Immigration is losing urgency as top issue - Ventura County Star
The punches keep coming from both sides, but the slugfest over immigration may be losing some of its urgency.
As activists try to ratchet up pressure on President Barack Obama to halt deportations and work on comprehensive immigration reform, political experts predict he won’t take dramatic action anytime soon because of the economy, the war and need for healthcare reform. A poll by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests that even Latinos are pushing immigration down their list of priorities.
The December survey of 1,007 Latinos nationwide said only one in three people identified immigration as an extremely important issue. On a list of the nation’s most pressing issues that was led by the economy and followed by education, healthcare, national security and the environment, immigration ranked sixth.
“Immigration is very important, but it’s not as important as stabilizing the economy and the leadership of the country,” said Julio Gomez, a real estate agent from Oxnard who sees immigration protests as more of a reminder than a call for immediate action. “Don’t let politicians forget about it.”