Immigration Reform: Obama's Headache That Won't Go Away

Immigration Reform

President Barack Obama is getting his friends in the activist and labor communities to help with the thorny subject of immigration reform in the coming months.

But more and more, the subject is looking like a headache that won't go away for the president.

While he has pledged to his Latino supporters to take action on comprehensive legislation, Congress is avoiding the subject like the plague.

Years ago, the subject of Social Security reform used to be known as the "third rail" of political discourse, because anyone who touched the highly controversial issue could be burned in its wake.

But now, immigration reform has replaced Social Security as the most contentious issue before federal lawmakers.

In fact, the issue has remained stalled in Congress, even though no other topic grabs as much airtime.

It seems unlikely that comprehensive immigration reform will get through Congress this year, but President Obama has promised Hispanic leaders that he will try to get legislation introduced by the end of the year.

The pressure to craft national legislation was increased after Arizona passed a tough anti-illegal immigration law that forced police to check the immigration status of any person they believe to be in the country illegally.

While the law has spurred legitimate concerns about possible racial profiling and threats of a Justice Department review, as well as President Obama's condemnation, national polls have shown that a majority of Americans support the new law, which will take effect later this summer.

The only place where there is any agreement is that the federal government needs to do something. President Obama wants to, but now lets see if he can get his friends in Congress to join along.



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