Time To Get Real On Immigration

Will 2013 finally be the beginning of immigration reform?

There is some cautious optimism abroad that 2013 might be at long last the beginning of true reform.

The reason for the caution is that despite the rhetoric remaining from the successful campaign to elect Barack Obama along with his pledge to work on immigration reform, previous administrative efforts to affect reform have been rather lame.

The bulletins from the administration through Homeland Security to grant prosecutorial discretion in dealing with detainees who are not felons has scarcely been applied or seen any evaluation as to effectiveness. The attempt by the president to affect Dreamers by granting delayed detention has not drawn the numbers expected to sign on, largely because of the suspicion of how the act will be administered and questions about the act leading to a true path to citizenship.

On the Friday before Christmas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released new guidance on immigration “detainers,” the linchpin of agency enforcement programs involving cooperation with local police. In the new guidance, ICE Director John Morton instructed agency employees to only file detainers against immigrants who represent agency “priorities.”

Unfortunately, as with prior agency memos on prosecutorial discretion, the detainer guidance is so riddled with loopholes that it could have little — if any — practical effect.

So, each signal that the Obama administration is serious about working on reform has done little but offer false hope.

True hope will come when the administration and Congress recognize that now is the time.

A true practical path to citizenship can be developed. A first installment is the passage of the Dream Act. It was only a few years ago that Congress came close to doing exactly that. One only had to attend rallies in Latino communities following the election to witness the fervent hope expressed there.

The fact that Latino voters helped get Obama elected is fact. That these same voters expect action now is a fact as well.

We need to use this new cautious optimism to work in whatever way at hand to encourage our leaders to begin this great task of true reform whether by using targeted impact litigation, or advocacy and public outreach; 2013 is the time for commitment to protecting the rights and liberties of immigrants, to bring justice to 12 million undocumented immigrants living tenuous lives in our communities or the 400,000 being detained.

Let’s tell our leaders in Congress that financial battles and arguments over gun control should not distract them from their paramount task: a long overdue reform in 2013.