Immigration is added atop heavy agenda

lilbawler2001 · 10:05 AM

Quote:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added yet another huge task to his 2009 agenda, saying the chamber would take up a broad rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws in a year already crowded with debates on healthcare, climate change and a Supreme Court nominee.

Passing immigration reform, which has eluded Congress in two of the past three years, is a mighty task and is being led this time by Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking member of the Democratic Conference leadership team.

Senators expect no less this time around.

“That would take significant floor time,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said of immigration reform. “It’s a time-consuming issue and it’s controversial.

“It depends on how much energy the president puts into [it],” said Cardin. “There is no question in my mind that this will take the president’s personal involvement.”

The effort rests with Schumer, who is pushing immigration onto the fall agenda and stepping into a void left by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, resigned as chairman of Judiciary’s Immigration subcommittee to focus his time and energy on healthcare reform.

“”The way I see things happening is that it seems Schumer is driving the ball forward at the moment,” said Brent Wilkes, the executive director of LULAC. “Once Reid has freed up his calendar on healthcare and energy, he’ll turn to immigration reform.”

Schumer has held two hearings on immigration reform since the end of April.

He has since told activists that he would like to draft legislation over the summer and pass a bill through the Senate in the fall, if possible.

Obama has invited Schumer and other pivotal lawmakers to attend a meeting devoted to immigration reform at the White House on June 17.

“We’re going to try,” Schumer said. “If we can get it done, we always try to move when you can. That’s why I took the Immigration subcommittee, because I think it’s doable.”

Schumer said it might be tougher to pass reform next year, an election year. He added that he has “talked to the White House on a bunch of occasions.”

Sen. Byron Dorgan (N.D.), chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee and an opponent of the past two immigration bills, said “immigration has proven to be a very difficult subject.”

He said it has been on the list of things to do but that timing has remained unresolved.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/...009-06-04.html
I guess the white house knows that Schumer intends to go ahead with immigration reform this year. Obama would have no choice but to get personally involved in getting something passed this year. Let us just hope everything rolls smoothly for healthcare and energy during the summer.

Bruinman · 06-05-2009, 05:33 PM

pretty much sums up my point. theres just no time this year, not gonna happen next year, best bet is 2011. lets hope im wrong. im sick and tired of waiting but looks like i'll have to

Bluestar · 06-05-2009, 06:15 PM

Quote:

“”The way I see things happening is that it seems Schumer is driving the ball forward at the moment,” said Brent Wilkes, the executive director of LULAC. “Once Reid has freed up his calendar on healthcare and energy, he’ll turn to immigration reform.”

Exactly as i stated in another thread. Schumer is already doing the time consuming part. By the time health care and energy is done, CIR will be ready. I have high hopes that it will be done by the end of this year.

YES WE CAN.

lilbawler2001 · 06-05-2009, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruinman

pretty much sums up my point. theres just no time this year, not gonna happen next year, best bet is 2011. lets hope im wrong. im sick and tired of waiting but looks like i'll have to

How the hell do you get to that conclusion from that article???

Bruinman · 06-05-2009, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilbawler2001

How the hell do you get to that conclusion from that article???

immigration itself is a huge bill thats going to need lots of floor time. health care and energy are also biggies. you expect congress to pass all 3 within the next 5 months? those are huge bills with powerful lobbyists on both side of the aisle. lol. they still havent resolved the timing issue at this point and its going to be tough if not impossible to accomplish all three of those in one session, not to mention time needed for supreme court appointment and deal with the economy. so yeah, i drew my conclusion based on that.

and guess what, they arent going to get immigration done next year during the elections. so that leaves us with 2011.

i know we're all anxious here to get this thing done, but reality is reality. lets hope these politicians prove me wrong. so far they havent for the last 7 years.

Alex · 06-05-2009, 07:02 PM

As far as 2011 goes... there's no guarantee in that assumption either. Democrats might lose seats in the senate in 2011, or they might gain them... no one could tell. what is for sure; is how many democratic seats are in at the moment.

Obama is silent on the subject of immigration because he doesn't want to make too much noise. when he WILL come out and express hes plans to move forward with a bill in congress, it'll be the time when he already KNOWS he has the votes.

In other words, Obama doesn't want to experiment with this issue. he knows that even mentioning the world "CIR", the public goes wild; thus creating a wrong atmosphere. It's better for him doing the research behind closed doors to see what kind of support he has. to say: "here's the proposed bill, this is the votes we have"... and go forward with it...

Obama already is working on securing the borders, focusing the DHS budget more into workplace enforcement and criminal aliens.... thus, gathering votes from moderate senators who are more "negotiable" with the issue.

he is a smart man who likes to "measure twice, cut once"...

Ianus · 06-05-2009, 07:03 PM

It is going to be a tough year this session no matter the issue.Most of the articles I am reading concerning immigration dictate that the 'future flow' debate is still a problem for any reform bill with recent statements from Senator Kyl & McCain's office being the most problematic.This recent article concerning a White house aid doesn't allay any of the problems that may impede reform.

Quote:

"Odio said they're not going to start talking about immigration reform until this fall," said one attendee, who wished to remain anonymous. "Which means nothing is going to happen until after next year, because next year is an election year. No one's going to touch a hot button like immigration in an election year."...

......Others I spoke with, who wished to remain unnamed, described Odio as "insensitive" and pompous, going on and on about his role in Obama's 2008 campaign for president. Also, they found much of what he had to say disturbing from an immigrant rights perspective. For instance, one said Odio indicated that the Dream Act would have to wait until after comprehensive immigration reform is passed.

It's going to be a looooong wait until Jun.17th,but until then hopefully all the necessary calls are being made to highlight Dream act in the White House.

Bruinman · 06-05-2009, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ianus

It is going to be a tough year this session no matter the issue.Most of the articles I am reading concerning immigration dictate that the 'future flow' debate is still a problem for any reform bill with recent statements from Senator Kyl & McCain's office being the most problematic.This recent article concerning a White house aid doesn't allay any of the problems that may impede reform.

It's going to be a looooong wait until Jun.17th,but until then hopefully all the necessary calls are being made to highlight Dream act in the White House.

if DREAM isnt part of CIR, then it really isnt comprehensive now, is it? this Odio character doesnt know the words that are coming out of his mouth.

CIR_DREAM2009 · 06-05-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ianus

It is going to be a tough year this session no matter the issue.Most of the articles I am reading concerning immigration dictate that the 'future flow' debate is still a problem for any reform bill with recent statements from Senator Kyl & McCain's office being the most problematic.This recent article concerning a White house aid doesn't allay any of the problems that may impede reform.

It's going to be a looooong wait until Jun.17th,but until then hopefully all the necessary calls are being made to highlight Dream act in the White House.

The Dream Act quote is a misunderstanding from the Phoenix activists. If you read the article, it's obvious they were confused over what the staffer that was sent to meet them said since the staffer basically said the standard lines of immigration will have to wait after health care and the "you can make a difference" pep talks.

Quote:

However, in general, attendees described the meetings as frustrating and depressing. Especially since Odio's message was that any work on immigration reform would have to wait until after the administration tackled health care.

"Odio said they're not going to start talking about immigration reform until this fall," said one attendee, who wished to remain anonymous.

The activists were very Maricopa County focused and were upset over what they perceived to be Obama's lack of forceful action against Sheriff Arpaio.

Quote:

"It was clearly sort of a self-congratulatory thing," explained Gutierrez. "People sort of clapping each other on the back...Then the focus was on `what we can do.' And what we can do revolved around things like forming Obama youth clubs.

"Finally, I spoke up...I said, `Yeah, there's something you can do, revoke Arpaio's goddamn 287(g)!' It seemed to shock everybody in the room. The Democratic Party people were stunned. They all took deep gasps."

Finally, the article has an update sent by the White House because it obviously did not go as planned. There were lots of misunderstanding at that meeting:

Quote:

UPDATE: A White House aide called me this morning, asking that I point out that the White House has a meeting scheduled on June 17 with congressional leaders of both parties to discuss immigration. Originally, the meeting was scheduled for June 8. The aide, who did not wish to be identified, could not explain the discrepancy between what Odio told Latino leaders last week, or with Abrams' statement to me quoted above. Nor could the aide tell me if the meeting will be held in public or private. The following is what the aide would say on the record:

"The president is inviting a small group of bipartisan Senate and House leaders on the immigration issue to the White House for a meeting to have an honest discussion of the issues, identify areas of agreement, and areas where we still have work to do."

Please use more discretion next time, Ianus, instead of sensationalistic hand wringing. For example, check where the quotes come from. The morale here is fragile.

bambion · 06-05-2009, 09:41 PM

Bruinman do you also have an account at ALIPAC?

I think I already know the answer but life is full of surprises.

??????

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Immigration is added atop heavy agenda