New year, same problems with immigration debate
In Arizona, law enforcement now has the controversial power to ask people about their immigration status.
And Washington lawmakers have finally pushed through health care reform.
So will Saturday - when pro-immigration rights marchers demonstrate in downtown Chicago and other suburban locations - be remembered as a step toward pushing the nation toward comprehensive immigration reform?
Not exactly.
President Obama said Thursday that his administration will not tackle comprehensive reform this year - a move that has "thrilled" Rosanna Pulido.
A state director of the Illinois Minuteman Project, Pulido believes comprehensive immigration reform is code for "amnesty."
"(Obama) has realized what the sentiment is among the American people," she said. "He's backing off because of the November elections. It's political suicide (to push for amnesty)."
Even though the number of deportations is higher now than in years past, Pulido isn't satisfied.
"Different year, same thing needs to happen," Pulido said. "(Obama is) just as bad as George Bush. They didn't secure the border. Our National Guard could be on the border. They're not. Nothing is being done. That is inexcusable."
According to the Office of Immigration Statistics, nearly 359,000 people were deported in 2008, double the number from 198l.
Fred Tsao, policy director at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said Obama pledged to tackle immigration in his first year in office.
That time frame has passed, but Tsao hopes Washington can adopt some "sensible, rational" policies that will provide a clearer path to citizenship and allow more access to green cards for people who pass a security check, are working and are learning English.
"What he says and what his administration has been doing are two different things," Tsao said, adding many people deported were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Tsao said his organization supports deportation of people convicted of violent crimes, dealing drugs and sex abuse.
But he views the Arizona law, which gives law enforcement the power to ask the immigration status of people suspected of being in the United States illegally, as "an open invitation to go hunting."
"I don't see how it can be anything beyond looking like you're Mexican," Tsao said. "It's a clumsy way of addressing a problem. Yes, illegal immigration is a problem. Things are coming to a head. People in this country are mobilizing. It's certainly being talked about. The Arizona law certainly puts a lot of things into focus."
Pulido said officials in Texas, Ohio, Utah, Colorado and Minnesota have expressed interest in passing laws similar to Arizona's, which in her mind is proof of what the people want and in her opinion is right for Illinois as well.
"Any Illinois state legislator pretty much wants to hide from it because they don't want to offend anybody," Pulido said. "They're supposed to carry out the will of the people. The governor of Arizona has done that. The Illinois legislature has let us down tremendously. People need to get into the faces of our public officials and say, 'I will work against you.'"
<p class="factboxheadblack">Suburban immigration rallies</p> <p class="News"><b>Glen Ellyn:</b> 8 a.m. Saturday at the Metra station, 551 Crescent Blvd., sponsored by Immigrant Solidarity DuPage.</p> <p class="News"><b>Naperville:</b> Noon p.m. Saturday in Central Park, Benton Avenue, just east of Washington Street, sponsored by Benedictine University, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Joliet Diocese Peace and Social Justice Ministry. Starts with a march through downtown. Rally in Central Park starts at 1 p.m.</p> <p class="News"><b>Palatine/Arlington Heights:</b> 3:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Thomas Villanova Catholic Church, 1201 East Anderson Drive. March begins at 4 p.m., heading east on Anderson to Mision San Juan Diego Church, Arlington Heights. Rally there from 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Sponsored by 25 parishes of Northwest Suburban Cook and Lake counties. </p>