So… President Obama has given another speech this week on immigration; it appears to be very similar to the last speech he gave, not just in tone and content, but also in timing. That is, he gives a speech on immigration well before the primary elections of the next election cycle. In it, he bemoans the failure of Republicans to do little more than posture on border security, insists that he does not favor anything like amnesty for millions of undocumented workers, and then adds some blather about how we need better policies to train the best and brightest and encourage them to stay in our economy, rather than going back to their home countries after their student visas expire.
I could – and have, repeatedly – give chapter and verse on why virtually all of this is wrong-headed and about the exact opposite of a useful, usable approach to immigration reform… but as with so many political stories these days, this is not new and doesn’t add much to an existing debate.
Instead, I just offer these few observations: It’s amazing how minority voters fall for this speech, repeatedly, as some indication that the President is “doing something” when in fact he’s done nothing at all (except, as many note, continued arrests and deportations much the way his predecessor did). Second, nothing about immigration is going to change until someone focuses on the reform of actual immigration process and USCIS. And third, nothing about this kind of cheap political posturing is going to change until Democrats who care about actual immigration reform actually replace a lot of senior Democratic Party leaders.
Don’t say no one told you.
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