Since taking office President Obama has managed to increase government regulations, pass a ridiculous Health Care law, repeal DADT with the intention of undermining the Defense of Marriage Act, and then going all the way by changing his position on marriage from what it was in the campaign. All the while, our southwest borders are porous, the war in Mexico has the potential to spill across into several states, and our immigration system is still broken. With this dichotomy taking shape, it is becoming clear that the concerns of the Latino immigrant community are not a priority for the President.
The President was absolutely correct when he stated last year that immigration was an imminent concern. Yet we should seriously question whether or not he really meant what he said. Regardless of our position regarding what should be done about illegal immigration, there are several serious concerns that should be acknowledged, namely the fact that our immigration system is outdated and bloated, much like the rest of our government. The borders are obviously being circumvented by drug smugglers and human traffickers, thus helping Phoenix to acquire the title of “kidnap capital of the world.” The glaring reality is that a drug cartel member is much harder to find when he is in a sea of 12 million people, many of whom are looking for a better life, yet the President seems willing to preserve the status quo by demagoguing the issue.
There are many immigrants both legal and illegal who are suffering under the burdensome weight of an overbearing and inept immigration system. Immigration reform would go a long way towards addressing this problem, yet the President decided that this pressing issue was not as important as expanding government power by redefining marriage, passing Obamacare, and putting new environmental regulations in place.
Recently, Nancy Pelosi tried to do damage control, attempting to assure the Hispanic community that the President was in fact concerned about these things, but that the Republicans were keeping him from accomplishing those goals. Her defense of the President is not good enough. The President had a supermajority for the first two years of his administration, as evidenced by the passage of Obamacare, DADT repeal, and the stimulus package. In each of these instances the Republicans were either mostly or unanimously opposed, and the President still got it done.
Now to be sure, had the President and his party actually pushed for immigration reform and followed their tradition pattern, they likely would not have crafted a plan that truly reformed anything. We will probably never know though, because they did not demonstrate a willingness to try. The President even had plans presented to him that would have addressed the problem, and possibly would have drawn Republican support.
One can see why the President would not want the issue solved before the 2012 elections. Although Hispanic voters did shift to the Republican party in some areas of the nation, there were still many Hispanics in the American southwest who voted heavily Democratic. Had the Democrats not been able to demagogue the immigration issue, we may have Senator Fiorina, Senator Buck, and Senator Angle right now.
Perhaps his Union supporters are pressuring him to simply pay lip service. The Unions have long been opposed to the immigrant labor that they could not control. Certainly, immigrants willing to work at a more competative wage are a threat to the Union’s bottom line.
I am convinced that a truly effective immigration reform can be accomplished. Yet there are people in both parties who want to preserve the status quo.
So even as some immigrants continue to suffer from the government losing their paperwork, unreported crimes, and workplace abuses, the President continues to fiddle while Rome burns. Hope and change indeed.
