Immigration reform next on agenda

[Jeanfromfillmore]

I mentioned a few weeks back that Obama would start pushing for this very soon. Now they're stepping up to the plate. While everyone bickers over healthcare and other issues, thinking amnesty would be dead, these guys will try to slip it in. What will it take to get everyone to actually take action and do something besides reply that it won't happen?

Immigration reform next on agenda
America, Congress and the president have a lot of items on their to-do lists, but immigration reform has to be a priority.
This past week, President Obama told Hispanic leaders that he would advocate for immigration reform. Obama’s motives were not pure. He was seeking support for health care reform and he received Hispanic congressmen’s backing in exchange for promising immigration action. But that doesn’t change the fact that immigration reform is long overdue.
Reform, of course, would include citizenship provisions for those now here illegally.
We can appreciate some Americans’ concerns about legitimizing those who are here illegally. We don’t want to appear as if anyone can come here illegally and in time it will be overlooked — even though that has happened more than once, including most recently during the Reagan administration, which provided citizenship for about 2.5 million Hispanics.
But we also can’t pretend that this country has the resources and will to round up every one of the estimated 8 to 11 million illegal aliens in the United States and deport them.
We have to make some allowances, and a bipartisan proposal on the table now is a sensible approach. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., propose allowing illegal immigrants to earn citizenship if they admit they broke the law, pay a fine and back taxes, perform community service, pass background checks and demonstrate proficiency in English.
This is a good way to deal with the immigration problem that affects our economy and safety in some negative ways.
We should do what’s practical and affordable at our borders to prevent illegal crossings. However, the best way to control immigration is to have a workable, efficient work program and sufficient checks when foreigners seek jobs here.
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