Dear Readers:

This week the infamous Arizona immigration law is scheduled to take effect and no one has any idea whether it will actually happen or not. A judge heard arguments last week in the first of seven lawsuits challenging the law. She indicated that she would only consider stopping sections of the law that were not in dispute so that means at least part of the law will go in to force. But even if the judge believes the plaintiffs have a point, it is not clear that she will stop the law before it takes effect as opposed to letting it take force and ruling later on the merits.

Also, the White House could stop one of the more controversial sections of the law if it chooses. DHS could simply not cooperate with Arizona law enforcement officials which would mean there would be no way to verify the legal status of individuals. The Justice Department has, of course, sued to stop the law from taking effect so it would make sense if DHS took such action. But we’ll have to wait and see.

In the mean time, many are asking if comprehensive immigration reform is dead for 2010 (and beyond). Senator Harry Reid has made comments in recent days that strongly hint that this is the case and is suggesting pro-immigration advocates look at trying to get something less this year – perhaps the DREAM Act.

Many, including me, have been suggesting this approach for a while. The Democrats had the ability to kill the filibuster some time back and have instead left the 60 vote requirement in place. And that has meant difficult bills have not been brought up for a vote – including immigration. Since it looks like the “nuclear” strategy of killing the filibuster is not going to happen, the odds of comprehensive immigration reform passing have dropped. Republicans are clearly not going to risk the wrath of Tea Party constituents for anything too big. But some bills – like DREAM – probably have the votes to pass.

As they say in politics, the perfect is the enemy of the good. So while CIR is really the ideal way to address the problems in our immigration system, being wedded to that solution versus accepting something less actually is doing more to hurt immigrants than help. It has been ten years since Congress passed anything that really helped a lot of immigrants. And for the last six of those years, pro-immigrant groups have been the ones blocking positive legislation for fear that if anything popular is brought up, it will reduce support for a comprehensive bill. That’s a good strategy for the short run. But after years and years of trying, the all or nothing approach has really proven to be the source of a lot of pain.

Readers are reminded that they are welcome to contact my law office if they would like to schedule a telephone or in person consultation with me or one of my colleagues. If you are interested, please call my office at 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind