US immigration reform still no closer?

March 12 2010 by Liam Clifford

US immigration advocates have been reassured by Barack Obama that he is still ‘very much’ committed to US immigration overhaul. However, the question that remains unanswered is whether a bill will be prepared and ready for action this year.

The president met the Senators charged with the task of just that, late Thursday, Senators. Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham, the outcome of the meeting was not what advocates had hoped for. It was widely anticipated that the meeting would turn-up more than a simple proposal, however, that is all they got, Obama saying after the meeting that he "looked forward to reviewing their promising framework."

The US immigration issue has become a bone of contention recently with Latino voters, who claim that the promise he made when elected has not been fulfilled. Latinos accounted for a large proportion of the Obama vote, in some key states such as Florida making the difference needed to gain victory

The ability to push through the immigration bill could still face further obstacles in the form of an unlikely barrier, the new healthcare bill. Lindsey Graham who is heading the new US immigration reform has said that it could ‘stall’ in congress at the last hurdle due to a process called ‘budget reconciliation’. Graham said; "Using reconciliation to push health care through will make it much harder for Congress to come together on a topic as important as immigration."

Nevertheless, immigration advocates are pushing for a compromise and want the blueprint released before a planned demonstration on Capitol Hill on March 21.

Angelica Salas, one of the organisers of the march and the director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights said; "We want a result, that’s what we're going to be expecting in the next couple of weeks."

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