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“For eight long years, we have had a president who has made all kinds of promises to Latinos on the campaign trail, but failed to live up to them in the White House.  We need a president who isn’t going to walk away from something as important as comprehensive [immigration] reform when it becomes politically unpopular.  That’s the commitment I’m making to you…and I will make it a top priority in my first year as president.”  Barack Obama, July 8, 2008 Washington DC Convention of League of United Latin American Citizens  (LULAC).
 

Those were President Obama’s words back then.  Yet, even in light of the DREAM Act failing to pass in the Senate, he continues to talk about increasing “border security” to appeal to Republicans, which has always been a diversionary tactic that never works for Democrats.  Under President Obama, deportations have gone through the roof, and he’s already sent the National Guard to the border, so what other displays of “border security” theatrics is he talking about?  When is President Obama going to realize that it won’t matter how much money he puts into so-called “border security”, how many people his administration deports, or how high a wall he builds along the border, right-wing Republicans are never going to think that it’s enough “border security” for them to stop treating a segment of our population as second-class citizens just because they happen to lack the proper documentation?  The President needs to stop catering and capitulating to Republicans and take unilateral bold progressive action for once.  He has the power to put a moratorium on the deportations of DREAM’ers that he claims he supports and he has the power to stop the deportation of those that are caught in the dysfunctional 287(g) law.  Of course we need to applaud President for his willingness to fight for the DREAM Act, but we’re no fools.  Deporting our people while the only thing we get from you is lip service is simply not going to cut it anymore Mr. President.