You can easily recognize an election year once your July conversations with elected officials get strained, agitated, feisty, confrontational or curt. This year is no different. Earlier this week I had a conversation with NYC councilmember Dr. Kendall Stewart -something that isn’t abnormal for me- and after a few minutes, I asked him about the story I wrote a few weeks ago (“Congressman Ed Towns calls for Immigration Commission”), that exclusively appeared on both Room Eight New York Politics and the Daily Gotham blogs. Now do note that Stewart is relatively dispassionate, he is not the most emotional person in the world, in fact he could be rather stoic somewhat. But when the conversation turned to “immigration” he sounded quite emotional.
Remember also that Dr. Kendall Stewart is an immigrant from the islands. He was born on a tiny island called Union, and spent various phases of his life growing up in St. Vincent, Grenada and Trinidad; as far as memory serves me. He also chairs the New York City Council’s sub-committee on immigration, so the issue of immigration is near and dear to him. Stewart was clearly angry at the fact that Congress dropped the ball when dealing with this issue earlier this year. He said that Towns was a lil late with his call for a commission to deal with the issue, but that he looks forward to working closer with the congressman in the future, through his sub-committee. He wondered whether or not the congressman was going to introduce legislation in this regard, since he’s very concerned about the “Dream Act” (meant to empower undocumented students).
Stewart who is currently caught up in a contentious three-way race for a state senatorial district (21), against the incumbent democrat (Senator Kevin Parker) and another city councilmember (Simcha Felder), claimed that when it comes to immigration, his two opponents were missing in action. He further stated that the senatorial district has a significant immigrant population and needs an incumbent sensitive to their issues. He claims that Parker has had three terms to display some sensitivity to the immigration issue, but beyond a few immigration forums he has held in the district, Stewart claims that Parker has been a major disappointment. He also said that his council colleague Felder has always been silent on this issue.
Stewart also said that he hopes to hear more from the two presidential candidates (McCain and Obama) on the issues surrounding immigration reform, as the presidential campaign approaches the November election. Stewart is still hopeful that Congress could still get its act together and pass legislation that reforms the immigration laws. He said that he expects Congresswoman Yvette Clarke to push for reform and show leadership on the issue at hand, especially given her background as someone whose parents were born in Jamaica, West Indies.
Stay tuned-in folks.