Kyrsten Sinema Has Real Power. Immigrants Should Be Worried.
Arizona’s senior senator will need those Latino votes when she seeks re-election. But she hasn’t always acted like she does.
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At both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, Democrats have rebooted the immigration debate. They have placed an actual bill on the table. And ironically, the fate of the legislation may rest in the hands of a Senate Democrat who talks, acts, thinks, and often votes like a Republican.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is positioned, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), to be a shot-caller in a 50-50 Senate. Whether the Democrats’ new immigration bill rises or falls will have a lot to do with how Arizona’s senior senator feels about it.
That’s bad news for immigrants, and those who care about them. Latinos in Arizona don’t trust her or see her as a true ally who is reliable in a crisis. Sinema has been cagey—or worse—on immigration issues for years, dating back to her time in the Arizona state legislature.
