U.S. President Obama speaks during a bipartisan meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, next to him are Senate Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R)
Flikr | photocredit: DavidSilver
During President Obama’s first term, many undocumented immigrants thought he would pass an Immigration Reform like he promised, but he did not. So now that he is reelected, will he fulfill those promises in his second term? Will Obama be able to get both Republicans and Democrats to agree on an immigration reform bill?
Obama will have the difficult task in trying to get an immigration reform passed because Congress is split; the Senate controlled by the Democrats and the House controlled by the Republicans. Recently though, “both sides [are]now open to the idea of comprehensive immigration reform, two senators from opposing sides of the aisle are looking to make such changes, including a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants now in the United States.”
This is astonishing that now both parties want to join forces and create an immigration reform, but to what extent will they go to actually make this happen? Of course an immigration reform would have to be well planned out and have a lot of rules and regulations. If any reform was made possible it would “require immigrants to learn English, go to the back of the citizenship line, have a job and not commit crimes.” in order to get Republican support. Indeed this is a great plan, but this would take years for “11 million undocumented immigrants” to actually earn citizenship. It is too early to tell if Obama will put some pressure on politicians from both parties to work together, but it is Obama’s responsibility to keep his promises and give back to the Latino community.
Do you think that Obama will be able to cater to the Latino community and propose an immigration reform that will be equal for all undocumented immigrants? What do you think Obama and other politicians should do? In your opinion, what is the ideal immigration reform that works out for the entire country?
Immigration Talk 
I’m equally surprised that both parties are pushing for immigration reform, but I definitely see it being a struggle. I think Republicans finally stepped up because of the impact the latino vote had in the election. If they want to win the election next year, they’re going to have to appeal to more latino voters. Whatever the reason, I think it’s great that immigration reform might finally happen. There’s going to have to be a lot of compromising, but I think our country needs to recognize what a contribution the immigrant community has made to this country. The reform should make pathway to citizenship more possible for the 11 million undocumented immigrants that have been active contributors to this country. Above all else, I believe we need to pass the DREAM Act, because the longer we wait to make a reform for the immigrant youth, the United States loses valuable bright minds who deserve an education in this country as much as anybody else.