Image credit: Pete Souza
“Let’s get immigration reform done this year. Let’s get it done. It’s time.” -President Obama
Coming off of 2013, a year which saw the U.S. government shut down due to political fighting, the President used his 2014 State of the Union to inspire optimism and encourage action.
A great deal of time was dedicated to ways that we can strength our economy and spur on economic growth.
And at this point in time in the history of our country, if you are going to talk about economic growth, you need to talk about immigration reform.
As the President said in his address, “if we’re serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement — and fix our broken immigration system. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted. And 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.”
As anybody watching immigration reform knows, the momentum that was built by the passing of a comprehensive reform bill in the Senate came to an abrupt halt when it went over to the Republican-controlled House.
However, in the recent months there have been numerous signs that Speaker Boehner was getting ready to take on immigration reform. The latest sign was when it was announced that the Republican Response was to be delivered by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), an immigration reform proponent.
In her address, Rep. Rodgers said “it’s time to honor our history of legal immigration. We’re working on a step-by-step solution to immigration reform by first securing our borders and making sure America will always attract the best, brightest, and hardest working from around the world.”
Going forward the House Leadership is planning to soon release their principles for immigration reform.
If there was one point that the President wanted to drive home last night it was that 2014 is the year of action. When it comes to immigration reform, it seems like he will find more Republicans ready to work with him.
