Former Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson knows a thing or two about passing landmark immigration reform. My friend and former graduate school professor did it in 1986 with the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which he co-authored with former Rep. Romano Mazzoli.
I keep thinking of those television ads from the Mexican tourism industry urging Americans to "Come visit Mexico."
Welcome to the chaotic Department of Homeland Security.
"Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. ... My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use." -- President Barack Obama, memo to heads of executive departments and agencies, 2009
You wouldn't think that gay rights would be on a collision course with immigration reform. After all, what does one of these things have to do with another?
Oh no, he didn't go there. Even in a political climate where it sometimes appears that anything goes, Bill Richardson crossed the line.
Some in the pro-immigrant left are confused. They can't make up their minds about U.S. citizenship. Is it a necessity or a luxury?
We already knew that opponents of immigration reform had no good arguments in favor of preserving the status quo. Now we know they have no shame.
Every gang needs a leader. And what has become undeniably clear in recent days is that the de facto leader of the Gang of Eight is Marco Rubio.
You know a global scenario is serious when even Darth Vader seems scared.
It's a good thing that Barack Obama is only the president of the United States and leader of the free world, and that he doesn't have a really important job like television sportscaster.
In a recent interview on Ketchikan Public Radio in Alaska, Rep. Don Young, the state's only congressman, offered this unhelpful tidbit:
In November 2008, after an ugly campaign that stirred emotions and split families along generational lines, California voters narrowly approved Proposition 8. The ballot initiative defined marriage as between a man and a woman and banned same-sex marriage in the Golden State.
Here are six words I thought I'd never hear myself say: "I can relate to Mick Jagger."
Did you think the Republican Party had cornered the market on racism, nativism and ethnic demagoguery? If so, think again.
After the epiphany that the GOP must -- for its own survival amid changing demographics -- learn to talk to Hispanics without offending them, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus made a smart move: He got out of Washington and headed to the Southwest.
It never occurred to me that the chant "U.S.A, U.S.A!" -- something you might hear from enthusiastic sports fans at the World Cup or the Olympics -- could be used as an insult. That is, until I saw (and heard) it for myself.
All those who are hoping that comprehensive immigration reform is going to happen this year -- Latinos, businesses, churches, agriculture industry, law enforcement and others -- are in for a rude awakening.
Sen. Marco Rubio was ready for his close-up, and he got it. Now you know what all the fuss is about.
Being native-born means never having to think about citizenship. Those concerns are for immigrants, either those who are in the U.S. illegally and want a chance to get legal status or those who already have legal status and would like to upgrade to full citizenship and all the perks that come with it, including voting.
The phrase: "President Marco Rubio" is music to the ears of conservatives who are eager to prove they are not anti-Hispanic while still supporting one of their own: a solid conservative. And so it is that, as the immigration debate reignites, the Florida senator's star power is winning over the world of conservative talk radio.
Phil Mickelson has apologized, which is the right thing to do when you do something wrong. Yet I can't accept his apology, since I still haven't figured out what the champion golfer did that was so wrong.
Second inaugurals are rarely as fresh and exciting and full of promise as the first.
What is President Obama up to? When it comes to immigration, it's usually no good.
The upcoming Oscars are no stranger to causes or controversy. And this year, there is a strong dose of both surrounding the film "Argo" -- and its star and director, Ben Affleck.
Did Senate Republicans have too much bubbly on New Year's Eve and pass a bill to avert the fiscal cliff that some in the GOP insist includes too much in new taxes without cutting spending? Are House Republicans so stubborn in their pursuit of spending cuts that they're ready to go to war with members of their own party?
Even for someone who has written more than 2,000 columns over the last 20 years, sometimes the words come out wrong.
I know just what a lot of those so-called DREAMers deserve to get for Christmas: a scolding. There are good and bad actors in every movement, and the bad ones -- if not kept in check -- can drag the good ones down with them.
On a recent trip to Mexico City, I had barely made my way down the concourse and arrived at the immigration processing area when I got stumped.
On a recent trip to Mexico City as part of a delegation of Mexican-American and American Jewish leaders, I heard a joke that is circulating among the intelligentsia:
Mexico City, home to 20 million people, represents the paradox of the modern Mexico, the side-by-side juxtaposition -- in everything from politics to architecture -- of old and new.
The breathtakingly incompetent way that Disney handled the introduction of what was thought to be the Magic Kingdom's first Hispanic princess has me wondering: What kind of Mickey Mouse operation is this?
Our politics have changed in America -- and, unfortunately, not for the better.
On March 10, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy made a pilgrimage to the central California farm town of Delano to attend a Catholic Mass and to help Cesar Chavez break a 25-day fast intended to draw attention to the plight of farmworkers.
Imagine what it must be like to be born in one country but only know another, to be labeled "illegal" but feel 100% American, and to be asking for special dispensation from a government that has shown a flair for arresting and deporting people just like you.
A lot of Americans probably look at the teachers strike in Chicago and think that this is just another labor dispute with workers making demands and causing a work stoppage until they get what they want.
Immigration groups, Obama surrogates, the media and the Democratic Party have a message for Latino voters, who some say could swing the election because they are heavily represented in four battleground states -- Colorado, Nevada, Florida and New Mexico.
This week, Latinos experienced their own version of "Super Tuesday."
When an elected official whose heart seems to be in the right place offers a courageous perspective on an important subject, I'm inclined to try to find some good in it.
What's in a name? For my friends and simpaticos in the immigration reform community, enough to go ballistic at the mere mention of the phrase: "illegal immigrant."
First, here's what Arizona got wrong: Once upon a time, some lawmakers there decided that the state had a problem with illegal immigrants -- most of whom are Hispanic. So they drafted a sweeping law that wound up inconveniencing, singling out and foisting second-class citizenship upon all Hispanics, including those who were born in the United States.
In my CNN.com column last week, I wrote that the first thing a candidate running for office needs to know about Latino voters is that they value nothing more than respect.
You've probably read those articles about how, in the United States, minorities are becoming the majority. That's a polite way of describing what is really going on. Namely, that the U.S. population is becoming more Latino and less white. More than any other group, it is Latinos who are driving demographic changes.
It used to be that when Americans thought of Mexico, they imagined a festive getaway where margaritas flowed, mariachis played, and every day was Cinco de Mayo.
As evidenced by media stories and public awareness campaigns, Americans have resolved to get tough on bullying. In that spirit, it's time to send a message to bullies with badges.
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