Dean Johnson Interviewed on Immigration Reform by Wisconsin Public Radio
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for Wisconsin Public Radio on the bipartisan plan for immigration reform announced this week by a group of eight U.S. senators. In an extensive interview on the Kathleen Dunn news talk program broadcast on January 29, Dean Johnson touched on a wide range of topics related to the proposal, which includes increased border enforcement and a path to citizenship for most of the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Dean Johnson noted that the "devil is often in the details" when it comes to immigration programs, and many of the details of the current proposal remain unclear. The bipartisan push for reform is at least partly a product of the growing political clout of Latino voters, he said.
"I do think the elections in November make it pretty clear to most observers that Latinos want immigration reform," said Dean Johnson. "They turned out in droves for President Obama-70 percent of Latinos who voted voted for him-and the time is now for immigration reform. If the Republican Party wants to remain competitive, particularly in states like Nevada, California, New Mexico, and even in Arizona, they're going to have to think seriously about meaningful immigration reform and some kind of changes to our current immigration law."
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.