The people of Laredo don’t want a fence through their community. Neither do the people of Maverick County.
This isn’t as polarizing an issue as it is in other parts of the country because, I think, this district has been dealing with this question for a long, long time,” said Andy Hernandez, a political scientist and former executive with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. “It’s a hot topic, but it’s not hot enough that you have to talk about it.”
The district’s mix of voters – Anglo ranchers in West Texas, heavily Hispanic residents of border towns, Republicans on San Antonio’s Northwest Side and Democrats on the South Side – also could make it hard for candidates to offer specifics without losing votes.
U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla’s campaign Web site doesn’t include a stance on immigration or border security reform. Neither does the site belonging to his best-known challenger, Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, a former four-term congressman and former chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Still, not everyone’s quiet online. On his Web site, Lukin Gilliland, an Alamo Heights businessman and the best-funded Democrat in the race, calls for giving Border Patrol agents more resources, and notes, “Here’s my bottom line on immigration reform: We need to secure our borders and protect our economy. In Washington, they don’t understand the realities on the ground here in Texas.”
[…]
Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster thinks recent legislation puts the issue of illegal immigration and what to do about it high on the list – at least in his town.
He contends Bonilla did himself no political favors when he voted Sept. 14 for the bill to build fencing and place cameras and sensors along 732 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. Foster said the proposed fence would damage the close ties between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras across the Rio Grande.
Two years ago, Bonilla carried Maverick County, where Eagle Pass is the county seat, for the first time since he defeated Democrat Albert Bustamante in 1992 to win the office. But Foster said he probably lost support for the Nov. 7 special election because of his vote.
“It’s kind of hard to support someone who wants to build a fence,” said Foster, who’s also president of the Texas Border Coalition, a group of city and county officials. “I’d say 95 percent of Maverick County agrees with me.”
Maverick is a small county, but a Democratic one. John Kerry won it 5948-4025 (59.27% to 40.11%), but Bonilla beat his no-name Democratic opponent there by a nearly equivalent 5151-3363 (59.46% to 38.82%) margin. If the Democratic squadron is going to take Bonilla out, they will need to carry counties like Maverick.
Democrat Albert Uresti, a South Sider and brother of state Rep. Carlos Uresti, chided Bonilla’s vote, saying in a prepared statement “the United States must reduce the flow of illegal immigrants along its borders, but (Uresti is) against building a wall that will not work.”
Craig T. Stephens, owner of a San Antonio engineering firm and the race’s sole independent candidate, sees the proposed fence as ineffective and little more than pork.
“Building a fence isn’t going to keep anybody out,” Stephens said. “If someone wants to walk across the border, they’re going to walk across the border.”
[…]
Ciro Rodriguez, who represented neighboring congressional District 28 for eight years, wants to see a guest worker program put together and would explore the idea of some kind of Mexican-U.S. authority to police the border.
Last month’s redrawing added a big chunk of his old South Side stronghold to District 23, boosting Bexar County residents to 58 percent of its overall population.
And there, Rodriguez has seen few voters who want to jump into the same kinds of angry debates that are roiling other congressional districts.
In this campaign, Rodriguez is making his first push into West Texas. And he said he’s come across a lot of nuanced opinions on the matter.
“People don’t want just an influx (of illegal immigrants) over the border because it’s illegal,” Rodriguez said. “But you talk to the ranchers, and they’ll say, ‘I need two or three of them to help.’ You talk to a restaurant owner, and it’s the same thing.”
Funny, that. Maybe the answer is to get realistic about how many immigrants we let in legally, instead of trying to shovel sand against the tide. Link via South Texas Chisme.