Immigration politics

In trying to win the Latino vote in 2008, President Barack Obama promised he would pursue immigration reform in 2009.

Healthcare reform pushed everything else aside, however, and the president vowed to work with Congress to pass an immigration bill in 2010.

{mosads}For the most part, immigration-reform proponents, such as Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), were pleased with the White House’s commitment. But in an interview with The Hill last month, Gutierrez warned the Obama administration that if it doesn’t make a concerted effort, he will advise Latino voters to stay home this fall.

With less than six months to go before the election, immigration-reform advocates are saying the president must do much more.

Obama recently said he was unsure if Congress has the appetite for immigration reform and backed away from predicting a bill will pass this year. White House officials have noted that in order to pass an immigration bill, a few Republicans need to support it.

Still, some congressional Democrats want Obama to put his foot on the gas as he did with healthcare reform. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who has said that if immigration reform doesn’t pass this year it could be many years before it is enacted, has called on Obama to hold a healthcare-like bipartisan summit on immigration. The White House has not embraced Menendez’s advice.

Backers of immigration reform, many of whom embraced Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for president in 2008, want to see a bill on the Senate floor this year. If Republicans block it, that will be clear to voters, and they will decide whether it is a good thing or not.

What they don’t want is for Democrats to give up before they have put the effort in.

Immigration reform is politically sensitive because the country is divided over whether to emphasize border security or a path to citizenship. There are dozens of House Democrats who do not share Gutierrez’s views, and that is part of the reason why Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said the Senate must go first on immigration reform. 

Republicans tackled the issue in the election year of 2006 and the issue divided them. Democrats, for the most part, sat back — and months later, they controlled Congress.

Hoping to strike a deal with President George W. Bush in 2007, Democrats tried to broker a deal, but the bill died in the last Congress.

Obama has repeatedly said he is willing to tackle the tough issues, not wanting to push them to his successor. Immigration reform is as tough as it gets.