Immigration reform through 111 House Democrats

Not 'undocumented' rather illegal aliens

It appears – rather obviously – that there was much more at stake in the interim elections last night other than becoming a new Governor, or re-election of other incumbents. Hoping to jump-start a major legislative drive on immigration reform in the U.S. Congress, more than 100 pro-reform House Democrats signed a letter reminding President Obama of his administration’s commitment to overhaul immigration. 

The letter expressed House Democrats’ “commitment to fix our broken immigration system” and cited “strong support for moving forward on fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform this year.” One of the signees, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, is gearing up to introduce a major immigration reform bill as early as next month. (Further reading on Rep. Gutierrez, click here.)

Immigration advocates and their allies in Congress believe there is a window for immigration reform to pass early next year, before midterm elections complicate the political calculus.

“The room for doing this is very tight,” Gutierrez said earlier this month on the Spanish-language Univision network’s political talk program, “Al Punto.” “We have to do it in February or early March of next year.”

The recent moves might help Democrats show Hispanic voters that the party is aware of widespread frustration with the current immigration system. But there’s still no clear commitment to a timetable for an overhaul, or certainty that it will come.

“The timeline for immigration remains uncertain,” acknowledged Rep. Joseph Crowley, the New York Democrat who organized the letter on immigration sent to President Obama and signed by 111 House Democrats.

Time, he went on to admit, is short. Because of the November 2010 elections, “the further we go into next year… the more difficult I think it will be to address this issue” as risk-averse incumbents avoid controversial issues like immigration.

Quite recently we featured an article dealing with an ‘open forum’ conducted by National Public Radio (NPR). Immigrant advocates know that once health care reform is settled, immigration will compete with other crucial issues, including banking regulation and the interrelated climate and energy questions, for political attention.

As always, immigration reform pivots on one sensitive question: What happens with the nation’s 12 million undocumented immigrants? While most pro-reform advocates envision a path to some sort of legal status for undocumented immigrants already in the country, opponents call such plans an amnesty that would encourage still more illegal immigration. (For further reading click here.)

When pushed to outline a reform plan that House Democrats could get behind, Rep. Crowley emphasized tighter border security and the targeting of “bad actor” employees who exploit undocumented immigrants. These get-tough measures are clearly designed to attract Republican support for a reform bill that would presumably create a path to legalization for those without papers.

Well! If that is what nearly one-third of the House has as a strategy it becomes very apparent that they don’t get it at all – meaning of course, the pulse of the American people and immigration reform. While pro-immigration special interests continue on with the rhetoric of ‘paths to citizenship’ it only illuminates how far away from real grassroots immigration reform that the American people want.