Update on President Obama's immigration reform proposals

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that President Obama planned to push immigration reform as a priority in 2010. This report generated a lot of comment and controversy, not surprisingly, given that immigration reform is a controversial topic at any time, but especially in a recession. CNN.com now states that

Multiple Obama administration officials tell CNN that the White House is not pushing to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year.....There are roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. In addition to making a way for some of them to stay in the country legally, CNN has learned the Obama administration wants to remove incentives to enter the U.S. illegally, beef up border security and work with Mexico to cut down on illegal immigration.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has published a letter commending President Obama on his plans to reform immigration. AILA comments that

Moving forward with comprehensive immigration reform will ensure that all workers are here legally, will punish unscrupulous employers who undercut their honest competitors, and will restore integrity to the labor market. It will lift wages for workers, ensure all workers are paying taxes, restore fairness to our immigration system, and create a level playing field for law-abiding employers. We laud the administration for seeing past the political and emotional rhetoric to the truth that what our country needs to climb out of the crisis toward economic growth and stability.

Links to other online discussions:
Huffington Post
Wall Street Journal (Rahm Emanuel backing immigration reform)
New York Times
Fox News

Photo courtesy of Realjameso16