Economy and Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009
pete...@yahoo.com
The Nation's Plunging Economy and Comprehensive Immigration Reform in
2009
With all eyes still on the nation's plunging economy, it's hard to
remember the last time President Barack Obama made any mention of
immigration — a campaign issue he pledged to tackle in his first year
in office. And though they understand the necessary focus on the
economy, activists on both sides of the fiery immigration debate are
still preparing for political battle.
Immigrant advocates are making a pledge of their own: to hold Obama
accountable for his campaign promises. They estimate Congress won't
take up the issue until September and, if the effort succeeds, look
for a new law overhauling the current system by March 2010, said Frank
Sharry, director of America's Voice in Washington, D.C. On the other
side of the fence, activists pushing for immigration restrictions —
deflated by the new Democratic domination in the executive and
legislative branches — remained optimistic that hard economic times
will impede making a mass amnesty program palatable to the general
public.
For now, Obama has kept mum on the matter, repeating on his transition
Web site his pledge for “comprehensive immigration reform” and
resurrecting an effort involving a multi-pronged approach to fix the
immigration problem that failed to pass in Congress the past two
years. Even Obama's “immigration transition team” — two law
professors, Tino Cuéllar of Stanford University and Georgetown's
Alexander Aleinikoff — is keeping quiet. Neither replied to repeated
requests for an interview for this article.
Immigrant advocates who have met with them said Obama's advisers are
not responding to media inquiries because they're still in fact-
gathering mode, meeting with activists and politicians to eventually
come up with a detailed strategy.
“They told us they're just listening and taking recommendations for
now,” said Oscar Chacón, whose National Alliance of Latin American and
Caribbean Communities drew 15 immigrant advocacy group leaders from
across the country for a meeting Wednesday with Cuéllar and other
Obama advisers. Though he was not promised any commitments, Chacón — a
Salvadoran who entered the country illegally in 1980 but later gained
U.S. citizenship — said he remains confident that immigration reform
will be enacted because the advisers agree it's an issue linked to
other must-fix problems.
Other leading national immigrant advocates said in the past week
they'll wait patiently while Obama takes care of the economic mess,
but they're not willing to let the crisis push the issue aside.
No specifics have yet been discussed as to what a new immigration bill
would contain, but advocates concede that their desire for a
legalization-with-penalties program for the estimated 12 million
immigrants in the country illegally would have to be coupled with
certain enforcement measures, such as beefed-up border security.
“We already learned in 1986 the downside of trying to do legislation
piecemeal,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of the Los Angeles
Catholic Diocese, who publicly defied a 2006 law calling for
prosecution of social groups helping unauthorized immigrants. “To be
effective, you need a package that fixes all the broken parts.”
Immigration restrictionist advocates countered that while Obama may be
willing to risk backing some measures with a good chance of passing
Congress, there's no way he'll try for mass amnesty.
Roy Beck, a former journalist who directs NumbersUSA, a lobby group in
Washington that seeks lower immigration levels, said Obama would
“commit political suicide” if he tried to legalize millions of
unauthorized workers with so many Americans out of work. He said
migrant activists will likely win some concessions, such as Obama
using presidential discretion to slow the unprecedented and ongoing
series of immigration raids.
Beck's argument, particularly invoking American workers as a case
against unauthorized immigrants, will become the revamped
restrictionist mantra, noted a veteran observer of national
immigration politics.
Their focus will change from beating the drum of illegality to
protecting the average American worker from competing for jobs with
unauthorized immigrants, said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of
the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based nonpartisan think
tank. Even if he still wanted an all-inclusive massive overhaul, the
economic climate will not allow it, and Obama will likely back two
smaller measures with the caveat of keeping his promise to advocates
and return later to seek bigger changes, he said.
These narrower proposals could include two bills with bipartisan
support that have lingered for years without approval: The DREAM Act,
giving as many as 1 million students who are in the country illegally
a chance to go to college or join the military and eventually gain
permanent residency, and AGJOBS, a bill creating a new temporary
agricultural worker program.
“There's no way he's going to be able to deliver on a comprehensive
package,” Papademetriou said. “At best, he'll try for a down payment
to assure people he's doing his best under current circumstances.”
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