At first it seemed comprehensive immigration reform was doable. Then, over time, the administration gave out signals it would be difficult to pull off. The devil lies in mixed messages.
When the DREAM Act was defeated, the president went on TV to talk about immigration reform as he knows it. He was asked if he would use administrative powers to take care of the outrageous abuses of the immigration system. This is lieu of a direct path to citizenship via a stalled CIR Bill. The answer was interesting, because Obama said it was hard to do administratively.
This was an interesting stance, as it’s fairly well known that putting a stop to mass deportations would be easy to do administratively. There isn’t a law anywhere on the books that says or directs the Department of Homeland Security to obsessively strive for record breaking deportation numbers, which is what is happening right now. The fact is if the administration wanted to stop what some regard as an obscene practice, they could. Period. Throw in an election and things inexplicably change.
What’s going on right now, in the face of a November election, is that deportation numbers are at an all time high and CIR is nowhere to be seen. In other words, nothing is being done about reform, unless it deals with enforcement.
It’s not politically correct to be seen supporting CIR, not when animosity in the country over this proposed bill is so high. Those supporting CIR may face a rough road during their campaign for re-election, which accounts for why so many politicians have seemingly changed sides and flip-flopped over this issue. The voters aren’t stupid. Many Latinos will be voting with their feet in the election by staying home or casting their ballot for the other guy.
A quick look back at this year so far shows no DREAM Act passed and no CIR. What does the government have to recommend it for re-election based on these two issues besides stepped up enforcement, which is not going over well. Dangling the carrot of passing the CIR after the election isn’t getting the response the politicians thought it would. In fact, in many states, the fate of the incumbents may lie in the balance based on their stance on CIR.
There is still no direct path to citizenship and seems that there isn’t one on its way. That does not bode well for the millions of immigrants who need to know what their status is or isn’t. Dangling a carrot in front of desperate people who are fed up with waiting isn’t a good tactic. The election may bring the nation some surprises.
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