Push for More Tech Visas Likely in Lame Duck or Next Year

Mark Krikorian: Why Blame Immigration for Romney’s Loss?

“The standard GOP lines on foreign policy, spending, the economy, and abortion were undoubtedly important in Tuesday’s defeat in a way that immigration wasn’t, but my bailiwick is immigration. This is also the area where the GOP establishment leaps at any opportunity to slip its leash, having only grudgingly submitted to the views of its own voters,” says CIS executive director Mark Krikorian.

“Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Americans, and so on are a heterogeneous group concerned with the same kinds of issues as are other Americans, with immigration pretty far down the list. However, as a group they are poorer than average, pay less in taxes, use more in government services, benefit from affirmative action, and are less likely to have health insurance — so the Democrats’ message of big government and racial quotas is going to resonate with them, as it always has.”

Push for More Tech Visas Likely in Lame Duck or Next Year

“President Barack Obama believes this election will usher in immigration reform, which will include action on tech visa issues,” says Computerworld.

“There is enough support in the Senate and House to increase work visas, temporary and permanent. But supporters of comprehensive immigration reform have stopped piecemeal, special-interest driven immigration legislation to keep support for a broader bill from peeling away. H-1B opponents have piggybacked on this opposition.”

GOP Issue Stances Besides Immigration Were the Problem

“Pundits are quickly turning to immigration to explain the Republicans’ Latino problem and to offer a possible cure, but the reality is that the rot cuts much deeper. The GOP doesn’t have a problem with Latino voters per se. Rather, it has a problem with a broad spectrum of voters who simply don’t feel that it’s speaking to their economic concerns,” says liberal commentator Matthew Yglesias.

“To do better, Republicans don’t need a different immigration policy or better Hispanic outreach strategy, they need an overall policy that’s more compelling to the middle class and will help them do better with voters of all kinds.”