President Obama to hold meeting on immigration reform

[Tx4obama]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has marshaled the likes of former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mayors of New York and San Antonio and Philadelphia's police commissioner in an attempt to show wide and varied support for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws.

The invitees are among a bipartisan group expected to meet with Obama at the White House on Tuesday afternoon to discuss revamping the immigration system.

Besides Schwarzenegger, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who also served as Washington, D.C., police chief, are among those invited.

In a statement issued late Monday, the White House said the president is holding the meeting to discuss the importance of fixing the nation's "broken immigration system" to meet the country's 21st century economic and national security needs.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_IMMIGRATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-04-18-23-54-20

[jaysunb]

1. Time to lock up the Latino vote

can't wait for the repubs to explain their past behavior re:imigracion.

The chickens will be home to roost in lots more areas between now and 11/12. :evilgrin:

[polichick]

4. "Time to lock up the Latino vote" - that's what I thought too...

It's campaign season.

[OKDem08]

2. oh...it's a national security issue now. gimme a break (n/t)

[Paradoxical]

3. Tardy by only a couple years.

[Tx4obama]

5. LOL

You thought that President Obama was going to do immigration reform in the first THREE MONTHS?
That's a bit silly don't you think?

[Tx4obama]

6. UPDATE on link below

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/19/obama.immigration/

[MikeW]

7. non starter with 30+ million Americans still out of work

[pampango]

8. Despite pledges for immigration overhaul, Republicans suggest any plan for legalization doomed

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/despite-pledges-for-immigration-overhaul-republicans-suggest-any-plan-for-legalization-doomed/2011/04/20/AFO8029D_story.html

President Barack Obama revisited a key campaign promise when he hosted a White House meeting of elected officials and experts on immigration. But if a major overhaul of the nation’s immigration policy is his goal, Republicans in Congress say he shouldn’t hold his breath. They say any bill that even hints at amnesty or legalization for millions of illegal immigrants already living and working in the United States is dead before it ever makes an appearance in a congressional committee.

Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said immigration reform proposals that offer a path to legal status are tantamount to amnesty. “I think most members of Congress and most Americans don’t want to reward lawbreakers and don’t want to give them amnesty,” Smith said Tuesday as Obama held his White House meeting.

The failure of the DREAM Act is a key example. The bill would have provided a path to legal status for law-abiding young people brought to the United States as children who either plan to attend college or join the military.

Despite what appears to be solid opposition to immigration overhaul bills, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said she still sees hope for changes to what she describes as a broken system. “Ultimately, the system will be reformed and the question is when and how much damage is the country going to have to go through,” Lofgren said Tuesday. Lofgren said she sees “big steps forward” in the future in the form of changes to immigration laws that affect immigrants married to U.S. citizens and a revamped DREAM Act, among others.