A Pending Promise

President Barack Obama insisted on immigration reform during a speech on July 2 at the American University School of International Service in Washington. He showed his support for immigrants with forceful rhetoric in which he emphasized that they “have helped to build and defend this country.”

The president of the United States maintained that political posturing can’t be part of immigration reform and made assurances that his administration will not postpone reform due to the fact that the current system is “broken.” He asked for bipartisanship support and is convinced that Democrats as well as Republicans must approve an effective system that is “accountable.”

In spite of acknowledging that the measure has to be supported by legislation and that the nation’s borders must be secured first, in order to prevent more cases like Arizona’s controversial law, President Obama’s words gave millions of immigrants, who want to resolve their immigration situation, a ray of hope.

It is clear that there is an urgency to get this done before the November elections as the plan will be more difficult to get approved with the next Congress.

During his campaign Obama promised a plan to extend residency status to almost 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United Sates. However, a year and a half after his presidency began, very little has been done to reform the immigration system.

Let’s hope that he is heard and that fair and legal reform is achieved. It’s about time.