Following President Obama’s re-election, numerous political pundits have suggested that there are improved prospects for passing comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) in 2013.1 Latino and Asian-American voters, observers note, overwhelmingly supported the president in the election, in part because of his past support for CIR and his administration’s effort to redress Congress’ failure to pass the DREAM Act by establishing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.2 Evidently the election results, exit polls and the changing composition of the electorate took Republicans by surprise. As a result, some GOP lawmakers now evince a similar dedication to enacting CIR. The pressure for sweeping reform now appears to be considerable on both sides of the aisle.
Despite the political momentum and Obama’s vow to push CIR through Congress in early 2013,3 and even though the need to fix our broken immigration system has never been more pressing, doubts persist over whether federal lawmakers will successfully resolve the highly contentious aspects of any reform package. Unfortunately, by 2014 the millions of foreign nationals residing in the United States without authorization may well, for the most part, still be living here without legal status.
