Napolitano forecasts immigration overhaul in 2010
Updated 3:08 p.m.
By Spencer S. Hsu
The Obama administration expects Congress to begin moving to overhaul the nation's immigration laws early next year, while improved border security and a drop in migration caused by the economic downturn make passage "far more attainable" than in 2007, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday.
"When Congress is ready to act, we will be ready to support them," said Napolitano, President Obama's "point-person" on immigration policy issues. "The first part of 2010, we will see legislation beginning to move," she said.
Napolitano's speech, delivered Friday morning at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, was aimed at Latino advocates who have bridled at her rhetorical emphasis on enforcement in her first 10 months in office, and expressed skepticism that Obama would fulfill a campaign pledge to push for a "comprehensive" package.
Napolitano reaffirmed Obama's support for a "tough but fair" path for legal status for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, and improved flows for immigrant families and workers
