Buoyed by this success, Obama turned to immigration. Early in his presidency, he strengthened border security to cut down on illegal immigration from Mexico, an action that angered Mexican leaders (see the introduction to Chapter 11, pp. 296-297). Yet illegal immigration persisted. In 2010 Arizona governor Jan Brewer, complaining that “the majority of illegal trespassers” were “bringing drugs in,” signed the toughest immigration law in the nation. It required immigrants to carry alien registration forms at all times and authorized police to stop and question anyone they suspected of being an illegal immigrant. Legislators in dozens of states introduced similar bills. Obama denounced such laws as a form of racial profiling and ordered the Justice Department to take legal action against the Arizona bill. He also called for a federal initiative to prevent states from acting “irresponsibly.”
Obama also steered toward a compromise. He rejected state plans for rounding up and deporting the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants; he also opposed liberal proposals to declare an “amnesty” against illegal immigrants and grant them immediate citizenship. Instead he proposed a “practical, common-sense” solution—a “pathway to citizenship.” Illegal immigrants would be granted citizenship only after they admitted they had broken the law, paid a fine and back taxes, and provided evidence of a willingness to assimilate, such as by learning English. As with health care reform, Obama outlined few specifics, preferring to allow Congress to shape the plan.
Republicans bristled; without more effective policing of the border, Obama’s “reform” would encourage more illegal immigrants to pour into the country. Many complained that Obama was courting Hispanic voters just a few months ahead of the 2010 congressional elections. The prospects for quick passage of comprehensive immigration reform seemed poor.
World History
