On Tuesday, another attempt to bring the Senate Immigration Reform Bill into the crosshairs of American policymakers and bring the reform bill back to the Senate floor was created by President Bush and supporters of immigration reform in the United States. The general impression is that the bill will likely fail to be passed again, with objections to over two dozen amendments shadowing the lack of support and likely terminal end of the reform process, the opportunities in having the bill passed are few and far between.
The simple and overwhelming problem is that Americans just can't agree on what to do with immigration reform. House Republicans have consistently opposed the reform bill, and the Democrats have clearly stated that without a certain level of Republican support, they will not support a failed bill.
Americans themselves are divided on the issue, with appx. 47% opposed to the bill and 30% supporting it in recent CNN polls, still it is shown that 45% of people still support friendly policies towards immigrants within any new legislation to be presented.
There are many reasons why immigration has become an issue in the US. An often neglected point of view on immigration was highlighted in the New York Times article: Anxiety in the land of the Anti-Immigration Crusader, where the author discusses why in one region of Colorado, with some of the lowest numbers of immigrants in the US has a unique concern over immigration. In the Colorado district the concern is twofold. One concern is that highly skilled workers are seen to be limiting well paying jobs for Americans under the H1B visa which allows for highly skilled and technical foreigners to come and work in the US. The other concern is China, which is seen as taking manufacturing jobs away from the northern regions of Mexico and creating a situation where Mexicans with no employment opportunities come to the US as an after-effect of Globalisation.
In the end, the debate is really a mix of having compassion, while upholding the law of the land and producing an immigration system where immigrants who are welcome are treated as "Americans" and are willing to become part of the American social fabric. The problem is that no one exactly knows how to make someone truly American, or even agree on what that entails. While upholding the laws to keep illegals out or at least in a regulated process is difficult, the idea of what it is to be truly American or European or part of any society is the great catalyst of debate in discussing Immigration in all countries.
