“IT’S TIME FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM”

In his first major speech on immigration since taking office, President Barack Obama said he

President Barack Obama speaks about immigration reform at American University in Washington is ready to move ahead with comprehensive immigration reform.

Saying that the system is too big to be fixed “only with fences and border patrols,” Obama advocated a comprehensive approach, which would call on the government, businesses and undocumented immigrants themselves to live up to their responsibilities within the law.

He also wants to create a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants in the United States illegally; many critics call it amnesty. But Obama said the immigrants must first acknowledge that they broke the law, pay fines and back taxes, perform community service and learn English.

In response to those that are skeptical of a blanket amnesty, as well as the government’s ability to round up and deport 11 million people, the president remarked: “They know it’s not possible. Such an effort would be logistically impossible and wildly expensive. Moreover, it would tear at the very fabric of this nation –because immigrants who are here illegally are now intricately woven into that fabric.”

He continued, acknowledging that migrant workers – mostly here illegally – have provided agricultural labor for generations and that many undocumented immigrants have U.S. citizen children or are children themselves, brought to the Unites States by their parents at a very young age, growing up American and only discovering their illegal status when they apply for college or a job.

“So even if it was possible, a program of mass deportations would disrupt our economy and communities in ways that most Americans would find intolerable.”

Without setting a timeline, Obama questioned whether the political will exists to get a bill through Congress.

“Reform that brings accountability to our immigration system cannot pass without Republican votes,” he said. “That is the political and mathematical reality.” In the Senate, Democrats fall short of the 60 votes needed.

“Time and again, this issue has been used to divide and inflame – and to demonize people. And so the understandable, the natural impulse among those who run for office is to turn away and defer this question for another day, or another year, or another administration.” said the President.

“Despite the courageous leadership in the past…including, by the way, my predecessor, President Bush – this has been the custom. That is why a broken and dangerous system that offends our most basic American values is still in place.”

Republicans responded that Obama’s first step going forward must be to secure the border.

“I do not agree with President Obama’s assertion that we must pass comprehensive immigration reform in order to secure the border,” said Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz).

“All Americans would be better served if this administration focused on implementing proven border security solutions rather than engaging in demagoguery and criticizing states that have been left to enforce immigration law because of the federal government’s unwillingness to do so.”

The president’s speech comes against the backdrop of a political climate inflamed by Arizona’s new law ordering state and local law enforcement agencies to intensify pursuit of people suspected of being here illegally.

In a radio interview, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said President Barack Obama’s speech provided no answers to the problem and called it “a helpless speech.”

She added, “The system is broken, the border is broken. We all know what we need… People in Arizona have made it very, very clear. Let’s talk about the problem that is at hand. Let’s secure the border.”

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat who has criticized the president’s lack of action on immigration, said he was “happy” and that the president “had laid the foundation” for a reinvigorated fight for reform.

“The President made a strong case for immigration reform from a law and order, economic, and moral perspective. This was not the warm and fuzzy “Let’s give immigrants a free ride” speech; this was a hard-nosed argument for why reform will benefit America.”

Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and Chair of the Reform Immigration For America campaign agrees with Gutierrez.

“For this to pass, the administration should make concrete commitments and engage in this debate the way they did in health care and financial regulatory reform. On the other hand, Republicans must offer more than tough talk and tired ‘border first’ talking points,” she said, adding “Border security is a necessary but insufficient part of getting immigration reform right…We don’t need window dressing, more tough talk or more empty gestures. We need leadership on comprehensive reform.”

The bottom line, as President Obama presented, is clear, “The question now is whether we will have the courage and political will” to create a pathway for legal status that is “fair, reflective of our values and works.” For a true solution to be reached, that question must be taken seriously by Republicans and Democrats alike.