Meeting with President Obama is a hopeful sign for immigration reform

Intermountain Catholic

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On April 19 I met with President Barack Obama, at his request, in the East Room of the White House. Also in the meeting were members of the president’s Cabinet and other invited guests, including Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City; John Engler, president/CEO of the Business Roundtable; Eric Garcetti, president of the Los Angeles City Council; Charles Ramsey, president of the Major City Chiefs of Police Association; Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network; and Richard Trumka, leader of the AFL-CIO. Cabinet members included U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

At the meeting, President Obama spoke of his desire to find a solution to the problem of immigration in the United States. He asked for our cooperation in obtaining this important objective.

It’s apparent to everyone on all sides of the issue that our country’s immigration system is broken. President Obama mentioned that he is charged with enforcing the law, and he intends to do that, but at the same time he is very much concerned with having good laws.

The president called on us for help. He asked us to educate ourselves and our people – whether we’re in the field of religion, business or civic – so that we can break the logjam that’s preventing us from crafting a workable immigration system.

President Obama asked those of us at the meeting about the issue from our point of view. I made the point that whatever we do, it must be done in the context of comprehensive immigration reform. I mentioned to the president that enforcement-only policies don’t work; they spend a lot of money and throw a lot of personnel at the issue, but they don’t solve it. In fact, enforcement-only policies just make the matter worse.

I also asked the president that he, if at all possible, exercise prosecutorial discretion in helping vulnerable populations, such as the students who would have qualified for the DREAM Act if it had passed, and also non-citizen parents of citizen children. I mentioned that prosecutorial discretion can be used in these cases, with options such as "parole in place" and delayed actions, which would provide relief to those vulnerable populations.

The Utah Compact was mentioned. I was sitting right next to Secretary Salazar and he had numerous questions about the compact; he even seemed open to the possibility of coming to Utah and learning more about it.

People find the Utah Compact intriguing. They see it as a creative approach to trying to solve the issue of immigration, but the theme of the meeting with President Obama was the problems that we need to address if we’re going to find a solution to this issue. The major points of the conversation were how to avoid the mistakes we’ve made in the past, identifying the people who should be at the table for this discussion, and how to get Congress to enact legislation that will be good for the country and good for the immigrant.

One of the points that impressed me was the need to reframe the debate. All too often the issue is delineated as all enforcement or all amnesty. Or, love of the law is pitted against "bleeding hearts." In fact, we can have enforcement, generous humane provisions, love of the law and compassion all wrapped up into one reform package. I believe that the president would like to lead the country in this direction.

Those of us at the meeting had a wide-ranging conversation, and I think it was very positive. The president is very eager to do something this year, if at all possible. What that something is, I don’t know, but I think he would like to move the country forward in resolving this problem. He made it clear that he’s very, very serious about immigration reform. He sees this as one of the most important issues that he is dealing with right now.

The fact that important Cabinet officials attended the meeting shows that President Obama really wants to move forward with this issue. I think that’s very positive for those of us who would like to see comprehensive immigration reform enacted in the U.S., and I’m much more encouraged about the issue than when I began the meeting.