DREAM Act Portal Forum - Obama takes immigration reform off priority list this year

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Obama takes immigration reform off priority list this year

That is what this article is saying but I haven't seen or read any recent quote by the President or his staff this is so.Maybe someone from DAP may have seen or read something ?

Quote:

President Barack Obama has said he won’t tackle comprehensive immigration reform this year, but a spate of budget proposals and incremental policy shifts signal the beginning of a new direction on the issue.

“We want to move this process. We can’t continue with a broken immigration system,” Obama said recently. “It’s not good for American workers. It’s dangerous for Mexican would-be workers who are trying to cross a dangerous border. It is putting a strain on border communities, who oftentimes have a deal with a host of undocumented workers. And it keeps those undocumented workers in the shadows, which means they can be exploited at the same time as they’re depressing U.S. wages.”

Taken together, Obama’s proposed 2010 budget, his rhetoric and moves underway in Congress indicate a broad shift away from the border fence-building and illegal worker crackdowns of the Bush administration, toward working with Mexico against narcotrafficking and enforcing the law against employers who hire undocumented workers.

“Obama is really not that far off from where [former President George W.] Bush was on comprehensive immigration reform,” said Donald M. Kerwin Jr., vice president for programs at the Migration Policy Institute. “I think the difference is related to approach.”

Obama’s budget proposal includes $70 million to hire 350 new agents and investigators in the Homeland Security Department to work with counterparts in Mexico on stemming the flow of drugs and guns across the border.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement division would see an additional $200 million to crack down on illegal immigrants, while Border Patrol is slated for $50 million to hire more border and customs officers.

Some $112 million would boost the E-Verify program used by employers to check the immigration status of workers.

At the same time, Obama wants to cancel the $400 million State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which reimburses local jurisdictions for incarcerating illegal immigrants.

The move has angered many local officials, who claim the federal funds fall short of the true cost of housing illegal immigrants. And critics of Obama’s immigration stance received the development as evidence he is not committed to enforcing existing immigration laws.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration moved to end the program, which Obama supported in the Senate, on the belief that funds earmarked for jails are going to other uses, such as consultants and bonuses.

“That’s not to say that the president doesn’t have strong views on immigration and enforcement,” Gibbs said. “I think you would note that there’s a sizable amount of money to increase enforcement at the border as an important step on our path toward immigration reform.”

Obama last year promised during the campaign to make comprehensive immigration reform a top priority of his first year in office. But with the economy, two wars and other pressures, immigration reform slipped from the administration’s priority list.

The White House also is not looking for the kind of pitched, divisive political battle that efforts to reform immigration invariably attract.

The Democratic-led Congress recently opened preliminary hearings on immigration reform, the first reopening of the subject since the Senate in 2007 blocked Bush’s efforts to create a policy that included a path to citizenship and increased border security.

That last quote I can believe as the President has been extremely quiet on the subject of immigration.Anyway,it doesn't really change much as the real reason for this sight is to get the Dream act passed,not CIR.