Comprehensive Immigration Reform Update

Since it's now all but certain that the only hope for UAFA passage is for it to be included in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform, it's important to keep track of the progress (or the lack of) CIR is making in Congress.

From this LA Times article published yesterday, it's not a rosy picture:

Lawmakers will gather at the White House next week for a working session on immigration reform, a meeting that has been highly anticipated by Latino leaders eager for President Obama to honor his campaign promise to put millions of undocumented workers on a "pathway to citizenship." But many Democrats are now concluding that they may well not have the muscle to pass such a controversial measure -- at least not immediately, and possibly not until after the 2010 midterm election.

For many immigration-related legislations such as UAFA, DREAM Act and RFA(Reuniting Families Act), CIR is both a blessing and a curse. Take UAFA as an example. Being included in CIR will definitely increase its chances of passage, but at the same time it also means that UAFA would be inevitably caught in the controversial illegal immigration debate, a problem it doesn't have to deal with as a stand-alone bill.

It's like trying to cross the Atlantic and being given two options: a small boat and a leaky cruise ship. The former won't be possible without a Herculean effort and an incredible amount of luck. While the latter sounds like a more attractive option, there's no telling if it's going to stay above water long enough to reach shore.

At this point the leaky cruise ship appears to be the only option as Congress has made it abundantly clear that they don't favor a piece-meal approach on immigration, meaning it's all or nothing. It's highly unlikely that individual bills, however urgent and non-controversial, will be brought to a vote.

But the hole on the cruise ship is getting bigger and bigger, even before it leaves port.