Because of the lack of any competitive national races this political season in the Tampa Bay area (with the possible exception of the CD15 race between Dennis Ross and Alan Cohn), but it's not getting any attention in the local media), immigration isn't being discussed too much this fall.
However, in Miami it's being fiercely debated in the extremely competitive CD 26 race between Democratic incumbent Joe Garcia and his GOP challenger, Carlos Curbelo — with both candidates speaking for comprehensive immigration reform. According to the Miami Herald, Curbelo is calling out President Obama for being “unwilling to invest political capital to achieve immigration reform.” The story goes on to detail how Garcia accuses Curbelo of being inconsistent in his support for such reform. Nearly 60 percent of the voters in the district are Hispanic, with nearly half foreign-born.
And while "border security" has become the mantra that House Republicans espouse when asked about immigration reform (especially after the humanitarian crisis along the Southwest Texas border this summer), the facts are that deportations in 2013 were up dramatically.
The New York Times reports this morning that the Obama administration carried out 438,421 deportations last year, a record number. That means that well over 2 million people have been deported by Obama since he took office. Something to remember after the election when he presumably goes ahead with his unilateral action on the issue. This is why some Latino advocates call the president the "Deporter-in-Chief."
In other news...
The continuing saga of the Tampa Bay Rays stadium situation moves at a snail's pace, if that fast. So the Board of County Commissioners yesterday announced a four-person team to work with Rays officials if and when the club gets permission to talk about stadium opportunities in Tampa.
Hillsborough County Commissioners are on a roll. Yesterday, after a 19-year interregnum, the BOCC added back sexual orientation and gender identity to its Human Rights Ordinance.
And CD15 Democratic candidate Alan Cohn got a bit of star power to jumpstart his campaign on Tuesday night when former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy came to Tampa.
