Immigration on the back burner

The debate on illegal immigration formerly a contentious one on the state and national levels has recently been nearly invisible on the national stage.

Even in this state where senatorial and gubernatorial candidates have sparred repeatedly on immigration reform" national immigration reform has been little discussed.

""The economy has really pushed everything else to the back burner"" said Tom Jensen, communications director of Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling.

Ron Woodward, director of immigration reform group NC Listen, said he feels that illegal immigration is inevitably tied to the souring economy, making it a viable topic for debate in the national arena.

Barack Obama is trying to have it both ways" and to some extent John McCain is he said. They talk about the poor and the worker" but illegal immigration has been terrible for low-skilled American workers.""

If the election was last year" immigration would have been a much larger issue Jensen said.

But when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was hounded for advocating for illegal minors to attend N.C. community colleges at a Greensboro rally in late September" the hubbub died down almost immediately.

""Obama's position is probably out of the mainstream with North Carolina voters" but they trust him more on the economy" Jensen said.

Paul Cox, communications director for Obama's N.C. campaign, said Obama's position on illegal immigration isn't new.

He and Sen. McCain share the same position on this particular issue"" he said.

Though presidential debates didn't hit immigration reform, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has made a point to actively dispute claims that he is sympathetic to illegal immigrants.

However, his campaign Web site clearly states support of a path to amnesty as well as a separate concern for illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors.

I think that McCain in particular has been sort of feeling the effects of his … initial support and then" sort of backing away from immigration reform even saying that he wouldn't vote for his own bill" said spokesman Paco Fabian of America's Voice, a bipartisan national immigration reform group.

McCain previously supported the Dream Act, a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrant minors to attend college or serve in the military and later apply for citizenship.

That has created a lot of confusion within the electorate. We're not sure exactly where he stands anymore. We would all like to see that cleared up"" Fabian added.

Immigration is also an important issue for the Latino vote, a sector of the electorate that Latino organizations say has been largely ignored by the presidential race.

But U.S. Senate candidates N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue have discussed cracking down on illegal immigrants in their campaigns.

Immigration remains a big issue for Latino and Hispanic voters" Fabian said. They care about the issues everyone cares about" but for them immigration is like a threshold issue.""



State & National Editor Ariel Zirulnick contributed reporting. Contact her at stntdesk@unc.edu.