What's in the Speech of President Obama About Immigration?
President Barack Obama devoted only a short portion of his speech to immigration, one of his top policy priorities in 2013. The reason for his brevity could be that the politics surrounding the issue are currently more delicate than ever. House Republicans plan to release priorities for reform as soon as this week, and it's a bad time to antagonize them. It's viewed as better, for now, to let the House GOP have its space to work.Instead, Obama focused on the positive, saying "members of both parties in the House want to" address immigration reform this year and urging them to do it. He didn't go into detail about the specific policies -- he's done so in previous speeches, including last year's State of the Union address -- such as a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, border security and streamlining the legal immigration system.
And although Obama discussed executive actions he will take on other issues, he didn't announce any plans on immigration, despite activists' pleas for him to halt the deportations of undocumented immigrants without criminal records.
President Obama's Comment:
Finally, if we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement -- and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same. Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades And for good reason: when people come here to fulfill their dreams -- to study, invent, contribute to our culture -- they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everybody. So let’s get immigration reform done this year.source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
What Would Be the Effect for Filipinos in US?
If President Barack Obama follows through on his promise of immigration reform, it will affect not only the Filipino-American community in the US but Filipinos in the Philippines as well, immigration expert Atty. Lou Tancinco said.
A complete immigration reform will bring a number of benefits to Filipinos here and abroad.
“If there is going to be an overhaul of the immigration system, then the family-based system will also be fixed. Meaning to say, the backlog will be lesser, there will be more family unity, in terms of business immigration, we are looking at an increase in working visas and improvement of investor’s visa,” she told ANC’s “Prime Time” on Wednesday.
What is needed is an “overhaul of the whole system” and not just a “temporary relief.”
“A legislation that will actually reform the immigration law. Right now, there is no pathway to citizenship. What the executive order has done is a temporary relief to a very limited number of undocumented immigrants. This time, we would like to see an overhaul of the whole system,” she said.
Delivering the promise
When Obama was campaigning for president in 2008, he made a similar promise, but the reform never materialized.
Based on Obama’s campaign promises, he appeared more aggressive and determined to pass the immigration reform law.
“With the strong emphasis on family reconciliation, whatever happens in terms of reform in the US will affect the Filipinos here. I think what’s different now with this victory of Obama, is that clearly one of the reasons for the victory is his strong position on reform on immigration. Therefore, he will be now hard-pressed to deliver on that reform because his constituents, especially the Latino vote, would expect that to be delivered,” he told ANC.
The Filipino-American community also made waves during Obama’s campaign, which may translate to jobs in the Obama administration.
“I think this time, there were a lot of Filipino-Americans who actively campaigned for President Obama, I think they are getting noticed and we have a strong advocate group in Washington right now. I think we would see more Filipino-Americans in the White House, working for the President,” said Tancinco.
Strategic, direct campaign
La Viña credits Obama’s strategic and directed campaign for his victory, saying that while Mitt Romney’s business credentials could have done good to the US economy, he lacked a "clear vision."
“The US may be in a difficult situation now, but there was no compelling alternative,” La Viña said.
He also cited Obama’s empathy towards the American people as one of the reasons for his re-election.
Tancinco, meanwhile, believes that a majority of Filipino-Americans still believe in the principles of the Democratic party.
She said Filipino-Americans are “more educated and more sophisticated” in their decisions.
She said despite the economic crisis, most of them did not put the blame on Obama.
“They have faith in Obama and they believe he needs 4 more years to make things happen and improve economy in the US,” she said.
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