The Latino community will be disappointed if President Barack Obama does not grant executive amnesty to at least five million people and view those opposed to amnesty as “anti-immigrant and anti-Latino,” according to Jorge Ramos, who is arguably the nation’s foremost Hispanic media figure.
Ramos, the Fusion and Univision anchor who has made no secret that he wants a comprehensive amnesty bill to pass that would give all of the country’s illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship, also said that Obama’s executive action will demonstrate the power of the Latino community.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), one of most vocal amnesty advocates, recently said that he demanded “interest” in the form of a broader and bigger executive amnesty after the White House asked for “forbearance” after Obama missed his self-imposed “by the end of summer” deadline on executive amnesty.
Ramos said on Sunday that “there are big expectations in the Latino community about Obama’s executive action” and the community is expecting “more than five million immigrations to benefit.” He said that executive amnesty is an issue that is close to the hearts of many Hispanics.
Reports have indicated that five million is the upper limit of what Obama is considering regarding his forthcoming executive amnesty, which would also grant work permits to illegal immigrants, including the parents of DREAMers. Obama, who returned from Australia on Sunday evening, may even make the announcement as early as this week.
Ramos also claimed that it will be “difficult for Republicans to reject executive action on immigration” and not be “seen as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino,” even though Republican candidates who ran on border security and against amnesty in Texas and Georgia received over 40% of the Latino vote.
GOP Texas Gov.-elect Greg Abbott received 44% of the Latino vote, while Republican Georgia Senator-elect David Perdue secured 42% of the Hispanic vote. In addition, a post-election Pew Research survey of the Hispanic electorate in the midterms found that a majority of Latino voters said that a candidate’s position on immigration was not a “deal-breaker,” while only 16% of Hispanics said immigration was their top priority. An extensive Univision survey of Hispanic voters in California earlier this month also found that immigration was not at the top of issues that were most important to Latinos.