'Time is now' to overhaul US immigration
Source: Agencies |
January 31, 2013, Thursday
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PRESIDENT Barack Obama declared that "now is the time" to fix the broken US immigration system, diving into the politically explosive issue with broad proposals for putting millions of illegal immigrants on a clear path to citizenship while cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders.
Speaking on Tuesday at a rally in Las Vegas, Obama sought to win public support for changes that would give an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens. He hailed a bipartisan Senate group working on a similar track but left unresolved key details that could derail the complex and emotional effort.
"The question now is simple," Obama said, one week after being sworn in for a second term in the White House. "Do we have the resolve as a people, as a country, as a government to finally put this issue behind us? I believe that we do."
Immigration has quickly and surprisingly emerged as a rare issue with at least some kind of bipartisan support in a deeply divided Congress, where gun control and tackling the massive deficit face far bigger fights ahead.
The dueling immigration campaigns have emerged as a consequence of the November presidential election, which gave Obama more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in a defeat of Republican rival Mitt Romney, who famously urged illegal immigrants to "self-deport." Republican lawmakers who had previously opposed immigration reform have been forced to reconsider it and rebuild the party's reputation among Hispanics, an increasingly powerful political force.
Immigration advocates said they expected Obama's proposals to be more progressive than those featured in a bipartisan Senate plan announced on Monday, including a faster pathway to citizenship.
"Yes, they broke the rules," Obama said of those who illegally entered the US. "But these 11 million men and women are now here. An overwhelming number of these individuals are not looking for any trouble."
Shortly after Obama finished speaking, cracks emerged between the White House and the group of eight senators, which put out their proposals one day ahead of the president. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, from the border state of Arizona, criticized Obama for not making a citizenship pathway contingent on tighter border security, a central tenant of the lawmakers' proposals.
"This provision is key to ensuring that border security is achieved, and is also necessary to ensure that a reform package can actually move through Congress," Flake said.
Passage of immigration legislation by the Democratic-controlled Senate remains far from assured, and the House of Representatives is dominated by conservative Republicans who have shown little interest in immigration overhaul.
Most of Obama's recommendations are not new. He outlined an immigration blueprint in May 2011 but exerted little political capital to get it passed by Congress, to the disappointment of many Hispanics.
His original plan centered on four key areas: a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants, improved border security, an overhaul of the legal immigration system and making it easier for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.
Speaking on Tuesday at a rally in Las Vegas, Obama sought to win public support for changes that would give an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens. He hailed a bipartisan Senate group working on a similar track but left unresolved key details that could derail the complex and emotional effort.
"The question now is simple," Obama said, one week after being sworn in for a second term in the White House. "Do we have the resolve as a people, as a country, as a government to finally put this issue behind us? I believe that we do."
Immigration has quickly and surprisingly emerged as a rare issue with at least some kind of bipartisan support in a deeply divided Congress, where gun control and tackling the massive deficit face far bigger fights ahead.
The dueling immigration campaigns have emerged as a consequence of the November presidential election, which gave Obama more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in a defeat of Republican rival Mitt Romney, who famously urged illegal immigrants to "self-deport." Republican lawmakers who had previously opposed immigration reform have been forced to reconsider it and rebuild the party's reputation among Hispanics, an increasingly powerful political force.
Immigration advocates said they expected Obama's proposals to be more progressive than those featured in a bipartisan Senate plan announced on Monday, including a faster pathway to citizenship.
"Yes, they broke the rules," Obama said of those who illegally entered the US. "But these 11 million men and women are now here. An overwhelming number of these individuals are not looking for any trouble."
Shortly after Obama finished speaking, cracks emerged between the White House and the group of eight senators, which put out their proposals one day ahead of the president. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, from the border state of Arizona, criticized Obama for not making a citizenship pathway contingent on tighter border security, a central tenant of the lawmakers' proposals.
"This provision is key to ensuring that border security is achieved, and is also necessary to ensure that a reform package can actually move through Congress," Flake said.
Passage of immigration legislation by the Democratic-controlled Senate remains far from assured, and the House of Representatives is dominated by conservative Republicans who have shown little interest in immigration overhaul.
Most of Obama's recommendations are not new. He outlined an immigration blueprint in May 2011 but exerted little political capital to get it passed by Congress, to the disappointment of many Hispanics.
His original plan centered on four key areas: a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants, improved border security, an overhaul of the legal immigration system and making it easier for businesses to verify the legal status of workers.
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