Obama Arriving Late to Immigration Reform Debate

COMMENTARY | After long back burner residence on a stove of many other top priorities, President Barack Obama Tuesday tossed the unpopular topic of immigration reform back into the political frying pan. In a visit to Texas this week, the president will attempt to convince the residents of a state that suffers more than most from the consequences of illegal immigration that his administration has laid the groundwork necessary for implementing far-reaching immigration reform. I wish him luck with that.

In 2008, Obama campaigned on a promise that he would "have in the first year an immigration bill" that he would strongly support. Like many of his other promises, that one never did pan out. Like many of his other supporters who are still holding their breath for that Hope and Change, his once enthusiastic Latino base is getting frustrated by his lethargy in producing results. In fact, they are getting downright "testy," according to the Huffington Post.

According to OnTheIssues, s an Illinois senator, Obama said:

"For all the noise and anger that too often surrounds the immigration debate, America has nothing to fear from today's immigrants. They have come here for the same reason that families have always come here--for the hope that in America, they could build a better life for themselves and their families. Like the waves of immigrants that came before them and the Hispanic Americans whose families have been here for generations, the recent arrival of Latino immigrants will only enrich our country."

In direct conflict with Obama's position, statistics show that Americans actually do have cause to fear illegal immigrants, particularly today. According to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer in an interview with RealClearPolitics, "We've been inundated with criminal activity. It's just -- it's been outrageous." Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, president of the Arizona Association of Sheriffs, added in a statement to NewsMax, "crime is off the chart."

In an unprecedented move, President Obama's administration has filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona for daring to implement similar immigration laws which the government fails to enforce. While 10 states consider similar laws, nearly a dozen other states have filed legal briefs in support of Arizona's efforts to protect the state from the very real effects of the altruistic but thoroughly unsustainable responsibility of supporting illegals in our country.

Obama's contention that illegal immigrants "come here for the same reason that families have always come here," to "build a better life for themselves and their families" has never been challenged as false. Of course they want to make a better life for themselves. Of course they come here to take advantage of the American "pursuit of happiness," which their own country refuses them. It is not the reason why they come here but rather Obama's naive opinion that the "arrival of Latino immigrants will only enrich our country" that was and still remains a toxic point of debate.

Contradictions to Obama's assertions are evident in the statistics of border-states such as California, where the real impact of illegal immigrants can be felt. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has issued studies regarding the fiscal cost of supporting illegal immigrants in California. In 2004, FAIR estimated the cost to California taxpayers was approximately $10.54 billion a year. That includes the expense of educating children of illegal aliens who have entered the country with their parents illegally, as well as those who were born here to illegal immigrants.

Increasing the burden to California taxpayers in supporting illegal immigrants upon an already fragile budget is the crippling cost of emergency medical care and the incarceration of criminal aliens. By 2009, FAIR estimated that California's illegal alien population would add an additional fiscal cost of nearly $13.1 billion annually. That was more than half of California's projected shortfall for 2010.

The number of Americans being killed by illegal immigrants, particularly those who drive drunk, continues to rise. Many of these deadly offenders have been arrested previously for the same offense but have been inexplicably released back onto the streets. One particular case is stirring up some serious controversy, which Barack Obama and his administration are again striving in unison to avoid.

In August 2010, while driving drunk in Prince William County, Va., an illegal immigrant named Carlos Martinelly-Montano struck and killed Sister Denise Mosier and critically injured two other nuns. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunk driving. While Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered an investigation to determine why Montano's removal process evaporated, she refused to release a report documenting the results of the probe.

On April 14, Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against DHS to obtain records of its investigation into the case of Martinelly-Montano. Although the DHS did forward a generic internal report of the case, Judicial Watch has filed another FOIA request to obtain information regarding all communications between the department and the White House relating to the case, as well as all internal Homeland Security records related to the investigation and the report.

In a letter of response to Judicial Watch dated Feb. 24, while DHS acknowledged receipt of the request Feb. 17, the very date by which the department was required to respond, officials have yet to forward the requested documents or even mentioned intent to comply.

In 2008, Obama believed that the time to "fix our broken immigration system is now." Conversely, the majority of Americans believed then, as they do now, that the system is just fine. It is not the current laws but rather the government's confusion that its job is to be politically correct rather than enforce our existing laws which has broken the immigration system. Unlike the position of the current administration, the solution proposed by GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain, seen in a C-Span video, is quite simple. It also reflects the overwhelming sentiment of most Americans: "We must secure the borders, enforce the laws that are there, promote the path to citizenship that's already there."

It is also the opinion of Barack Obama that immigration raids are ineffective. In 2006, he scoffed that the program only netted a paltry 3,600 arrests. This is an interesting admonishment coming from an administration that repeatedly instructs agents of the United States Border Patrol to stop arresting illegal aliens who cross our border from Mexico. Inquiring minds might even see a connection between the two issues.

According to current Arizona Sheriff Larry Dever, just as Joe Arpio was told back in 2009, Secretary of Homeland Security Nepolitano has reiterated orders not to arrest illegals who cross our border. The reason: to keep those official illegal immigration figures down to bolster the administration's claim that enforcing existing immigration laws is ineffective.

Despite President Obama's opinion that the time for comprehensive immigration reform has come again, the majority of Americans, now as they did when he was a senator from Illinois, strongly oppose granting a free path to citizenship for anyone who breaks our existing immigration laws.

The timing of Obama's decision to reintroduce this controversial issue in the afterglow of his Osama Bump is predictable. That he has chosen to do so as his favorability numbers on domestic issues continue to hit the skids is extremely curious. That he thinks it's a good idea to relaunch his campaign for immigration reform in Texas is just plain silliness.

Sources:

Mark Knoller, " How Many "Top Priority" Issues Does Obama Have?", CBS News

"Immigration: A Foundation for Policy", Texas Impact

Henry Fernandez, "A Promise Deferred Is a Promise Broken", Center for American Progress Action Fund

Patricia Campion, "Angry Protests Show Obama Slipping Among Former Supporters", Associated Content

Jennifer Bendery, "Hispanic Lawmakers To Obama: Do More On Immigration Policy" Huffpost Politics

"Barack Obama on Immigration - Junior Senator (IL); President-Elect", On the Issues.org

Greta Van Susteren/On the Record/Fox News. "Interview with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer" Real Clear Politics

David Patten, "Arizona Sheriff: Obama ''¹..."Undermining' Law on the Border", News Max.com

Robert Holland, "Arizona & Immigration: 10 States Consider Similar Laws", Social Media SEO.com

Associated Press, "States Join Legal Brief Supporting Ariz. Immigration Law as Donations Roll Into Gov. Brewer's Defense Fund", Fox News

"California Budget Meltdown Would be Lessened by Combating Increases in Illegal Immigration" Federation for American Immigration Reform

Ohio Jobs & Justice PAC

Shankar Vedantam , "DHS withholds probe into Prince William drunk driver who killed nun" The Washington Post

Tom Fitton, "Another Obama Administration Cover Up?", Big Government.com

"Most Voters Say It's Better to Enforce Existing Immigration Laws Than Create New Ones", Americans for Legal Immigration

"Pelosi: Un-American To Enforce Immigration Laws", Corruption Chronicles-A Judicial Watch Blog

Patricia Campion, "Herman Cain Could Transform Lifetime of Effort into Political Capital", Associated Content

"Herman Cain at the Conservative Principles PAC Conference", C-Span

Steve Dennis, "Arizona sheriff vows to keep arresting illegal aliens against the Fed's warnings", America's Watchtower

Jim Meyers and Ashley Martella, "Ariz. Sheriff: Feds Order Release of Illegals to Phony Up Numbers", NewsMax

Numbers USA

Glenn Johnson, "Nearly 6 In 10 Americans Oppose The War In Afghanistan (POLL)", Huffpost Politics