Today President Obama met with leaders on the immigration issue and said that he is still committed to immigration reform. He also met with Senators Schumer and Graham who are crafting the Senate version of the immigration reform bill. Here is some footage from today with Josh Hoyt, the executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, upon leaving the meeting:

You can also read Ali Noorani’s statement about today. He is the Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum and was at the White House meeting.

Angelica Salas, the Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, offered this after the meeting with the President:

“We believe that his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is real, but we also know we want results and so that’s what we’ll be expecting within the next couple of weeks.”

And President Obama issued the following statement today via the Office of the Press Secretary:

“Today I met with Senators Schumer and Graham and was pleased to learn of their progress in forging a proposal to fix our broken immigration system. I look forward to reviewing their promising framework, and every American should applaud their efforts to reach across party lines and find commonsense answers to one of our most vexing problems. I also heard from a diverse group of grassroots leaders from around the country about the growing coalition that is working to build momentum for this critical issue. I am optimistic that their efforts will contribute to a favorable climate for moving forward. I told both the Senators and the community leaders that my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort.”

My thought is that the President is going to have to show some strong leadership to maneuver immigration reform in the Congress. He cannot be as ‘hands-off’ as he appeared in the initial stages of the health care debate because it stumbled and stalled, and we are still struggling to finish health care reform. I’m skeptical that we will see a comprehensive immigration reform before the summer, as it is going to take massive engagement in our communities and with our allies. Plus, the case for any immigration reform becomes more difficult to make in a recession, but we do have glimmers of hope and some very committed advocates. Certainly, if those of us who want immigration reform apply a full-court press in how we defend our positions and proposed policies, in addition to working on people who might be on the fence now, we have a better chance of making some real progress. My hope is that President Obama can do something to improve the immigration system through executive order, including remedying some of the situations with detention. And I’m still encouraged that we could see passage of the DREAM Act if the comprehensive approach does not come to fruition.

On a related note, I do like what DREAM Activist Prerna Lal has to say about the all or nothing approach to comprehensive immigration reform:

“If you believe in the one large comprehensive immigration reform bill or NOTHING, congratulations, you are a dinosaur. But you are also on your way to extinction, most likely through natural causes. So it’s not long till human beings will take over–get ready for the ‘invasion.’”

At the very least, passage of the DREAM Act would be a great beginning.