Is Obama in any hurry to fix immigration?

In President Barack Obama’s speech on immigration at American University today he described a "sense of urgency" surrounding the country’s broken immigration system, but what really stood out from the speech was the degree to which Obama didn’t seem to be treating this as much of a crisis: Today, we have more boots on the ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

In President Barack Obama's speech on immigration at American University today he described a "sense of urgency" surrounding the country's broken immigration system, but what really stood out from the speech was the degree to which Obama didn't seem to be treating this as much of a crisis:

In President Barack Obama’s speech on immigration at American University today he described a "sense of urgency" surrounding the country’s broken immigration system, but what really stood out from the speech was the degree to which Obama didn’t seem to be treating this as much of a crisis:

Today, we have more boots on the ground near the Southwest border than at any time in our history. Let me repeat that: We have more boots on the ground on the Southwest border than at any time in our history. We doubled the personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces. We tripled the number of intelligence analysts along the border. For the first time, we’ve begun screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments. And as a result, we’re seizing more illegal guns, cash and drugs than in years past. Contrary to some of the reports that you see, crime along the border is down. And statistics collected by Customs and Border Protection reflect a significant reduction in the number of people trying to cross the border illegally.

So the bottom line is this: The southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years. That doesn’t mean we don’t have more work to do. We have to do that work, but it’s important that we acknowledge the facts.

It’s not that Obama doesn’t think the issue needs to be addressed, in fact he calls it a "moral imperitive." He also said he was "pleased to see a bipartisan framework proposed in the Senate by Senators Lindsey Graham and Chuck Schumer," noting the latest draft legislation in the Senate. But the speech didn’t give the impression that he finds the current situation untennable and he also seemed to be putting the ball squarely in GOP’s court: 

I’m ready to move forward; the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward; and I believe the majority of Americans are ready to move forward. But the fact is, without bipartisan support, as we had just a few years ago, we cannot solve this problem. Reform that brings accountability to our immigration system cannot pass without Republican votes. That is the political and mathematical reality. The only way to reduce the risk that this effort will again falter because of politics is if members of both parties are willing to take responsibility for solving this problem once and for all.

The message here seems to be: I’m ready to work on this whenever you are. Problematic as the U.S. immigration status quo is, it’s not particularly damaging to Obama. In fact, keeping the issue on the table but unresolved — not a particularly difficult task thanks to the state of Arizona — can only help the Democrats lock up the Hispanic vote in November. Compare this speech to the sense of urgency in his addresses on healthcare reform and financial regulation, and it doesn’t seem like the White House is in much of a hurry to get into this fight. 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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