Welcome to Top Picks! In this series, which will appear each Monday, I’d like to share with you some of the posts from around the blogosphere that I found the most thought-provoking or applause-worthy.
Today, I’ll focus on the meaning and consequences of Election Day and Veterans Day. To mark these two November milestones, I encourage you to read a pair of posts that honor immigrant veterans, as well as the ACLU’s take on why Maryland’s DREAM Act victory should boost federal immigration reform. Rounding out these picks is a Colorlines analysis of why advocates of comprehensive reform may find themselves wrangling with newly minted supporters of immigration “compromise.”
- In the landmark victory of the Maryland DREAM Act, the ACLU finds hope and momentum for comprehensive federal immigration reform, Sirine Shebaya reports in “DREAM Act Passage in Maryland Should Spark Federal Action.”
- In his post for the National Immigration Forum, “Policy Update: Obama Boosted to Second Term by America’s Changing Demographics,” Maurice Belanger provides a timely look at how Asians, Latinos, and African Americans voted in the presidential race, what that means for immigration reform, and what may happen in the lame duck session of Congress that has just begun.
- To mark Veteran’s Day at the Immigration Impact blog, Brett Hunt writes about “Recognizing the Contribution of Immigrants to the Armed Forces,” and makes a compelling case for providing a path to citizenship for these men and women who serve. Hunt reminds us that immigrant soldiers have fought for our safety and our values on many battlefields…beginning at Lexington and Concord.
- “Deportations are Not the Way to Show Respect for Veterans,” Rev. Linda Orsen Theophilus writes in a deeply personal post at the Sojourners’ blog God’s Politics, where she also declares the need for immigration reform and alternatives to immigration detention.
- Support for a compromise solution on immigration reform spans party lines post-Election Day, but immigration activists will continue to push for a comprehensive reform plan, Seth Freed Wessler writes at Colorlines. The renewed possibility of reform is due to the fact that voters were listening to what the politicians had to say about immigration during the campaign and they used their vote to move this country towards change that is fair, smart and good for the economy.
If you notice any interesting ideas floating around the blogosphere, please be sure to email me or comment below. I look forward to bringing you more Top Picks next Monday!