Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Obama Wants Movement on Immigration Reform

The one thing that could stop progress on immigration reform is President Obama getting involved.  That is no doubt frustrating for a president who sees himself as an extraordinary advocate. But the Los Angeles Times confirmed on Monday that when the President’s support is attached to a proposed plan, Hispanic support goes up slightly, but Republican support drops 13 points.

In general, reform stakeholders have encouraged the president to stand aside and let the legislation being drafted by the “gang of eight” move forward. Obama has a hard time doing that since his goal of actually addressing problems conflicts with his and his senior advisors’ goal of gaining political advantage and winning back the House.

Obama has threatened to introduce his own bill if the Senate effort lags, but most observers believe any Obama legislation would collapse in the long history of partisan gridlock surrounding the issue.

See Huffington Post: Obama on immigration reform: “We’ve got to finish the job”

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