During a recent discussion with reporters in Iowa, President Obama hinted that immigration reform will be a top priority of his administration during the first year of his second term. If the comments are true, that is good news for immigrants as immigration reform has been a recurring promise for the last ten years (or more).
Whether President Obama is sincere in his intended focus on immigration reform is yet to be seen. Even if he is sincere, and pushes immigration reform, he will still need to convince Congress to help him pass it.
According to the National Journal, the President stated:
The second thing I’m confident we’ll get done next year is immigration reform. And since this is off the record, I will just be very blunt. Should I win a second term, a big reason I will win a second term is because the Republican nominee and the Republican party have so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community. And this is a relatively new phenomenon. George Bush and Karl Rove were smart enough to understand the changing nature of America. And so I am fairly confident that they’re going to have a deep interest in getting that done. And I want to get it done because it’s the right thing to do and I’ve cared about this ever since I ran back in 2008.