Is Sotomayor Just a Bone Tossed to Hispanics? « The Washington Independent

If you thought President Obama’s pick of Sonia Sotomayor was a good sign for Latinos, think again — the latest buzz is that Obama picked Sotomayor as a consolation prize for all his Hispanic supporters clamoring for comprehensive immigration reform, which so far he’s not doing much about.

So writes Mickey Kaus at Slate citing MSNBC, Mark Krikorian at National Review, and Jan Greenberg at ABC News. Frank Sharry quickly denounces the idea at The Huffington Post. If that was part of Obama’s goal, he says, it won’t work.

In truth, while there’s no denying that choosing Sotomayor wins Obama some political points with Hispanics, her elevation to the high court really has nothing to do with whether 12 million undocumented immigrants working in this country get to become legal and pay taxes and earn minimum wages, or whether the administration is going to try to deport them all. And anyone who cares about that issue isn’t going to be appeased because one Puertorriqueña gets a powerful seat in Washington that’s basically irrelevant to the immigration issue.