At Least For Now, No Immigration Reform

Thanks to Latinos, Barack Obama rose to power in 2008. He promised to reform immigration during his first year in office. It’s been five years and the reform hasn’t happened — and it won’t happen in 2013. Congress, facing a big agenda, has only one work week remaining; immigration reform is not their priority.

No one doubts that immigration reform remains high on Obama’s priority list. In fact, while trying to evade the public conversation about unforeseen problems with the new health care legislation, over the past two weeks, as never before, the White House has insisted on the need to approve new regulations to legalize the status of more than 11 million undocumented people who are living in the shadows because they don’t have permission to live and work in the U.S.

But, it still won’t happen — at least, not this year — despite the president indicating that he would consider accepting individual changes to immigration rules in lieu of a comprehensive bill. To boot, a recent survey showed that 63 percent of Americans support giving citizenship to undocumented immigrants.

The House of Representatives returned on Monday from its Thanksgiving recess; the Senate will return on Dec. 9. However, Congress will start its Christmas and New Year’s vacation on Dec. 13. In the few remaining days they will be session, they hope to approve new sanctions against Iran, make changes to health care services for the elderly, adjust unemployment benefits and negotiate new farm support programs and food production subsidies. Immigration reform simply doesn’t make it onto the list.

It’s off the list despite the fact that House Speaker John Boehner had spoken about including it. In the end, he was afraid he lacked the support of the ultraconservative right wing of his party. However, he also agreed with the Senate version of a draft bill the Democratic majority had passed in June, which included eventual citizenship for certain immigrants already in the U.S., as well as reinforcing border security.

We are now left to wait and see whether Washington revives the issue of reform next year, and whether the House puts it to a vote, which would require much more than the president’s hopes, speeches and personal commitment. All House seats are up for election in 2014. There is widespread fear among many who are running for re-election that they will not win if their constituents, especially those in right-wing districts, link them to any type of reform agenda. With Republican primaries starting in the spring, work on new laws won’t happen until after the November elections.

In the meantime, even though President Obama continues to push the need for immigration reform and, only a few days ago, accompanied by the first lady, went to visit the 20 hunger strikers outside the Capitol who are demanding that family separations cease and that reforms be approved, his administration has deported a record number of people, a process that continues.

During the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, almost 410,000 undocumented people were deported involuntarily, part of the group of 1.5 million deported since Obama took office. Of those deported last year, 55 percent — about 225 million people — had been accused of crimes related to drugs, domestic violence or driving under the influence. According to the White House, deportations are focused on those who break the law, not just those who cross the border. However, pro-immigration groups allege that it is often decent, working people who are deported, including about 90,000 in the past 12 months.

Last year, the president issued an executive order to stop the temporary deportation of more than half a million young people who arrived illegally when they were small children. But he has said that he will not do anything similar for their parents. Nor will he act unilaterally; as he has said, “I am not a king.”

So we can hope that next year, politics will be sidelined and representatives will spend sufficient time — after all, they’ve only had 143 days in session — to approve a fair and needed immigration bill. The last bill was passed in 1986.

In the case of my fellow citizens, the good thing is that, in the shadow of reforms that don’t materialize and forced deportations, there are more and more Mexicans, especially young people known as “dreamers,” who continue to dream and make plans. But now they are looking toward opportunities and a future in a place where they belong — Mexico.