Immigration reform dies in 36 words
By Albor Ruiz
From the New York Daily News, Jan. 31, 2010
R.I.P. immigration reform.
President Obama wrote its epitaph last Wednesday in his State of the Union speech. Now it is time for immigrants and their advocates to take off the blindfold and face the harsh reality.
It is almost incomprehensible — and frankly a little absurd — that after Obama’s address to Congress and the nation that some pro-immigration-reform groups continue to delude themselves and feed immigrants the Pablum of false hope.
“In the State of the Union Address this evening, President Obama made clear his ongoing commitment to immigration reform,” the Washington-based Immigration Policy Center said following the televised event.
As proof, the group quoted the President’s cursory mention of what amounts to a life-and-death issue for millions of people: “We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system- – to secure our borders, enforce our laws and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.”
That was it, 36 words uttered in passing near the end of Obama’s speech, at best an afterthought, at worse a bone thrown to the immigration community to keep it wagging its tail and hoping against all hope.
It is quite a stretch to conclude from this passing reference that Obama is committed to immigration reform.
Actually, his words were in tune with the repressive mind-set that passes for an immigration policy in the U.S.: greater enforcement but not even a hint at opening an avenue to legalization for the 12 million undocumented people who eke out a living on society’s margins.
The truth is that the President’s words only point to a climate of greater repression of immigrant workers.
“When communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids, when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing, when people are detained without access to legal counsel, when all that is happening, the system just isn’t working, and we need to change it,” candidate Barack Obama movingly told the National Council of La Raza during his presidential run.
His promise to change what had become a human rights scandal brought him the strong support of Hispanics. Obama won the election in part due to their backing of his commitment to tackle immigration reform — an issue that directly affects the extended families of Latino voters. But that was then and this is now. Under the Obama administration, there has been an increase in policies that terrorized immigrant communities during the Bush years.
Obviously, it is not the moral aspect of reform that will move our elected leaders to action. But the Immigration Policy Center’s director, Mary Giovagnoli, had it right when she pointed out that understanding the concrete, measurable economic benefits of immigrants might.
“We have a golden opportunity to enhance the gross domestic product, create and sustain new jobs and businesses, and maintain our competitive edge in the world if we create a system that legalizes current undocumented workers, provides for improved legal channels for families and new workers when they are needed in the future and adopts sensible policies to secure our border,” Giovagnoli said. “Such measures will help to provide the framework for an economic recovery that will allow us all to pursue our American dreams.”
Good. Now all we need is to bring the immigration reform corpse back from the dead. Any ideas?
