In a speech last week at a Cinco de Mayo reception in the White House’s
Rose Garden, President Obama implied that immigration reform is not a
priority agenda item. When asked about the issue of immigration, the
president said, “I want to begin work this year, and I want Democrats
and Republicans to work with me – because we’ve got to stay true to who
we are, a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.” The President,
however, did not provide any feedback when asked about a timetable for
new major immigration legislation.
When the time comes for immigration reform, the President will face an
uphill battle. Republicans’ focus is solely on securing national
borders, and Democrats are split about the urgency of meaningful
reform. Two leading blue-dog democrats, Nebraska’s Ben Nelson and
Arkansas’ Blanche Lincoln, have commented that they would like to see
the issue of immigration reform put off until 2011.
Two weeks prior, a small group of Democrats in the Senate completed a
new immigration reform proposal; however, the proposal is not in a form
that is ready for a vote and a vote will not happen, according to one
Democratic aide, until there is confirmation that Republican lawmakers
will go along with the legislation.
