Saturday, March 14, 2009

Will the Economic Meltdown Push Fixing a Broken Immigration System to the Back Burner?

In his recent address to Congress, Barack Obama didn't mention immigration once -- what does it mean for the prospects for reform?

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet
March 13, 2009

On the campaign trail last year, Barack Obama promised to make comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) "a top priority in my first year as president."

Stressing the importance of "finally bring[ing] undocumented immigrants out of the shadows," Obama laid out the basic framework of the deal that died twice in Congress in recent years: "they should have to pay a fine, and learn English, and go to the back of the line," he said. "That's how we'll put them on a pathway to citizenship. That's how we'll finally fix our broken immigration system and avoid creating a servant class in our midst."

But in his recent address to Congress, immigration was nowhere to be found in the 6,134-word speech. [...]

Read the full article at:
http://www.alternet.org/story/131149/

No comments: