The most contentious point is that politics surrounding illegal immigration is like political games and a chess board magnified. The Republicans don't want to insult corporations who employ the day laborers. After all, Republicans need those corporations for votes, and politics is a cyclical game of getting reelected. No support means no reelection. Democrats obtain their base from minorities and especially from family and friends of illegal immigrants. To place intense regulatory laws on illegal immigration would topple support from their constituents.
It just so happens Arizona's governor had to make a decision; the state can't ride the fence any more like politicians have been able to at a national level. That's because they see the issues day in and day out sitting like a sister to the border and its problems. Not making a decision would mean political suicide for them. So must we wait at a national level for things to get as rough as they did in Arizona to make that type of legislation? Arizona has already boiled over, and America is at its boiling point.
Speeches like President Carter's are not enough. Small hopes like those of the Bush Administrations have not done much good either. President Obama, can you be the first to not talk about what you don't like and what you do believe in, and do something significant with illegal immigration? He disagrees with Arizona, yet how does he plan to address it? Bring us clarity. If we're going to allow illegal immigration, then don't call it illegal. If we're not going to allow it, then set the parameters and stop letting it happen. But mostly, may America stop riding the fence post. Where there is confusion, let there be clarity.
I believe President Obama has the audacity to address this issue. We have watched his health care initiative plow through a congress that has been constipated for some time. If anyone can address it, he can.
Rome possessed a sharp understanding of the importance of diversity. Cultural variance enhanced Rome, one of the most powerful empires in all of time. Today, some historians site unmonitored immigration as reason for its demise. If unmonitored or illegal immigration shook the foundations of this superpower, it can certainly break America, a nation that's barely passed its test of infancy. From social security, to alternative sources of fuel, to illegal immigration, issues of great magnitude have plagued the minds of Americans for decades with no resolution. With the number of illegal immigrants in this country having grown to over 12 million and Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer instituting perhaps one of the most stringent illegal immigration laws to date with Senate Bill 1070, immigration disputes have once again hit the headlines. No president, including Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Bush Sr. and Jr., and now Obama have made headway in addressing these problems. And, like each of the issues, illegal immigration has come to a cataclysmic point: One where the President of the United States can no longer look the other way. Perhaps just as Obama has steamed full speed ahead with health care letting nothing deter him from his mission, he can now be the first to appropriately address illegal immigration. President Jimmy Carter frequently speaks about the importance of human rights, and in that, he speaks about immigration. Yet, while I applaud his effort, speeches don't implement policies. President Bush Jr. attempted harsher policies for illegal immigration, yet didn't succeeded in plugging the issue to a degree to which Americans and immigrants could be satisfied. That's evident by the continued raging debate. Just last week, after Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced Senate Bill 1070, President Obama denounced the act in his Cinco de Mayo celebration. This is despite CNN's reports that 60% of Americans think the new law is "about right" or "doesn't go far enough" while 36% of American's think it "goes too far." At the White House Correspondence dinner on May 1, 2010, President Obama joked about immigration reform. With a prepared script by writers from the notoriously funny "Jon Stewarts: The Daily Show," President Obama had a chance to crack up "30 Rock's" Mr. Alec Baldwin, who is virtually the expert on delivery and timing. It was the same script reading we've seen from Presidents for years, and immigration is hardly a subject to take lightly in our current state. It's close to joking about fallen soldiers from Iraq. People are dying on the border and states like California are running into financial ruin partially due to not knowing how to handle illegal immigration. Following the President's shot at stand up, Jan Brewer launched a television add blasting him for turning immigration reform into a laughing matter. At this point, both sides are guilty of fueling the fire.
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