Friday, November 13, 2009

Whispers of Immigration Reform

The Obama administration is sending out subtle messages that Immigration Reform legislation will soon be on the horizon. Taking cues from the anti-immigration movement, Janet Napolitano today announced that DHS had made substantial improvements, including a big decline in the number of illegal border crossings.

Those of you who follow this issue will recall that the most vitriolic opponents of immigration reform have long stated that there should be no move on amnesty or any legislative reforms "until our borders are secure."

Napolitano's statement can be seen as a preview of what's to come, and a signal to anti-immigrant forces that we're ready to move forward, DHS has met their goals.

Of course, the anti-immigrant movement is about much more than border security. One stipulation that Napolitano cannot meet is the demand that the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants be forced to leave the country and the stand in the imaginary line (that does not exist) before re-entering legally.

The point here is that no matter how secure our borders, the nativist element in the U.S. will not be satisfied unless they see the nation moving toward being less diverse. We all know that's not going to change, but how to negotiate this so that reform is possible is going to be the challenge of immigration reform and probably the hot topic of 2010.

in reference to:

""We have, I think, attained basically control between those ports of entry," she said, noting the impact of increased border patrols, fence construction and a new security initiative to combat smuggling."
- U.S. meets immigration reform benchmarks: Napolitano | U.S. | Reuters (view on Google Sidewiki)

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