Cristina Jimenez
The Obama Administration Can’t Ignore Immigration Reform for Too Long
As President Obama was preparing to address congress last Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials raided an engine remanufacturing plant in Bellingham, Washington—28 undocumented workers were arrested and put in deportation proceedings.
This was the first worksite raid under the Obama administration—yet the President did not mention the issue of immigration in his address.
The raid was a surprise to everyone. Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano stated that she did not know of the raid before it happened and ordered a review of the operation. Clearly, as a report recently revealed, the Department of Homeland Security is dysfunctional.
The failure of the federal government to provide a comprehensive solution for our immigration system has only resulted in ineffective enforcement policies and forced states to consider their own policies. Colorado, for example, is currently battling over a bill that would allow some undocumented students to pay in-state college tuition. As the President emphasized the importance of education for the nation’s economic recovery, Colorado’s debate over in-state tuition is leaving hundreds of students without a college education.
At the national level, the policy battles continue. During the debate over SCHIP and the stimulus package, Republicans introduced amendments to address immigration and the issue of undocumented workers. As Simon Rosenberg argues, “progress on many important domestic priorities this year may get caught up in the debate on how to best fix our broken immigration system.”
Policy battles, at the state and national level, will continue unless the Obama administration takes action. Ignoring the need to reform our immigration system would significantly delay every other legislation debate in congress.
Cristina Jimenez: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 2:00 AM, Mar 03, 2009 in Immigration
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Comments
The common"man" is screwed in all this, pork, and earmarks is the name of the game here.....
Posted by: Orlando | March 8, 2009 03:06 PM
It is very obvious now that Mr. Obama is not giving this sensitive and important issue his priority, words and promises are nice to hear but the fact still remains that NOTHING is being done, Mr. Obama should take into consideration that no action on this matter is prolonging the AGONY and SUFFERING of the over 12 million undocumented people. Sure the economy is in turmoil, but much has been done about it already, time to move on to other problems, I hope and pray this doesnt turn out to be another bush administration "pretend to be working" show. Deliberations and more deliberations is not the answer to solving issues, immediate and definite application of solutions is the key, Use your presidential powers Mr. Obama to solve problems and dont leave it in the hands of politicians pretending to do their jobs only to not pass anything in the end. Please do not make the mistake of breaking your promise to the immigrant community, youve said it so yourself Mr. Obama, the time to act is NOW!
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