President Obama’s on-again, off-again romance with immigration reform is back on again — for now.
“Just in case anybody is confused, the way to fix our broken immigration system is through common-sense comprehensive immigration reform,” the president told a Cinco de Mayo gathering in the Rose Garden.
The line got a round of applause — but much of the confusion about the administration’s commitment to reform has come directly from Obama.
Last week on Air Force One, the president called immigration reform “difficult” and lamented a lack of political will to get it done.
“We’ve gone through a very tough year, and I’ve been working Congress pretty hard,” Obama said. “So I know there may not be an appetite immediately to dive into another controversial issue.”
With energy legislation, midterm elections and more, Obama ruled out doing “something just for the sake of politics that doesn’t solve the problem.”
His remarks were widely received as a retreat from pushing immigration reform. It was just the latest mixed signal that started when Obama promised during his presidential campaign to make reform a “top priority” in his first year in office.
Since then, the issue has delivered mostly whiplash at the White House. Though never directly ruling it out, Obama has variously said the economy and other issues claimed too much focus to get immigration done, that he wanted to move on immigration reform, and also that he wouldn’t do it without bipartisan support.
It appeared that Arizona’s recent passage of a new immigration law may force Obama to get involved in the issue.
The law, requiring police to ascertain the immigration status of individuals they arrest or detain, has been assailed by immigrants rights groups and civil libertarians, among others.
But Obama’s Cinco de Mayo remarks signal he now plans to walk a line on both issues — criticizing Arizona and keeping tabs on the new law, and calling for progress on national reform but not setting any deadlines.
“I want to begin work this year, and I want Democrats and Republicans to work with me,” Obama said.
So far the administration has not put forth any specific proposals for immigration reform — a politically shrewd move that allows Democrats to campaign on the issue and appeal to Hispanic voters in the fall without igniting a divisive debate that could alienate moderates and others.
The White House also is building in an escape hatch by setting up Republicans as the linchpin of any immigration effort.
“What the president has said over the past several weeks on immigration is, as he said last night, we have to begin work on this, but as I said here yesterday — and as the president has said before — this is not going to pass without Republican support,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Republican leaders have been very clear in discouraging an election year debate of immigration reform beyond proposals for enhanced border security.
Senate Democrats recently put forth a blueprint for reform, but it’s not clear the 60 votes are there for passing it.
