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In the News Suffolk: The Changed Politics of Immigration

By Patrick Young, Esq. CARECEN Program Director July 8, 2008 3:02 PM

A little over a month ago it seemed as though any bill that could be proposed attacking immigrants would pass in the Suffolk Legislature. With the removal of pro-immigrant Legislator Elie Mystal, the anti-immigrants had shown that they could play hardball. Cross them, and you might find your dealings or your residence investigated. You might also find yourself primaried by the antis in your own party, the real lesson of the challenge to Assemblyman Phil Ramos being of course not intended for him but for other Dems with a mind towards a reasonable approach to immigration.

Now, going into the July 4th weekend, we see that the wheels came off the anti-immigrant bandwagon. Why?

Most of the anti-immigrant legislation introduced (and typically defeated) over the last decade has been intended to stir the pot of racial hatred, induce fear in immigrant communities, and garner the applause of the whackos while not inconveniencing business.

Also, while the authors of these bills have welcomed the applause of local Know Nothings, they have generally been held harmless by their own party outside Suffolk. So, being a policy leader in an administration that championed political attacks on Latinos was no impediment to a high state appointment by Democrat Elliot Spitzer a year ago, or the holding of important campaign posts with national Democratic office seekers.

Two things have changed. First, this year’s Suffolk Legislative proposals cut close to the bone for business, and, second, state-wide Latino groups are no longer giving pols a pass when they work with the Suffolk Democrats.

The defeat of the worst of these measures in June does not mean that it is safe to go back in the water, but they do serve as lessons in how we can defeat new bills in coming months. Next week I’ll discuss what our next steps are.

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