Obama Pushes Ahead With Immigration Reform -- Here's the Good, Bad and the Ugly

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Finally, advocates have reason to be wary of the administration's commitment to continuing its “criminal deportation” program. In theory, this means prioritizing the removal of convicted felons over working people who only committed a minor immigration infraction. Sounds good, but as Stephanie Mencimer pointed out in Mother Jones last year, “not only has ICE failed in its goal of deporting more criminals and fewer noncriminals, but the percentage of deportations related to criminal activity has actually fallen, from 17 percent of the caseload in 2010 to 14 percent in the first three months of 2012.”

Many of these concessions may prove to be smart moves if they ultimately result in enough Republicans voting for a plan that brings the undocumented into the mainstream of American society in a reasonable period of time. But recent history suggests that may be an exceedingly tough lift.

In any event, while we can't know what the near-future holds for immigration reform, we can be sure that if the issue pertains to undocumented immigrants, the fight ahead will be nasty.