{"id":6569,"date":"2009-02-04T21:25:17","date_gmt":"2009-02-05T04:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=6569"},"modified":"2009-02-04T21:25:17","modified_gmt":"2009-02-05T04:45:05","slug":"gillibrand-prepare-a-major-flip-flop-on-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=6569","title":{"rendered":"Gillibrand prepares a major flip-flop on immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier<\/a>, I was complaining that New York’s new Senator-select, Kristin Gillibrand, has a right-wing track record on immigration issues. Now that she’s serving the entire state, however, she’s learned the error of her ways with impressive rapidity<\/a>:<\/p>\n

And so often now, Ms. Gillibrand stands ready to \u201cevolve\u201d \u2014 that decorous political verb of choice \u2014 on policy questions. At present, the senator is evolving at a particularly rapid rate on immigration, an issue on which she had favored tough enforcement. She now inclines to the view that \u201ccowboy\u201d tactics in immigration raids are uncivilized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese stories are terrible,\u201d she said Monday morning at a meeting in Lower Manhattan with the Hispanic Federation, which represents major social service agencies. \u201cIt\u2019s disturbing to who we are as Americans.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a woman who co-sponsored the SAVE Act, which was an act which — even according to those who supported it — was meant to make things hard on undocumented immigrants so they’d “self-deport.<\/a>” But now she’s shocked, shocked!<\/em>, that laws intended <\/em>to make life hard on immigrants, make life hard on immigrants.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Ms. Gillibrand said she no longer favored branding immigrant-friendly cities such as New York as \u201csanctuary cities\u201d and denying them federal tax benefits. On Monday, she no longer favored deputizing police officers as immigration officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much of changing my view as broadening,\u201d Ms. Gillibrand said. […]<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, there was a disconnect in her view of immigration until now,\u201d said Lillian Rodr\u00edguez L\u00f3pez, president of the Hispanic Federation. \u201cWe just hope that her views are really changing, and that she puts votes where words are.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugs. \u201cIt\u2019s an imperfect world, what can I say?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gillibrand seems almost hilariously unprincipled — not that people can’t change their minds, of course, but the swiftness and political convenience of her “broadening” here is almost embarrassing. Still, I’d much rather the new Senator be flip-floppy than have her be anti-immigrant.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen how she votes. But even if she votes the right way once she’s in the senate — and I suspect she will — I still would have preferred a passionate advocate of pro-migrant policies, rather than a convert with her eye on statewide demographics.<\/p>\n

(Actually, it’s possible that she’ll now be a much more reliable pro-immigrant vote than someone with a better track record would have been, since she knows that she doesn’t have any credibility built up.)<\/p>\n

This bit is also notable:<\/p>\n

Ms. Gillibrand is a mother of two boys, ages 5 years and 8 months. When inquiring about work, home life and the strains of her new job, a reporter notes that he hopes he would ask the same question of an ambitious male politician with young children.<\/p>\n

She chuckles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t, but that\u2019s O.K.,\u201d she said. \u201cMy women friends ask each other these questions all the time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She’s being too nice — but good for her for pointing out that a male politician wouldn’t be asked the same question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier, I was complaining that New York’s new Senator-select, Kristin Gillibrand, has a right-wing track record on immigration issues. Now that she’s serving the entire state, however, she’s learned the error of her ways with impressive rapidity: And so often … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-and-politics","category-immigration-migrant-rights-etc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}