Wanting Immigration Reform While Cracking Down

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Last week President Obama seemed to suggest that both he and Congress lacked the willpower to overhaul this nation's immigration laws. He's now backtracked on that thought, saying he wants Congress to start working on the reform of our immigration system this year.
It's hard to have the same faith in his latest insistence because he raised hopes so high before his election. Oh, I know, politicians promise the world and come through with plates of crumbs. When I was in high school this guy running for student council president promised that he would get us a portable amphitheater for the playing field. We actually believed him! (I wonder where he is now, or if he's doing time somewhere.) So I learned early that political promises are like snowflakes, melted and gone before you get home.
But I so wanted to believe him because he made so much sense. It's crazy to think we're going to send 11 million people home, and even crazier to think they're going to stay there. Why do you think they came here in the first place? Because even with the lousy treatment and pittance of a salary, it's still better here than what they have in their country of origin.

We don't remember why our original ancestors came to these shores, but I would bet it's for the same reason. And those original ancestors suffered the same type of discrimination that Hispanic immigrants (and let's not kid ourselves with that general phrase because the animus is directed toward Mexicans today) are suffering today. There used to be signs saying "No Irish Need Apply." People used to be up in arms that German families continued to speak their native language at home. Italians were horribly stereotyped as thieves and worse. As for the Jews, well, they've been persecuted for thousands of years.
I'd like to believe Obama means what he says. But it's difficult when his administration is cracking down on immigrants and deporting them in large numbers. How can the president care about immigration reform when his deputies are breaking up families by deporting fathers and mothers every day? You can't have it both ways. If the president wants to overhaul the Rube Goldberg immigration system, then he should ease off the raids and deportations.

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