Get in line

by Cylinsier

An AP story is reporting that immigration reform proponents are becoming impatient with the fact that immigration reform has not yet been addressed by the current administration and are therefore pushing ahead with legislation efforts and increasing lobbying in an attempt to return their issues to the spotlight. That's great and all. I'm a huge proponent of immigration reform myself. Not only do I think its an important issue to address, I think its an issue that cannot be ignored no matter how hard some might try. Its like trying to avoid breathing air. This issue will have its day on the floor.

But to the immigration reformists, have you guys not noticed that there are other things going on? Sorry, but health care and the economy are sort of a priority right now. It seems the me-first instant gratification culture of America has already been adopted by our many new citizens (and make no mistake, just because they many not vote or have ID cards does not mean they do not exist or do not play a role in our economy and culture—they are citizens in a certain way). However, while the status of immigrants in America isn't improving right now, it certainly isn't getting any worse. What is getting worse or at least has the potential to worse if not immediately addressed is the aforementioned sad and embarrassing state of our health care system and the also aforementioned fragile economy. Now, the latter is something that isn't so much a directly addressable issue as it is a result of other factors, one of which is health care, so it will improve as other improvements are made.

Another thing that could help is indeed immigration reform, so I'm certain this issue will not remain on the back burner for long. But all I'm trying to say is we need to look at the priorities of the nation as a whole, not the priorities of certain minority groups which are important, but need to take a back seat, just for now, until the current fiasco is addressed. It may not be addressed until next year. But immigration reform has had to wait for decades now. It can wait another six months. Sphere: Related Content