Hope and frustration
Immigration reform represented hope and frustration for the immigrant community, which this year saw a great opportunity to legalize millions of undocumented workers.
However, the year 2013 meant success for a small number of GOP House members who imposed their vision of fear and ignorance over the broad support for reform of many economic, social and political sectors in the U.S.
The comprehensive reform bill that the Senate approved is far from being perfect; the undocumented would no longer be threatened with deportation, but the bill creates a tortuous path to legalization and citizenship.
However, this was not enough for the House of Representatives, which rejected the Senate’s bill. Instead, it considered isolated measures that were never submitted for a full vote because of distrust in the most extremist wing of the majority caucus. The debate was dominated by those who every step of the way falsely denounced reform as the equivalent of amnesty.
Meanwhile, deportations that separate families, abuse in detention centers and jam-packed immigration courts continued to reflect everything that is wrong with the current legal immigration framework, which is disconnected from reality. They reflect a society that, instead of making the undocumented part of its system, would rather exploit them from illegality.
The process is not dead. Half of the legislative session is still left, and the work done so far has not been lost. However, experience reminds us how tough it is to pass controversial lawslike immigrationduring a legislative election year.
It remains to be seen whether House Speaker John Boehner will show the same strength on immigration as what he demonstrated in confronting the Tea Party last week on the budget.
After all, the success of reform depends as much today as it will in 2014 on the leadership of the House and their ability to understand that immigration reform is not election demagoguery, but a positive tool for the United States.
