Obama says Congress might not have ‘appetite’ for immigration

President Barack Obama said he hopes that Congress will be able to
craft comprehensive immigration reform, but he hinted that it might not
happen in an election year.

Obama, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Wednesday
evening, stressed that he wants to get something passed, but he seemed
to be throwing cold water on a hot-button issue following a
controversial new immigration law in Arizona.

{mosads}Saying reform is “a matter of political will,” the president said
lawmakers facing a full legislative calendar and midterm reelection
races might avoid wading into the issue.

“Now, look, we’ve gone
through a very tough year, and I’ve been working Congress pretty hard,”
Obama said. “So I know there may not be an appetite immediately to dive
into another controversial issue.

“There’s still work that has to be done on energy. Midterms are coming up.”

Obama
said he didn’t want to pass a meaningless bill that won’t solve the
problem, putting the onus on Republican senators to sign onto reform.

“This is a difficult issue,” Obama said. “It generates a lot of
emotions, and the politics are difficult. But I’ve been unwavering in
saying what we need to do. I think that I can get a majority of
Democrats to support a comprehensive approach. But I need some help on
the Republican side.”

Obama specifically called out Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham
(S.C.) and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain (Ariz.) —
but for different reasons.

The president, perhaps taking note of
McCain’s intensified criticism of the Obama administration, noted that
McCain once supported a similar approach to reform.

“I gave him a lot of credit for it, and still do,” Obama said.

The
president also credited Graham’s “courage” in working with Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-N.Y.) to start a process to move immigration forward.

The issue was pushed onto the front burner last week when
Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer set off a firestorm by signing a
state law giving police the responsibility to stop and ask for
identification if they suspect that a person is an illegal immigrant.

Obama said shortly after that he was directing his Justice
Department to monitor the implementation of the law for civil rights
violations.