The American people want leadership and solutions on the immigration issue, but what they've been getting fromSenator John Cornyn (R-TX) is flip-flopping and hypocrisy. Instead of taking the lead towards solutions, Cornyn talks about supporting immigration reform in public, while undermining legislative efforts in Congress. That resulted in America's Voice recently designating Cornyn as "Biggest Hypocrite on Immigration."
The latest Census numbers out of Texas provide some insight into the back and forth Cornyn is having with himself. See, the demographics of Cornyn's state are changing -- dramatically.
Whites who dominated Texas’s population for generations are growing older and more dependent on the earning power and taxes of younger Hispanics, now poised to take over as the state’s largest demographic group.
Of the 25,145,561 people counted in Texas in the 2010 Census, 37.6 percent were Hispanic and 45.3 percent were non- Hispanic whites. Yet Hispanics disproportionately fill the ranks of younger Texans. Hispanics comprise 48.3 percent of Texans under the age of 18, up from 40.5 percent in 2000. The percentage of non-Hispanic whites in the same age group fell to 33.8 percent from 42.6 percent in 2000, according to census data released yesterday.
“All the institutions and services that affect children in Texas will need to really pay attention,” said demographer William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “These people may not yet vote but they will in the future. They’re going to be an important part of the electorate, and this will really put an exclamation point on that.”
One "institution" serving Texas that doesn't grasp this new reality is its U.S. Senator John Cornyn.
We're starting to see bipartisan calls for federal comprehensive immigration reform. This presents a challenge for Cornyn. He can be a party to that solution -- or he can continue his hypocrisy. But this time, a lot more Latino voters in Texas are going to be watching.
Cross-Posted at America's Voice.