Immigration Reform Update

On May 25, 2010, the President made the following comments about immigration at the President’s Meeting with the Senate Republican Conference:

On immigration, the President noted that many in the conference have supported efforts before to fix a broken system and impose accountability at our borders, accountability for employers who undercut the law by hiring undocumented workers; and for the workers themselves, who are here illegally and must take responsibility. And he urged them to work with him across party lines to make progress on this issue.

This is the latest immigration reform update. The President has made this same statement many times before. The White House web page on immigration mirrors this statement. I quote: “President Obama believes that our broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that secures our border, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our heritage as a nation of immigrants.”

I would like to see more details on what, where, and when we will have efforts to reform this broken immigration system. To me, it seems that most congressmen are putting this issue off until after elections this November. I also have the impression that republicans want border security as a precondition to any immigration reform debate. My reply to that is when have our borders ever been completely secure? We have hundreds of miles of desert border with Mexico and even more with Canada that have never been secure. Do we need to fence the entire area off before even beginning a debate on immigration reform?

Here is more background on this issue from earlier in the month:

Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Immigration reform legislation in Congress appeared to stall last week when Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham walked away from talks with Democratic leaders. Graham, who was the only Republican in on discussions, said the legislation would have to wait at least two years. He said Americans were more concerned about secure borders than immigration reform.

That statement certainly does not appear encouraging. As a matter of fact, I am discouraged by the whole issue. I see the following items as preventing an earnest debate on immigration:
• The Economy
• The War/War on Terror
• Congressional Elections
• Healthcare Reform
• Reform of the Financial Industry