The battle over immigration produces a new American voter

By: Marjorie Childress 11/01/08

Photo by: Sandra Montes

ALBUQUERQUE — As the 2008 election cycle began to pick up steam earlier in the year, one of the questions on many minds was the impact of the contentious immigration debates of 2005 and 2006 on the outcome.

Would immigration reform be a major issue in 2008? And would the Latino population swing back to the Democrats from the shift they had made in 2004 toward George Bush, when he got 40 percent of the Latino vote nationally, and about 37 percent in New Mexico?

The impact of the immigration debate in this country, with a shift toward stronger enforcement of immigration laws, the construction of a border fence, and mass raids and deportations of immigrants over the past couple of years, can be seen in the personal stories of immigrants such as Pajarito Mesa’s Salvador Montes, who became a citizen and will vote for the first time this year.

Montes first came to the United States in 1972. Originally from the home of Pancho Villa — Parral, Chihuahua — Montes was a trained welder by the time he was 13, working in the mines in Mexico. But it was very difficult to make enough money to support his family, so he came to New Mexico off and on to work until making it permanent in 1985 when he got his green card.

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