also made some light-hearted comments about music and singing during the interview, stating that the First Lady prefers that he sings only for her. President Obama also stated that he has a number of Spanish songs on his iPod and in his repertoire – including songs by Juanes – but will likely not be singing them in public any time soon.