Obama says he's committed to immigration overhaul

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Thursday assured immigration advocates frustrated by the wait for a promised overhaul of U.S. immigration laws that he remains committed to fixing a system he has said is broken. What remains unclear is whether Congress will send him a bill this year.Obama also met separately later in the day with Sens. Chuck president an outline of a bill they are drafting. Obama said afterward in a statement that he "looked forward to reviewing their promising framework." promising framework." Obama said he told the senators and the advocacy groups that "my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort." The immigration issue is an important one for Obama, who has promised to work to solve the problem. Hispanics voted heavily for Obama in the 2008 presidential election , making the difference in key states like Florida, and their votes will be critical in the November midterm elections when Obama and his fellow Democrats will be fighting to maintain control of the House and Senate. Senate.Latino voters who don't think progress is being made on the issue may not go to the polls. Graham said he told Obama "in no uncertain terms" that the immigration effort could stall in Congress if the health care bill , which Republicans oppose, moves forward under a special process known as budget reconciliation that would limit the GOP's ability to derail the bill in the Senate."Using reconciliation to push health care through will make it much harder for Congress to come together on a topic as important as immigration," Graham said. Schumer said he and Graham asked Obama for help building support in the Senate for an immigration bill, and getting business and labor groups to agree on the future flow of lower-skilled labor.The South Carolina Republican said Obama also promised to help resolve outstanding issues pertaining to "virtual fencing" along the border with Mexico to detect people trying to enter the U.S. illegally, and creation of a temporary worker program that is satisfactory to business. satisfactory to business. Another idea on the table is some type of high-tech Social Security card to keep illegal immigrants from getting jobs. After meeting for more than an hour with Obama, immigration advocates told reporters they want Schumer and Graham to at least release their blueprint before a planned March 21 demonstration at the Capitol, with a bill introduced in the Senate soon after.The relatively short timetable for getting major legislation out of Congress in a midterm election year is one obstacle to getting a bill that combines tougher border enforcement with a pathway to legalization for the estimated 12 million people in the U.S. illegally."We had a very good discussion about the difficulties," said Eliseo Medina , executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union . "I think the president is well aware of it. So are we." are we." Medina said the groups also want to discuss the issue with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky., and House Republican leader John Boehner , R-Ohio.Clarissa Martinez de Castro, director of immigration and national campaigns for the National Council of La Raza , said Obama told the groups he would make a statement with Schumer and Graham when they release the blueprint."It is undeniable that presidential leadership, greater presidential leadership is needed, and the president committed to doing that," leadership is needed, and the president committed to doing that," she said. Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles , said the president agreed to help get a legislative framework out before the rally. She the groups also discussed enforcement."We want results," Salas said. "That's what we're going to be expecting in the next couple of weeks."


Sorry I'm using my cellphone .... but it comes from Yahoo! ;--

m.yahoo.com/w/ynews/article/topstories/3%3B_ylt=A0SO8iQv9ZlL22AAHAEp89w4?url=http%3A%2F%2Fxml.news.yahoo.com%2Fus%2Fnews%2Frss%2Frichstoryrss.html%3Fu%3D%2Fap%2F20100312%2Fap_on_go_pr_wh%2Fus_obama_immigration&.tsrc=yahoo&.intl=US&.lang=en

The link wasn't working for me. I found it with a quick Google search and here it is for those who couldn't access it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100312/...ma_immigration

Just curious, what does Senator Graham expect to happen? I mean, he says the immigration effort could stall in Congress if the health care bill moves forward, but wouldn't the immigration effort stall either way if democrats decide not to use the reconciliation technique to move it forward?

Senator Graham, with all due respect, why would you say such a null statement? Is there something you propose? I advice you to gather up your fellow colleagues and suggest a plan.

I think it might limit their ability to do that with a CIR or if they say we only have money to do X and something in the CIR could be Y then they would have to rewrite the bill. Then again I didn't fully understand the budget reconciliation process (or at all im still a little sleepy) =P

I doubt Obama is committed to anything but the status quo. Raids are happening all the time: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...,5392644.story.

Now Obama is linking reform to GOP backing: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/us...s/12immig.html He is doing this because he knows it simply won't happen.

I hope all those who voted for Obama because of "the change" he would bring are satisfied.

For starters we remember that three years ago Senator Obama went on the floor and said that wasn't going to support the immigration bill because the guest worker program (one that would start two years or so after DHS declared the border secured) was going to end after five years. We would be in year 1 or 2 of that program and many of you would have graduated by now. You would be working and driving and not having to look over your back. You could actually go to any bar and get a drink if you are over 21. So for Senator Obama those who wouldn't be able to come in via a guest worker program three or four years from now were more important than the dreamers.

I will never forgive him for that. And who knows what McCain would have done, but I seriously think Obamas's election was the worse thing that happened to CIR/DREAM. Now we are fighting for health care, cap & trade, gays in the military, and other fun stuff. Perhaps that is the right way to go, but is sucks all the oxygen out and makes enemies. If they do the reconcilation for health care, all hell is going to brake loose. Just be thankful that Iraq is not much of an issue.

And it doesn't help that the economy went down the toilet and that he has to deal with that. It is going to be very hard to pass CIR with unemployment at 10% (real rate is like 17%) without making many deals.

The advocates already hate the Schumer/Graham bill. Just wait until we get into the fine details. Something in me says yes, but then I think about all this.

[quote]I hope all those who voted for Obama because of "the change" he would bring are satisfied.[/QUOTE

Well the McCain/Palin option didn't look so good either.

mccain/kennedy comes to mind. willing to make deals and not rather see the bill die for things that could be changed down the line. plus the advocates would have been in position where they were going to accept a deal. And who knows what mccain would have done, but doubt 10 months on health care.

If there is no deal that makes both sides angry and wanting to brun down buildings, we will be here for another five years.