Piecemeal approach on immigration reform?

The AP has an interesting interview with Thomas Saenz, the head of the nation's leading Latino legal advocacy group, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Here's what he had to say:

...he fully expects work on rewriting immigration law to begin in Congress next year.

But if Democratic leaders delay, because of elections and a hostile political climate for immigrants, Congress should take up the issue gradually and in smaller ways, Saenz said. Lawmakers could address the need for foreign agricultural workers, provide legal status to high school graduates brought to the country illegally as children, and create equity for same sex partners who want to come to the U.S. or get green cards.

Traditionally, the Hispanic pro-immigration groups have resisted the piecemeal approach, insisting that any immigration reform must be bundled up with a path to legalization/citizenship for illegal immigrants. It's good to see them finally becoming more flexible on the issue.

The caveat is that even if Congress decides to take the piecemeal approach, the passage of the Uniting American Families Act is far from assured. For one thing UAFA is still not on congressional leaders' priority list. For another, "fraud" would continue to haunt UAFA if it ever made it to a floor vote. Many in our community have dismissed the "fraud" argument as a baseless attack by social conservatives, but look at what the "death panel" argument has done to the health care reform debate. The point remains that it doesn't have to be a valid argument as long as it manages to stir people's emotions. We ignore it at our own peril.