US President Barack Obama launched a renewed effort on Thursday for immigration reform, calling on conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives to push through a law by year’s end.
The President, a left-leaning Democrat, appealed to fairness and economic common sense, noting that the Senate had already passed bipartisan reform legislation. Democrats in the lower House have introduced a similar measure.
“Now it’s up to Republicans in the House to decide whether reform becomes a reality,” Obama said.
His new immigration push came with Washington still reeling from a stand-off that brought the Government to the brink of default last week. The President called for Republicans and Democrats to “work together on the things we do agree on.” The effort coincides with Republican political worries. Not only have Republicans upset voters over their fiscal brinksmanship, but they are trying to cultivate more support from voters in the growing Latino community.
Obama noted that House Republican leader John Boehner has said it was time to act. Boehner was picketed for days this week by reform activists demanding that he bring the issue to a vote.
Among them was Jesus Magana, a US citizen in a group of protesters Thursday outside the White House, who said his sister was being deported and other relatives in the country illegally face the same risk.
“I was in the Army for four years: I fought for my country, I bled, I cried, I ached for this country, I love, I was ready to die for this country,” Magana told dpa. “And that same country is deporting my family.” Despite an estimated 11 million migrants who illegally entered or overstayed in the United States, Obama’s predecessor, Republican George W Bush, was unable to push through a similar reform measure.
Obama noted the challenges of fulfilling his pledge for reform, made before his first election in 2008. He noted there was a mood among conservatives in Washington that “if Obama’s for it, I’m against it.” The Senate measure would strengthen border controls, provide more legal measures against employers of illegal immigrants, modernise the legal immigration system and provide a pathway for unregistered migrants to become citizens by paying penalties.
“This will be good for our economy, good for national security, good for our people, and we should do it this year,” Obama said.
The current system gives unfair competitive advantage to companies that “undercut” the rules and hire people to work in the “shadow economy” for lower wages, no benefits, and no overtime, Obama alleged.
“That doesn’t make sense,” he said.
In a gesture to fiscal conservatives, Obama outlined the financial benefits of getting immigrants into the formal job market.
“Independent economists have shown that if the Senate bill became law, over the next two decades our economy would grow by $1.4 trillion more than it would if we don’t pass the law. It would reduce our deficits by nearly $1 trillion,” he said.
“Let’s go get it done.”