President Barack Obama announced his plan for comprehensive immigration reform in Las Vegas on Tuesday. His public support for a bipartisan bill to overhaul the current system came as an anticipated move since White House officials leaked that the president will address immigration within the first weeks of his second term.
“I’m here today because the time has come for common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform,” Obama said during his speech at Del Sol High School, where more than 2,000 people were in attendance. “The time is now. Now is the time. Now is the time. Now is the time.”
The president’s speech in Las Vegas marks the first trip of his second term, and he said he regrets not passing immigration reform during his first term, calling it his biggest failure.
Obama laid out the framework of his proposal with three principles: enforcing existing policies, finding a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States and expediting the process, what the president called, “[bringing] our legal immigration system into the 21st century.”
The president warned that as legislation goes underway, emotions will get high, and he urged the public to press Congress on acting swiftly.
“Immigration has always been an issue that enflames passions,” Obama said to the predominantly Hispanic audience. “When we talk about [immigration and citizenship] in the abstract, it’s easy sometimes for the discussion to take on a feeling of ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ And when that happens, a lot of folks forget that most of ‘us’ used to be ‘them.’ We forget that.”
América Moreno, a sophomore at Meredith College, is all too familiar with being categorized as “them.” Moreno, an undocumented immigrant, came to the U.S. from Guanajuato, Mexico when she was two years old, and for 17 years, she has lived in North Carolina. After the failure of the Dream Act in 2010, which would have granted undocumented students in college American citizenship, Latino youths have hesitated to be too hopeful about change, Moreno said.
“It’s been frustrating, just relying and waiting on politics,” Moreno said. “With the multiple failed attempts, I’ve learned not to keep my hopes up. I’m going to keep on following the news, but I’m not going to build.”
On Monday, the Senate introduced a bipartisan plan that aims to “fix our broken immigration system,” and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he thinks Congress can pass reform by the summer.
Moreno said if reform passes through the legislature swiftly, she will have to wait considerably as an undocumented immigrant.
“Even in Obama’s speech, he said there would be a path to citizenship, but I’d be put at the back of line of that, that I’d have to wait more,” Moreno said. “I’m tired of waiting.”
“We’ve got to lay out a path — a process that includes passing a background check, paying taxes, paying a penalty, learning English and then going to the back of the line, behind all the folks who are trying to come here legally,” Obama said. “That’s only fair, right?”
Waiting for 17 years for reform has not been fair, Moreno said, and though she remains disconcerted about the debate that will soon ensue on Capitol Hill, she said she’ll continue to follow the news and keep advocating for her rights.
Jaquelinne Murillo- oa, a junior in international studies, is from Guanajuato, Mexico, and she legally came to the U.S. through an amnesty program in 1999. Though Murillo-Figueroa is a legal resident of the U.S., her non-citizen status has allowed her to empathize with undocumented immigrants, and she has dedicated much of her time advocating for the Latino community.
“Ever since I got to college, I tried to get involved in everything, the Dream Act, and now this is our chance,” Murillo-Figueroa. “Volunteering at the Mexican Consulate, I’ve tried to help people that way. There are a lot of reasons to get involved in Latino activism, but mainly if I can’t go to college, then why even try? Being an immigrant makes you feel alienated, and it can lead to people feeling powerless. I have a Salvadorean friendand one of the smartest, most talented people I know. She wants to go to college, but because of former restrictions, she was unable to.”
Murillo-Figueroa said she remains hopeful about change, but the President warned the public that the fight to find a solution will not come easily. But luckily, Obama said, there is at least bipartisan support.
“So at this moment, it looks like there’s a genuine desire to get this done soon, and that’s very encouraging,” Obama said.
If the political climate remains encouraging, then maybe students like Moreno will have a new future to look forward to.
President Barack Obama speaks about immigration reform at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013.
