Obama’s Economic Pivot – Could it Save the Immigration Debate?

Obama’s Economic Pivot – Could it Save the Immigration Debate?

– Christopher Carroll

Obama’s pivot to towards the economy and away from addressing immigration reform is well timed. It may be the only way to shepherd the difficult bill through the ultra-polarized election season.

An inconsistent and leaderless Republican caucus and increasingly partisan rhetoric will doom immigration reform in the House. While hardly out of the ordinary, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R – Ohio) are speaking past each other.  But this time of year, it is worse than ever.

As is to be expected, the approaching election season has brought polarizing political rhetoric and inconsistent leadership to Washington. Speaker Boehner repeatedly states that the Senate immigration bill will not be brought to the floor and Leader Reid repeatedly calls for comprehensive reform. Yesterday, Senator Reid termed the House immigration strategy “bite-sized” while going on to explain that if the Senate bill were brought to the House floor, it would pass “overwhelmingly.” Meanwhile, Boehner’s claim that “nobody has spent more time” on immigration reform than him has been scoffed at by White House Press Secretary Carney, further escalating tensions.

English: Jay Carney giving a press briefing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pressure on Speaker Boehner is coming from within the House as well. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called on the Speaker to encourage the Republican caucus to pass a comprehensive bill rather than pieces of legislation.

Pelosi, in a letter to Speaker Boehner, writes that “priorities for immigration reform are the principles laid out by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, with commitments to secure our borders, protect our workers, unite our families, and provide an earned pathway to citizenship.” These priorities, she claims, receive bipartisan support. “We are ready to act in a bipartisan fashion,” continues Pelosi, so as “to afford all immigrants a fair shot at the American Dream, and to make comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land.”

Democrats are seemingly united in their call for an earned pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the country. Republicans, meanwhile, agree that children of illegal immigrants should be allowed an opportunity to become citizens. But this variation on the DREAM act rings false for many, as it could further split families apart, forcing children to choose between separation from their family and risking deportation.

DREAM act (Photo credit: quinn.anya)

As these leaders become increasingly vocal about their disagreements, those who hope for any sort of immigration reform are left to shrug their shoulders and brace for inevitable disappointment.

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The DREAMact disagreement and the disagreement in overall structure the legislation will take  is a result of divergent leadership styles and increased electoral season pressure. Reid has recently been very aggressive in his advocacy for President Obama’s agenda and his vision for the Senate. Speaker Boehner, meanwhile, employs a more hands-off approach, preferring to facilitate discussion while ensuring a Republican majority on all bills through the Hastert Rule.

However, in yesterday’s economic speech at Knox College, President Obama folded the immigration debate into discussion about the overall economy. This may save it.

By putting both Obamacare and immigration reform into a larger context that everyone in the country can identify with, the President not only removed pressure on those components themselves, but also provided the debate time to marinate within the minds of the public. He has linked the steady but stubbornly slow progress seen in the economy with the stubbornly contentious immigration issue.

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This will help the public identify with the issue. Everyone has, to varying degrees, been affected by the recession. Progress has been steady. The economy is consistently adding jobs. The housing, industrial and energy markets are strengthening. However, there is still much to be done. More progress is needed. While the economy is creating jobs, most of them are low-paying jobs rather than the higher-paying jobs that were lost. Detroit has gone bankrupt. Families are still struggling.

 But, by linking the economic progress that has been seen and that must still be done with the progress that must be done on immigration, President Obama might have saved the bill, or at least productive discussion of it. By linking immigration to public understanding of the overall economic recovery, President Obama may successfully shepherd the issue through the polarized combative mid-term elections. If he does, he will have breathed life in an important issue currently gasping for breath.