Coolican: Civility alone won’t win Hispanics to Sen. Dean Heller

By J. Patrick Coolican

Friday, Jan. 6, 2012 | 11:57 a.m.

Poor Dean Heller. Our accidental U.S. senator wants Hispanics to like him, so he showed up at a Hispanics in Politics breakfast meeting this morning and flashed his usual grin, which is so exuberant that he always looks like he’s on the verge of laughter.

The problem of course is that he favors policies anathema to Hispanics. And to make matters worse, his Republican friends have this impulsive need to insult Hispanics.

Heller wooing Hispanics is a little like President Barack Obama showing up at retreat of the Koch family, the now-famous billionaire brothers who loathe the president’s policies.

The difference is that Hispanics now make up a sizable and growing portion of the Nevada electorate, and Heller, in a tough race with Rep. Shelley Berkley, needs to expand his base of supporters in a state that now has more Democrats than Republicans.

Heller stressed to the 100 or so influential Hispanics that he shares their values of faith, family and entrepreneurialism. He noted the unemployment rate among Hispanics of 20 percent or more. (This is the result of their large presence in the now-collapsed construction industry.)

So far, so good, although I’m not sure Hispanics or anyone for that matter believes Republican prescriptions for restoring the economy — ever more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy — will really bring widespread prosperity.

But the problems really start for Heller — and most Republicans — on an issue of utmost importance to Hispanics: immigration.

He opposes the Dream Act, which, according to The New York Times, “would provide legal status and a path to citizenship to young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children and receive a college education or want to enter the military. Under the bill, students who came to the United States when they were 15 or under, have been in the country continually at least five years, present ‘good moral character,’ graduate from high school or obtain a G.E.D., and complete two years of college or military service in good standing would qualify.”

Sounds humane and reasonable to me. They were brought here as children. They didn’t have a choice in the matter. They’re on the straight and narrow. They think of themselves as Americans. They should be citizens.

Heller opposes it. Why? Because the Republican base hates it. Well, that’s not what he said. He said he doesn’t believe American citizens should be denied benefits accrued to noncitizens.

What on earth does he mean by that? During a news conference after the breakfast, he said that under the Dream Act a Nevadan who qualifies for such benefits could go to Nevada state universities and pay in-state tuition, while an American citizen living in Utah would have to pay out-of-state tuition at Nevada state universities.

Are you for real?

Then there’s the dreaded “anchor babies.” Heller signed on to legislation that would end automatic citizenship for babies born in the United States, instead requiring that to qualify for citizenship one parent must already be a citizen.

You can imagine how this utterly un-American policy might offend Hispanics. It offends me because more than likely my ancestors would have been disqualified for citizenship. They came over on a boat from Ireland and had a lot of babies.

Heller says we’re the only industrialized nation in the world with birthright citizenship.

Note to Heller: We’re also the only industrialized country in the world without universal health care. So what?

And a question: Let’s say a child was born here to two noncitizens. Of what country is the child a citizen? The answer is likely none, so we would be creating a population of stateless refugees right here in America. Genius!

And, of course, Heller opposes comprehensive immigration reform that would do something about the 10 or 12 million people here illegally. Would he deport them?

(By the way, illegal immigration is at its lowest level in decades because of increased enforcement and, just as important, our weak economy.)

Heller said he wants to streamline the immigration process. Fine, but that has nothing to do with the status of those millions, many of whom have been here for two decades or more.

He did acknowledge that “harsh political rhetoric coarsens the dialogue.” By which he probably means former Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo calling Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor part of the “Latino KKK.” Or maybe Sharron Angle’s offensive ad campaign in her 2010 race against Sen. Harry Reid that depicted young Hispanic men as lurking predators.

(Or the comments you’ll inevitably see below this column, about how the “illegals” cause all of our problems.)

I respect Heller for his civility. Unlike many in his party he realizes that when you openly insult a group of people you shouldn’t be surprised that they are reluctant to support you.

But civility won’t save him with these voters in November. He’s wrong on the issues.