Obama Dives into Immigration Reform, But Lines are Already Being Drawn

By Suman Raghunathan, New America Media. Posted June 29, 2009.

Finally, the much-expected meeting on immigration reform between President Barack Obama and lawmakers from both parties took place Thursday. Participating legislators said the president promised to put his energy into moving forward right away. The response from some reform advocates was “Game On!” But the various sides have already started drawing lines in the sand – spelling out what they will and will not accept.

Reps. Anthony Weiner (D.-N.Y.) and Joseph Crowley (D.-N.Y.) reported that President Obama began the meeting by promising to “use whatever political capital he has left” to enact comprehensive immigration reform this year.

See a White House video of the meeting:

Thursday’s meeting and the White House’s creation of a working group on immigration reform –to be headed by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano– were lauded by immigrant rights groups such as America’s Voice, which called Thursday “a turning point” and declared: “Game On”

The renewed commitment from the Oval Office might allay advocates’ fears that the current economic crisis, as well as Obama’s high-profile efforts to enact health care reform would prevent the President and Congress from dealing with immigration this year.

After the meeting, Rep. Weiner expressed confidence that there are enough votes in the House to enact a large-scale immigration reform bill — a claim directly contradicted earlier Thursday by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. House Majority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi expressed her “absolute commitment” to immigration reform, noting she would defer to the Senate to tackle the legislation first.

Political strategy aside, shaping the components of the legislation will prove tricky and complicated. Here’s what will likely be on the table:

First, and perhaps most importantly, a large-scale legalization program to bring the nation’s roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows and provide them a way to apply for legal status and eventually citizenship. Obama reaffirmed his campaign promise to enact immigration reform before Latino clergy leaders last week. The last legalization program was in 1986 under the Reagan administration.

Many Latino and immigrant voters will be paying close attention to how the administration broaches this elemental piece of immigration reform, especially after many political analysts underlined how crucial immigrant voters were to Obama’s 2008 victory in swing states ranging from Virginia (immigrants are 10 percent of the state’s population, and nearly half are eligible to vote) to Colorado and New Mexico (one in three voters is Latino; they overwhelmingly supported Obama last fall.)

Immigrant rights advocates point to a poll released this month that underscores support among independent voters for comprehensive immigration reform.

A legalization program would likely require undocumented immigrants to go through a background check for criminal records. “If they’re unworthy, if they’re not playing by the rules, then they have to leave,” said Weiner. Once cleared, applicants would likely pay a hefty fine, affirm their willingness to learn English, pay back taxes to the federal government (or prove they have already been doing so), and go to the back of the already long line for legal status.

Obama onThursday reportedly cautioned members of Congress against calling a legalization program “amnesty,” despite anti-immigrant efforts to brand it that way. He also is reported to have said that “rounding up” the nation’s undocumented immigrants would not help move the nation toward comprehensive immigration reform. Obama’s opposition to a punitive approach toward the undocumented is likely to win him favor with immigrant rights advocates, especially those rooted in Latino immigrant communities that have been hit hard by immigration raids and other enforcement efforts.

Obama, Sen. Charles Schumer (D.-N.Y.), chairman of the Senate Immigration subcommittee, and other Congressional leaders, including Senator John McCain (R.-Ariz.), were all careful to point out that securing the nation’s borders against continued unlawful immigration was also central to an immigration reform proposal. Federal resources for the increasingly militarized U.S.-Mexico border have soared in recent years, though the Border Patrol recently reported the number of undocumented immigrants apprehended plunged by nearly 40 percent over the last three years to their lowest level in 35 years – likely due to the faltering U.S. economy. Congressional leaders all underscored their commitment to “ending illegal immigration as we know it,” as Rep. Crowley put it.

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