Kennedy's Immigration Law Report : Iowa Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Austin Kennedy : Brick Gentry Law Firm : Green Cards, Permanent Residency

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out today's most important immigration-related news item, which currently sits at number 4 on the NYT's most read list.  In case you haven't already heard, President Obama says that he will begin this year trying to forge comprehensive immigration reform legislation. 

Given the fact that President Obama is trying to simultaneously save the global economy, reform our health care and energy systems and resolve two major battles abroad, the most common response to this immigration news is likely to be "Why Now?" 

In my mind, it's fairly simple.  Last year while campaigning Obama made a number of pledges to voters of all ethnicities that he would begin attempting to address our country's broken immigration system during his first year in office.  Latino voters, in turn, turned out in disproportionately large numbers for Obama.  Today's announcement is simply his effort to live up to that promise.  In other words, in this corner you'll find courage and honor.

Now our President isn't naieve, he knows that the poor souls at Numbers USA and the misleadingly-named FAIR will be screaming at the top of their lungs about Obama wanting to give jobs to foreigners at a time when too many Americans are without work.  So it seems that the Administration will provide an effective frame on the issue by pointing out that Obama's plan would not add new workers to the American work force, but that it would recognize millions of illegal immigrants who have already been working here. 

Plus, ever the community organizer, he is actively encouraging advocates for immigrants to build grass roots support within their communities for the issue.  The article points out: 

That is why Representative Luis V. Guiterrez, a Democrat from Mr. Obama's hometown, Chicago, has been on the road most weekends since last December, traveling far outside his district to meetings in Hispanic churches, hoping to generate something like a civil rights movement in favor of broad immigration legislation. 

I think that's exactly the right approach to take in this situation.  A controversial topic like immigration reform is never going to happen unless millions of like-minded people will it into existence.  If you want to get involved and you live here in Iowa, a great place start is here. 

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Within the last hour or so word has leaked out that Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) may be President-Elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  I don't think I can stress the degree to which  Gov. Napolitano would be a phenomenal pick to head this agency. 

DHS is the overarching administrative agency that controls and has jurisdiction over all matters of immigration policy in the United States.  Both the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are sub-agencies under DHS.  As a consequence, whomever Obama picks to head DHS is going to play an integral role in trying to foster a comprehensive immigration reform legislative package.  And as I said earlier, I can hardly think of a better pick than Gov. Janet Napolitano.  

First off, as Governor of the border-state Arizona, Napolitano has had a first-hand, acute experience with the immigration problems plaguing our country.  She understands the realities of the challenges caused by thousands of people crossing over her border from Mexico into the United States.  She knows the strains this places on infrastructure and, I think, she understands the great human toll border-crossing places upon the people who try to make the treacherous walk across into the U.S.  She was the first governor to call for National Guard troops to secure the U.S. Mexico-border. 

Back in  June of 2007 Napolitano penned an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times that really gives  insight into how she thinks about comprehensive immigration reform.  In short, she gets it.  While she strongly supports border security, she also believes that a functional guest worker program needs to be implemented in advance of fences being built.  She's against the unworkable "touch back" provisions.  And while I know this may sound pie-in-the-sky, my sincere hope is that she'll be able to marshal the resources necessary to make USCIS an efficient and functioning governmental agency.  Gov. Napolitano, hire the people necessary to bring those priority dates current!

All in all, if this appointment comes through, it signals that the Obama administration is very serious about addressing the sticky thicket that is immigration in the United States.  It's extremely encouraging. 

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I'm extremely pleased to pass along the news that the Immigration Policy Center has launched a new and impressive blog called ImmigrationImpact.  The blog can be found here. 

As we make the push during this new administration for rationale comprehensive immigration reform legislation, it's extremely important to have blogs like ImmigrationImpact serving as a counterweight to some of the more nativist voices out there, and to ensure that interested parties are able to locate factual, empirically-sound pro-immigration information to be deployed in the greater immigration debate.     This new voice is a great resource and I encourage everyone to take a look. 

Links to the Immigration Policy Center's main website and its new blog can also be found to the right. 

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First off, let me apologize for letting ye old blog lapse into such a neglected state. Stasis is the cardinal sin of blogging and I pledge to avoid it in the future as much as possible. Having said that, my time away was well spent. In addition to keeping up with my day-to-day work here at Brick Gentry, I was spending nights and weekends doing what I could to make sure we brought a measure of change to our country. And, well, Yes. We. Did. An earnest and heartfelt thanks to everyone out there who chipped in, whether it was with cash, canvassing, office space, call time, votive candles or with the pencil in the ballot box.

Obviously President-Elect Obama comes into power facing significant challenges. My most sincere hope is that the flip-side to his challenge is opportunity. For the sake of immigration reform and virtually every other important issue facing our country, my hope is that we are able to set aside our differences and work toward a common purpose.
It doesn’t mater what political party you belong to, the creed you espouse, or the church you attend, if we respect each other’s opinions and assume the best rather than the worst about those from whom we differ, we’ll take a large step toward finding our common denominator and building a consensus that allows us to address the parasitic problems eating away at our country. Comprehensive immigration reform isn’t going to land in our stockings. It’s going to take each and everyone one of us identifying our collective interests, calling our legislators, and talking reasonably, informedly and persuasively with our friends and family. If we do I’m fairly confident our pragmatic instincts will prevail. Having said that, with the economy in it’s current condition, this might not happen in the first two years or even in the first four years, but I’m confident we can eventually get it done. But the work just started, and we need your time and efforts now more than ever. If you’re wondering about where you can find quality information and how you can get involved, I suggest starting with the Iowa Immigration Education Coalition. It’s a great group filled with wonderful people. Let’s get busy.

 

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