At Odds With a Mentor on Deportations

He worries that putting on the brakes "may create a political environment where it's impossible in any reasonable time frame to get comprehensive immigration reform, because the waters will be so poisoned politically."

Seriously? Cisneros is really concerned about derailing immigration reform? It's already in the ditch. He hasn't been paying attention to the debate. Otherwise, he'd get the joke: The well is already poisoned, and it was Obama who poisoned it by using immigration to help himself politically and trying to be all things to all people.

For better leadership, take a look at the person who now has the job that Cisneros had in the 1980s.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro -- who is mentioned as a possible 2016 vice presidential candidate -- isn't falling in line. He has been to the White House to meet with Obama about immigration, so he knows how the sausage is made. One minute, Castro is watching the president insist that he lacks the power to halt deportations. The next, he is watching Obama halt hundreds of thousands of deportations through DACA with legal authority the president claimed he didn't have. Castro remains a supporter of Obama, but having a front-row seat to a flip-flop that grand is bound to make you cynical.

Now Castro is suggesting Obama change his deportation policy.

"My hope is that his administration will go about it in a different way," he said during a recent event at the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Library in Austin marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. When asked about criticism that Obama has deported too many people, Castro agreed with the critics.

"I'm not comfortable with the number of deportations," he said. "My hope is that just like he did with [DACA], the president will find ways that are within his power, that are constitutional, to ease the level of deportations."

So Castro has broken ranks with his mentor, and placed himself on the right side of history. Meanwhile, Cisneros remains the consummate team player. The question for Latinos is: What team is he playing for?

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.