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| USCIS Border Patrol randomly checking people @Bayfront Reggae Festival Duluth MN July 20th, 2013 |
Those of you that follow my blog know that I am a
staunch supporter of President Obama. I was very much a supporter of him
throughout both of his campaigns. Obama has brought about a positive momentum
of change and progressiveness. One of the pieces that I would like to draw
attention to is Immigration reform. As we all know Obama campaigned heavily on
this platform. Immigration reform was one of the foundation pieces that he
consistently messaged about.
I truly believe that Obama got elected partially
because of his stance on the urgency for Immigration reform. I think we can all
recall his message of we are not going to split up families. He messaged about
the importance of taking action against those that are harmful to the US. While
Obama has taken the firm and necessary action to ensure that our soil is safe
from immigrants that are harmful to the safety of America, he has come up short
in the area of pathways to citizenship (which was a major promise he made in
his campaign).
As a second term president, why is he not taking
action? Was this just a promise to get re-elected? It is disappointing to me
that the Immigration system continues to be broken. When will we be taking a
more aggressive approach to reform Immigration. While there is talk or rumoring
of amnesty, this alone does not solve the Immigration nightmare we are all in.
The amnesty provision would help those that are here illegally. What about
those that have chosen to follow the Immigration process? Those individuals
that are here legally are trapped in a never-ending bottle neck. There is no
accountability, no timetable, and little to no communication.
What is needed is a massive overhaul of the entire
Immigration system. While I understand that Obama needs bipartisan support to
take certain actions regarding Immigration reform, there are a number of
actions that he can take without any need for the approval of others. He needs
to hold those that work in the area of Immigration Enforcement accountable for
quality job performance. He needs to demand a high level of professionalism. He
needs to also make it perfectly clear that the Department of Homeland Security
needs to have a mindset of customer service. He has demanded this in the past
but clearly has not enforced it.
In order for any progress to be made in the area of
Immigration Reform, the president needs to take a firm stand and follow through
on it. Obama you need to make good on the promises you made which got you
elected.
