President Obama has promised to fix the broken immigration system beginning at the start of this year. White House press secretary Jay Carney hinted that the president could outline his proposal for immigration reform in the State of Union address. "I would say, broadly speaking, that State of the Union addresses tend to include at least a sample of a president's agenda," Carney said at his daily press briefing.
The White House has kept silent about the issue as gun control and negotiations over the “Fiscal cliff” have taken precedence at meetings after the election. Once these two issues are put to rest, Congress will begin outlining what will be done about immigration. President Obama will outline his agenda not only on immigration but his plans for the next few weeks at the White House. At a recent press conference , the president said he was “very confident that we can get immigration reform done.” With a rise in Latino populations as well as their political participation, the president has also made sure to specifically address their involvement and positive efforts to support the campaign and immigration reform. “You’re starting to see a sense of empowerment and civic participation that I think is going to be powerful and good for the country," Obama said.
The president has already answered and described broad objectives that are desired to be a part of the immigration package although he did not say specifics. It is an important goal to keep strong border security and there should be serious penalties for the companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers and take advantage of them. The president is a strong proponent of providing a pathway for legal status for those who are living in the country and are not engaged in criminal activity. The president has stated that immigration reform will be completed “very soon” although most people speculate that the time frame will be extended due to the debt ceiling and debates over gun-control legislation.
The president aims to keep the American people informed about the status of progress with immigration reform once Congress begins working on it, however, there have been no solid dates set as of now. Perhaps there will be some announced at the State of Union address, but until then, the debates over gun control will continue until a resolution is reached and new budgets are prepared.
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