Obama’s focus on immigration is long overdue and necessary; Congress must begin hearings

Almost a year ago, we criticized President Barack Obama for choosing not to push immigration reform in 2010 and warned that the lack of a national policy would result in Arizona’s controversial law targeting illegal immigrants being replicated around the country.

While many states were dissuaded from following Arizona’s lead after it was sued by the Obama administation and was the target of protests and boycotts, there are several that are proceeding with their own immigration laws.

The reason they give for getting involved in what is a national issue: the failure of the federal government to act.

It now clear that the president’s decision to take immigration reform off the front burner was a missed opportunity. The 2012 presidential election is under way, with Obama formally announcing his re-election bid and Republicans lining up for their party’s nomination.

Thus, the chances of any immigration reform bill becoming law this year or next are slim to none. But that does not mean there shouldn’t be a national conversation and congressional hearings on this highly-charged, controversial issue.

President Obama, in a speech Tuesday in El Paso, Texas, made it clear that dealing with the 11 million undocumented workers and expanding visa programs are an economic imperative. There’s also a moral factor that cannot be ignored. For instance, the children of illegal immigrants who were brought into this country and have lived most of their lives here, gone to school in the U.S. and are even attending college must be dealt with in a fair manner.

President Bush’s initiative

Indeed, in 2007, we strongly supported the immigration reform bill pushed by then Republican President George W. Bush and supported by most Democrats in Congress. However, Republicans and enough Democrats opposed the bill, and it died.

Had the measure become law, there would have been $4.4 billion in immediate additional funding for securing our borders and enforcing laws at work sites.

But even without a reform bill, the Obama administration has taken major steps to address the long-standing issue of the porous border between the Mexico and the United States.

In his speech in Texas, Obama said the federal government has 20,000 Border Patrol agents, more than twice the 2004 level, and triple the number of intelligence analysts with responsibility for the border. He said unmanned aerial vehicles patrol the border from California to Texas, and 100 percent of southbound rail shipments are screened for guns and money.

Obama said that since he took office, the government has seized 31 percent more drugs at the border, 75 percent more currency and 64 percent more weapons, and that border apprehensions are down almost 40 percent, indicating that fewer people are trying to cross, according to reporting by McClatchy Newspapers.

“We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement,” Obama said. “All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done.”

The president called on Republicans and some resistant fellow Democrats to “come back to the table.”

The only way this will happen is if the American people, who have repeatedly shown that they want something to be done, demand action by their senators and representatives.

Public opinion

According to McClatchy Newspapers, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center conducted a survey in March and found that 72 percent of Americans favor giving illegal immigrants already in the United States a way to become citizens if they pass background checks, pay fines and have jobs, The survey also found that 78 percent of Americans favor strengthening immigration enforcement.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says immigrants have a net positive impact on the middle class. The group supports a mix of enforcement, expanded legal status for undocumented workers and expanding temporary worker programs.

While partisan politics invariably rears its head when issues of great importance to the nation’s future are being considered, there must be a willingness by all sides to have a serious national dialogue on immigration.

In his speech in El Paso, the president linked the issue of border security and immigration reform thusly:

“The most significant step we can now take to secure the borders is to fix the system as a whole so fewer people have the incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place. This would allow agents to focus on the worst threats on both sides of our borders, from drug traffickers to those who would come here to commit acts of violence or terror.”