ObamaOdrama

While America faces both historical domestic and international challenges, Obama is turning to what has served him best over his political career to put America back on the road to prosperity… campaigning.  And if you thought the 2008 presidential race was the longest, most expensive, and most controversial… you ain’t seen nothing yet.

According to the NY Times, Obama will begin addressing the country’s illegal immigration system this year including a legal path to citizenship for 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.

Some White House officials said that immigration would not take precedence over the health care and energy proposals that Mr. Obama has identified as priorities. But the timetable is consistent with pledges Mr. Obama made to Hispanic groups in last year’s campaign.

He said then that comprehensive immigration legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year in office. Latino voters turned out strongly for Mr. Obama in the election.

“He intends to start the debate this year,” Ms. Muñoz said.

The race for 2012 just started.  Actually it started much earlier since technically Obama never stopped campaigning and locking up 12+ million votes has been in the works for quite awhile. 

ACORN, the National Day Laborer Organizer Network, and House Democrats kicked things off in Arizona by requesting the Department of (in)Justice  investigate Sheriff Joe Arpiao’s enforcement of immigration laws.  ACORN was back at it with support from the U.S. Census Bureau to assist in 2010’s redistricting.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) joined the campaign and was whipping up legal and illegal immigrants calling them patriotic and current U.S. immigration laws un-American.  Following the party’s momentum, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced a postponement of immigration raids and a new focus on businesses rather than illegal immigrants.  April Fool’s day wasn’t fooling anyone when Commerce Secretary Gary Locke met with Hispanic special interest groups demanding immigration reform or risk the “future of the United States,”  because the next day the Census Bureau was enlisting Univision, the National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials to make sure every illegal would be counted.

Make no mistake about it, the race for 2012 is on and American’s still have much to pay for the inauguration.

Spencer Hsu reports that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has postponed a series of planned immigration raids and other enforcement actions in recent weeks.

A senior department official said the delays signal a pending change in whom agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement choose to prosecute — increasing the focus on businesses and executives instead of ordinary workers.

“ICE is now scrutinizing these cases more thoroughly to ensure that [targets] are being taken down when they should be taken down, and that the employer is being targeted and the surveillance and the investigation is being done how it should be done,” said the official, discussing Napolitano’s views about sensitive law enforcement matters on the condition of anonymity.

“There will be a change in policy, but in the interim, you’ve got to scrutinize the cases coming up,” the senior DHS official said, noting Napolitano’s expectations as a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general.

Another DHS official said Napolitano plans to release protocols this week to ensure more consistent work-site investigations and less “haphazard” decision-making.

I don’t think anyone has issue with prosecuting businesses for hiring “illegal” immigrants but the illegal immigrants are still illegal!  This new focus is about as logical as just going after the gun manufacturer and ignoring the shooter in a homicide case.  Hmm that logic sounds familiar… 

In case you were curious why the new focus on businesses rather than illegal immigrants… Latino outrage.

Napolitano’s moves foreshadow the difficult political decisions the Obama administration faces as it decides whether to continue mass arrests of illegal immigrant workers in sweeps of meatpackers, construction firms, defense contractors and other employers.

Critics say workplace and neighborhood sweeps are harsh and indiscriminate, and they accuse the government of racial profiling, violating due process rights and committing other humanitarian abuses.

The raids have enraged Latino community and religious leaders, immigrant advocates and civil liberties groups important to the Democratic base, who have stepped up pressure on Obama to stop them.

Let’s be honest, this new focus on prosecuting businesses and owners is the administration’s way of pretending to do something about illegal immigration while doing absolutely nothing.  Worse yet the government seems to be encouraging illegal immigration by taking a clear stance opposing law enforcement in this matter.   House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) has recently called the enforcement of current U.S. immigration laws “un-American” and arranged a formal meeting between Obama and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to convey this same message.  Even now Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being investigated by our own Department of Jokes for enforcing U.S. immigration laws. 

Apparently Obama’s pledge to the National Council of La Raza includes more than just amnesty.