Recently, Senator John Kerry, US Democratic presidential candidate, delivered a speech in Phoenix, Arizona before a sizable crowd, mostly members of The National Council for La Raza, an advocate for the civil rights of Latinos, which he intends to polish into a proposal on immigration reform, particularly in regards to undocumented immigrants.

Well gosh darn it, promises quickly ensued! Let’s review:

I must point out, at least to my Mexican readers, that Kerry allows himself a period of 100 days in the White House before initiating extraordinary reforms, as opposed to President Fox, who promised to resolve the Chiapas Issue in “fifteen minutes.” If I were a bit less jaded, I would almost regard this individual as someone who really understands the immigration process and the plight of undocumented immigrants.

His conclusions, without a doubt, are accurate. The core of his thesis is the fact that hundreds of people have died in the desert. While pursuing “a better life, millions live in the shadows, frightened, exploited and often victimized by criminals,” conclusions which would prompt him to submit before Congress a full Immigration Reform to deal with that problem. Under such plan, undocumented immigrants would qualify to obtain residence after having worked for five years, having paid taxes and passed a background check. This would put them on their way to obtain citizenship.

In addition, he proposed other substantial changes, such as challenging the serious health crisis that affects most immigrants. Four out of five Latino children in the US lack medical insurance, while one third of Latino adults are in the same condition. Under his proposal, virtually all children would be covered, as well as 95 percent of adults. Also, he mentioned the importance of contributing funds to assist immigrants in acquiring English skills and to help them assimilate into Western culture, which is precisely one of the main problems addressed by Samuel Huntington, who complains that the reason Latinos resist assimilation is because they refuse to learn English.

Of course, criticism of President George W. Bush soon surfaced, especially the fact that if Bush really wished to advance his own proposal he would have brought it before Congress immediately. Also, his Temporary Worker program precludes current US undocumented residents from obtaining citizenship.

Republican dissent also emerged quickly, denouncing Kerry as a politician who was never involved in migratory issues. A Bush campaign spokesman, Danny Diaz, maintained that, out of the 314 measures supported by Kerry as a senator in Massachusetts, only two had anything to do with immigration.

Jingle Bells? I would think so; it appears as an obvious electoral maneuver, since, even with the tremendous amount of immigrants arriving to occupy the many jobs available in the US, nearly 29 percent, none of them can vote and it holds paltry interest to candidates. On the other hand, there are 38.8 million Latinos in the country, which makes them the largest minority in the United States.

We must not forget the conclusions from various sources which regard the Latino vote, at the end of the day, as crucial, especially when we factor the urgency to surpass the 6 percent that helped George W. Bush to beat Al Gore in the year 2000.

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Translated by Miguel Alvarado

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