Immigration is a complicated and difficult issue, one more suited to the muted tones of analysis and study than to the black-and-white didacticism of our partisan political process. Not that that matters, as immigration is and will be a political issue. There is, however, an element to the discussion about immigration that most people don't seem to realize or want to address, and the progressive community ought to take note of it.
Generally, Hispanic voters tend to be socially conservative and economically populist, stances inherited from the Catholic religion of which the vast majority of Hispanics consider themselves members, and from the particular interpretation of Christianity, liberation theology, that has much popularity among Latinos in Central and South America. Democrats stand to be the beneficiaries electorally if the Republicans continue their demagoguery viz. immigration--indeed, polls already indicate this movement occurring. Should this movement continue to the sorts of levels with which it exists in the Black community--i.e. 90% Democrat--the explosion of the American Latino population could give the Democrats a permanent structural advantage within the next decade or so--we could be talking about a sixth party system. But what would that party system look like?
It is difficult to believe that the Democratic Party of twenty years from now will look much like the one we see today, especially if the Democrats are able to entice many scores of Latinos into the fold. While such a party would no doubt be just as progressive on economic issues as it is now, if not more so, it would no doubt be far less receptive to the liberal social policies that the party currently advances. America has been moving to the right of the scale on abortion without the help of immigration, but a new influx of socially conservative Democrats would radically change the equation. Ditto the precarious situation with regard to gay rights in America. This is a reality which Democrats seem uneager to face, instead revelling in the medium-term destruction of the power of the Republican Party. That might very well happen. Nevertheless, there is the danger to progressives of losing a few very real battles in which much passion has been invested, and there ought to be some thought given to the outcomes of these policy debates. For my part, I'm less fixated on the social issues than the economic ones, so this isn't the worst thing in the world for me, but I'm not sure I welcome it.
