2016 is forcing immigration activists to tear up their old playbook

*I get the premise of this story – that DREAMers have been scooped-up by the presidential campaigns because . . . Trump. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. The move is  giving these young Latin@ activists an opportunity to widen the scope of their activism to include other issues besides immigration. I’m working on a podcast about Latino voter mobilization in Iowa and I’ve talked to some of these young Latin@ activists. They’re doing great work. I’ll post the podcast very soon. This is a good story, worth the read. VL


vox logoBy Dara Lind, Vox

Immigration activists have a well-established playbook. The 2016 primaries were the moment it stopped working.

For the past decade, their political strategy focused on pressuring the system from the outside — with mega rallies and high-profile protests of Republican and Democratic politicians alike.

But two things changed this season. First, there was Donald Trump. He surprised everyone with calls to force Mexico to build a wall and a ban on Muslims. But what really shocked advocates was to see the rest of the Republican field, in the words of activist Ben Monterroso, “lining up behind Mr. Trump.” Even former immigration reform supporter Marco Rubio was reticent to call out Trump. The Republican Party has always had a complicated relationship with immigration reformers, but this near-total abandonment was something very new.

Second, the Democratic candidates embraced immigration enthusiastically — staking out positions to the left of President Obama and hiring former advocates to staff their campaigns.

Click HERE to read the full story.


[Photo courtesy of HillaryClinton.com]

 

 

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