Immigration Reform: Who's Who?

Immigration reform has been a hot topic for decades, with many different politicians leading the push for a new bill on both the state and federal levels. On the federal front: This year, the Obama administration gave the issue a fresh infusion of interest by calling some Republican senators to gauge their interest in the subject. Last week, Senate majority leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi excited politicos by announcing their plans to push an immigration reform bill through Congress by the year's end. According to the Washington Post's Tamar Jacoby, supporters of the bill fall into two camps: traditional immigration reform leaders and Democrats attempting to gain Latino votes in the hopes that Republicans will reject a liberal bill, thereby alienating the community and losing votes. On the state front: The state currently most active in the immigration debate is Arizona, the undisputed central gateway into the US from Mexico. Governor Jan Brewer recently signed an immigration bill into law which allows Arizona police officers to ask for identification if they "suspect" someone of being an illegal immigrant. The chief sponsor of the bill, Senator Russell Pearce, has ties with white supremacist groups (including neo-Nazis) and is very active in the NRA. John McCain shocked many by supporting the bill, considering the moderate stance he has taken on immigration in the past. However, it is important to note that both McCain and Brewer are up for re-election soon and are running against candidates who are more conservative than they are. This bill is very popular with constituents, and could be a boom come election day.

Senators Schrumer and Graham have teamed to work on a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill for 2010 and it is currently being considered by Congress. This reform is working towards creating a tough yet completely fair road for immigrants to walk down for legalization. They also are interested in a new, high-tech social security card original to its owner that’s completely fraud proof. For years, many Americans and others have been fighting for a right to immigrate. It takes 279 signatures to pass an Immigration reform and currently, one reform is making its way through the senate. Some fighters are floored, however, by President Obama's lack of effort towards making this Immigration reform more plausible. During his campaign, he's taped to have signed on a bill that said Immigration would be passed after Health Care has played through. However, the new Health Care Reform has hit the newsstands yet no mention about the immigration reform has been made from the democratic party currently situated in the White House. However, we know that Obama is supportive of said reform, now we just need 218 votes in the Senate and a signature from the president himself for all fighter's hard work to be pulled off.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/22/AR2010042204209.html

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/04/brewer_mccain_i.php

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/19/schumer-and-graham-on-immigration-reform-why-not-do-it-without-the-biometric-national-id/

http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/blog/