Obama meets with Congressional Hispanic Caucus over immigration "reform"; trip to Mexico; public forum

Earlier today, Barack Obama met with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. The White House statement is at [1]; an AFP report is here; content-free statements from Luis Gutierrez and Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change are at [2].

So far nothing that shocking or newsworthy has emerged; both Obama and the CHC are strong supporters of giving an amnesty and other benefits to illegal aliens. The only question is how much Obama is willing to push it and when. The two points below indicate that a push might begin in April although whether he'd put much capital behind it remains to be seen.

1. He'll be making a trip to Mexico in April; per the White House the agenda will include discussing how "the United States and Mexico can... work toward effective, comprehensive immigration reform".

2. Don't worry, citizens will get to give their input at a no-doubt complete setup public forum to be conducted in a couple months (per Bob Menendez at the AFP link).

3. Per Gutierrez: "The president said more than any of us expected him to say... He was clear, eloquent and determined in letting us know that we're all together on the route to comprehensive immigration reform... [the CHC] made it absolutely clear that this is a civil rights issue of our community."

4. CHC Chair Nydia Velazquez: "We believe that we are moving forward this year, we are going to work with the president".

[1] From whitehouse.gov/blog/09/03/18/ President-Obama-Meets-with-the-Congressional-Hispanic-Caucus :

Readout on the President’s Meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

The President had a robust and strategic meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus today on the topic of immigration. The meeting lasted approximately one hour. The President discussed how the administration will work with the CHC to address immigration concerns in both the short and long term. During the meeting, the President announced that he will travel to Mexico next month to meet with President Calderon to discuss the deep and comprehensive US-Mexico relationship, including how the United States and Mexico can work together to support Mexico’s fight against drug-related violence and work toward effective, comprehensive immigration reform. Since their meeting in January, the President has repeatedly praised President Calderon for his extraordinary work to solve these challenges, which are important to communities and families on both sides of the border.

[2] fairimmigration.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/ update-obama-meets-with-congressional-hispanic-caucus

Wed, 03/18/2009 - 13:49 · · Importance: 6