Immigration Politics: Lamar Smith's misguided view on immigration

An opinion piece by columnist Ruben Navarrette, Jr.

Lamar Smith's misguided view on immigration": "(Congressman Lamar)Smith (new chair of the House Judiciary Committee) doesn't grasp that the immigration issue is about economics and the need to replenish the U.S. labor supply because young people are raised to think of themselves as entitled to avoid stoop labor. He thinks the whole problem can be solved by enforcement alone, even though the professionals who do that work daily - whether it's Border Patrol agents or the brass at Immigration and Customs Enforcement - disagree and insist that there isn't a wall high enough to deter mothers and fathers who are desperate to feed their children. ...

According to the polling firm Latino Decisions, 71 percent of the votes cast by Latinos in the midterm elections went to Democratic candidates. And with recent census data showing that Hispanics drive population growth in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Florida and other states, the Republican Party could be capsized by a demographic tidal wave." Dec. 29, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle