Why busy Obama is focusing on long-shot issue of immigration reform
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talked to The Christian Science Monitor about why President Obama is focusing on the issue of immigration reform.
By Linda Feldmann
Staff Writer
Washington — President Obama delivers a well-telegraphed speech on America’s broken immigration system Thursday morning in which he will lay out his support for a comprehensive approach to reform: not just enhanced border security, but also accountability for employers and a pathway to legalized status for immigrants already in the country.
Mr. Obama already devoted some time to the issue earlier this week, first in a meeting Monday with activists and then another meeting Tuesday with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. But the White House has made clear that the speech will not propose a timetable for action. Translation: Don’t count on seeing Congress take up legislation by the end of the year. Advocates for comprehensive reform are already disappointed by Obama, who had promised during his presidential campaign that he would take action in 2009. So doesn’t Obama risk further disappointment with more talk?
Perhaps, analysts say, but Obama can still advance the conversation.
“He can talk about what he’s already done at the border ... and then promise to continue to put pressure on Congress,” says Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
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