The wheels have been put into motion; President Obama’s speech at American University in Washington, D.C this morning acknowledged the nation’s broken immigration system and the frustration that has come with it. As usual, the president presented the issue eloquently; for those who have forgotten, he urged us to be mindful of America’s long-standing tradition as being a “beacon of hope,” an alleged land of milk and honey that, as immigrants often found out the hard way, was not always as welcoming as expected. “The politics of who is and is not allowed to enter this country, and on what terms, has always been contentious, and that remains true today,” said the president. “And it’s made worse by a failure of those of us in Washington to fix a broken immigration system.”
President Obama blamed the lack of action concerning immigration reform taken at the federal level on “the polarization and the frequent pettiness of our politics,” recognizing that immigration reform is an issue that “has been used to divide and inflame, and to demonize people,” making it a topic to either be avoided or sensationalized, particularly in election years such as this one. He demanded accountability, from the government that has failed to fix the system, from the businesses that have lured illegal immigrants for decades, and from the immigrants themselves.
Obama stated his belief that “a program of mass deportation would disrupt our economies and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable”; his tentative proposal asks that the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country admit to breaking the law, take steps to register for legal status, and put forth an effort in learning English if they have not already. He recognized that;
“The legal immigration system is as broken as the borders” and that “our task now…is to shape a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and as a nation of immigrants. And that means being honest about the problem and getting past the false debates that divide the country rather than bringing it together…We can create a pathway for legal status that is fair, reflective of our values, and works…The question now is whether we will have the courage, and political will, to pass the bill through Congress, to finally get it done.”
The 34-minute speech was stirring, if somewhat vague. Regardless, President Obama has established a dialogue about immigration with the American people. Skeptics may say all he’s done is started to secure the vote for Democrats in November, but hopefully some changes will begin to be seen from now until then.
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 5, 2010.
With jobless numbers growing every month, how can a prudent person, such as the commander in Chief expect to get a reasonable response on both legal and illegal immigration? No administration will until that Southern border is sealed shut, with serious ramifications for employers who knowingly hire foreign labor.
After watching President Obama’s dialogue to the American people on Cable, about immigration reform. The consensus is that he doesn’t know what his political Czars are exploiting behind his back? Starting with the border fence and overall enforcement, that Sen. Harry Reid, Pelosi, Napolitano have silently expurgated funding to the US Border patrol and interior enforcement. Sen. Reid of Nevada cut expenditures to the real (TWO) two parallel fences, now we have only one that remains uncompleted.
Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, and co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, (R-TX) utterly unheeded the people’s will, in that they wanted immediately the border sealed. The 2006 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations bill eviscerated the 2006 Secure Fence Act and that would have built the first true 854 miles of the U.S-Mexico border as a serious deterrent. It would have been foreseeable that two fences along the border would have held back the hordes that keep coming? The reality is two fences separated by a 1000 yards of no-mans-land, would be a great deterrent. As for any kind of disguised terminology, known by everybody as AMNESTY–it will not happen! If such a bill passed–millions more would just—KEEP ARRIVING–believing that sometime in the future another Amnesty would appear. Liberals hidden inside the Democratic administration has shown only limited immigration enforcement, in fact Sen. Reid almost eliminated E-Verify in the Senate.
The computer program that has now been modified, to identify illegal workers in the workplace was in serious jeopardy at one time. Even 287 (g) county-municipal police verification and detainment system has been faded–out HS Secretary Janet Napolitano. IF THE PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ADMINISTRATION WAS SERIOUS ABOUT ENFORCING IMMIGRATION LAWS, SEN. HARRY REID WOULD HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO LEAVE THESE SIGNIFICANT IMMIGRATION LAWS ALONE? This not an exhaustive war between just the State of Arizona, but this pandemic has spread to the smallest community in America, which can least afford to support the illegal alien invasion that is running rampant.
To show good faith the government should have hammered down Sen. Harry Reid for his determination to table E-Verify in the Senate. It is the same with cutting back ICE from raids within America or severing federal funding on the 287 (g) programs. Reid was unable to crush E-Verify, but he did manage to make the Databased conceived program none mandatory? Both the majority party and Republicans are highlighted now and specially Sen. Harry Reid, because of his power over the Senate. All incumbents must be removed from office in November, including anybody partnering with this Nevada Senator. It is my belief that any politician with the heavy influence from the open border coalition with large margins of ethnic groups legal and illegal, are insistent for a path to citizenship. Be astounded by costs, statistics and—REAL—numbers of illegal nationals in this nation at ImmigrationCounters. Learn what you can do by joining NumbersUSA.
However I do agree with working visas for legal professional workers, in the highest demand such as Engineers, Scientists and highly skilled labor. It is unlikely that these exceptionally educated will ever become a public charge in the welfare office. The exception is none or low skilled labors that are illegally entering this sovereign nation through borders or staying after their visas have expired. Those who work on farms and in Agriculture, should not be allowed to stray away from the job that was allocated. Immediate deportation after registry should be the outcome as with anybody who breaks the law.
Why do you petty right-wing hacks always need a boogie man?
Obamo es stupido!