In his first comprehensive address on immigration reform since being being elected to office, President Obama on Thursday called for bi-partisan support without which he said, the problem will not be solved.
Speaking before a group of business leaders, government officials, academics, Democrats and Republicans, Obama declared that, “I’m, ready to move forward; the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward; and I believe the majority of Americans are ready to move forward.”
If only that were true! The majority of Democrats? The majority of Americans are ready to move forward on immigration?
Nationwide polls over the last few months have shown that the majority of Americans support the anti-immigration law in Arizona, which allows police to stop anyone if there is a reasonable suspicion they are illegal immigrants, among other measures. Anyways…
Paying tribute to steady stream of “hardworking and talented people” who had made America the engine of the global economy and beacon of hope around the world, Obama opined that “Anybody can help us write the next great chapter in our history”.
Acknowledging that the system was broken, Obama told his audience, “states like Arizona have decided to take matters into their own hands,” which he said is “understandable” but also “ill conceived”.
“And it’s not just the law Arizona passed is divisive…these laws also have the potential of violating the rights of innocent American citizens and legal residents, making them subject to possible stops or questoning because of what they look like or how they sound,” Obama said.
Although not new, Obama outlined the two poles of the immigration debate, the immigrants’ rights community who argue passionately that illegal immigrants should be given legal status–blanket amnesty–ignoring the laws on the books, and those who believe that they should be rounded up and deported.
“Now, if the majority of Americans are skeptical of a blanket amnesty, they are also skeptical that it is possible to round up and deport 11 million people,” Obama said. “Such an effort would be logistically impossible and widely expensive.”
Beyond the two poles of the debate, Obama declared it is possible to to shape a practical, common sense approach that reflects our heritage and our value. An approach which he said demands accountability from everybody–government, business and from individuals.
Obama made clear that those living illegally in the US must be required to admit that they broke the law.
“They should be required to register, pay their taxes, pay a fine and learn English,” Obama said. “They must get right with the law before they can get in line and earn their citizenship.”
Businesses too, must be held accountable if they break the law by deliberately hiring and exploiting undocumented workers, Obama said.
Noting that when he was a senator under the leadership of Senators Ted Kennedy, a long standing champion of immigration reform, and John McCain, a bipartisan bill had passed the senate, which later fell apart, Obama chided the 11 Republican senators who voted for reform in the past, but who had now backed away under the “pressures of partisanship and election-year politics.”
Underscoring that the southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years with more boots on the ground, Obama opined that the immigration problem would not be solved only with “fences and border patrols”, in view of its vastness.
The country has been here before on immigration reform. The question is whether the Congress and the American people are ready to move forward, particularly in this hostile economic climate.
