Immgration Reform

Syndicated clolumnist Carl Leubsdorf takes a look at the prospects of immigration reform today in his column.  I'm in the following excerpt:

Still, all signs are that Obama is serious about pushing the comprehensive immigration reform he promised in the campaign, once lawmakers act on his extensive 2009 agenda.

That was his clear message last month to more than 100 representatives of interested business, labor and advocacy groups at a meeting clearly designed to ease concerns about his intentions.

Still, despite pressure from Hispanic supporters – and the fact that fixing immigration is long overdue – it's easy to doubt that Congress would tackle so tough an issue, especially in an election year.

But Simon Rosenberg, president of the liberal think tank NDN and a longtime advocate of comprehensive immigration legislation, believes the political climate actually favors action.

"The Republicans need to do something about the fact that their opposition to immigration reform is continuing to drive down their numbers with the nation's fastest-growing group," he said. "And the Democrats need to do something because they promised to get it done."

Besides, he said, "there is a history of bipartisan cooperation on immigration, which is not true of some other issues"

I remain optimistic that the President and Congress will take up immigration reform early next year.  

For more feel free to review our recently released backgrounder on comprehensive immigration reform.  It has lots of good stuff for any one wanting to get caught up on the issue.  And Andres also recently posted video of Senator Ted Kennedy making a powerful pitch for CIR at an NDN forum just before the 2007 Congressional debate began.  It is still powerful and germane to the debate today.